In this article, the author discusses the work of a public-school teacher in New York City whose commitment to social justice has led to the design and teaching of a lesson that directly addresses the meanings and manifestations of social class with her fourth- and fifth-grade students.

This article models the integration of social studies and language arts commonly used in elementary classrooms by using a text that incorporates straightforward social studies content in the context of the daily experiences of a Chinese family in the U.S. The authors illustrate how to use the award-winning novel, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, with…

Race shapes the policies and history of the United States. Current research shows that state-approved social studies content standards are written in a non-racial and colour-evasive whiteness language that reinforces racist policies and practices in education. This qualitative framework analysis study examines the language of social studies…

To contribute to social studies' and history teachers' bank of resources, the book list presented in this article was compiled by the Education Outreach Program (EOP) of the National Arab American Women Association (NAAWA). These books provide an alternative voice and a more colorful picture of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with…

This article sheds light on the elusive presence of race, racism, and Whiteness in Norwegian primary schools. Empirical examples from observations at six schools exemplify how race and racism appear as taboo concepts, but nonetheless play central roles in structuring conversations in the classroom. I argue that applying an affective theoretical…

Human rights are necessary and compulsory for all people irrespective of language, religion, race, gender or sect. Learning about these rights begins within family and continues in school formally. Human rights education is necessary for values of human rights to pass from theory to practice. The rights given to people or groups with certain…

This joint study in the elementary school social studies setting enacted the explicit intention of facilitating student understanding of social justice. The first study was conducted in a second grade classroom to assess how exploring historical neighborhoods in St. Louis impacted students' understandings of diversity. Student writings,…

This joint study in the elementary school social studies setting enacted the explicit intention of facilitating student understanding of social justice. The first study was conducted in a second grade classroom to assess how exploring historical neighborhoods in St. Louis impacted students' understandings of diversity. Student writings,…

Given the current marginalization of the social studies within elementary classrooms it is vital that elementary educators seek integrative techniques that promote the social studies. This article explores one such example of integration taught by the authors within an elementary classroom. The three-day lesson taught to fifth-grade students aimed…

Students often feel powerless. They feel like passive observers as the tapestry of the world is woven around them. Social studies teachers need to show students examples of individuals who have acted as agents of social change. By focusing on a historical figure's agency, students can see the ripple effects that people's actions can have over…

Multicultural education aims for social justice and a democratic society in that education should eradicate structural inequality and unequal power among majority and minority groups. These critical aims of multicultural education have been toned down when it comes to practice. In many parts of the world, multicultural education is often…

This qualitative case study examines how fifth graders and their teachers participated in critical literacy instruction grounded in systems thinking on the topic of slavery. Systems thinking seeks to discover relationships and patterns in diverse underlying systems; critical literacy examines everyday texts, focuses on social justice and change,…

February 2017 marked the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 (EO 9066), issued on February 19, 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While this domestic aspect of World War II is often taught in secondary history classes, it is rarely studied in elementary schools. However, children's…

School segregation and inequity are deep-rooted realities in U.S. society. Despite historical efforts at integration, too many schools are de facto segregated, and those serving mostly students of color are routinely under-resourced when compared to those servicing mostly white students. Teachers and students can struggle to talk about this…

The document review method, which is a qualitative research method, was used in this study that aims to examine the social studies curriculum and course books in terms of attainments, teaching-learning process and measurement-evaluation process in the context of global citizenship. Furthermore, opinions of social studies teachers on the curriculum…