When social justice education is conducted in religious education (RE) classes, it can take the forms of education about (concepts and facts), into (enhancing commitment), with (negotiating practices) and through (pupil-led action) social justice. The first three approaches were used in seven RE lessons observed in urban Finnish lower secondary…

Increasingly, science teachers are seeking phenomena that will allow them to explore both scientific content and socially relevant issues. The authors describe a series of lessons that (1) model the exoneration of wrongly convicted individuals using the science of DNA analysis and (2) contextualize individual cases within a larger system where…

Co-teaching is a social justice pedagogy that can increase educational access to groups of students who have historically been underserved and segregated in their schools. However, a school leader's failure to ensure inclusive cultures and critical support is its greatest obstacle. This retrospective, written by a former administrator and a…

In recognition of growing economic inequality and rapid transformation in the world of work, we seek to understand how young people perceive their futures to develop career development education that supports both personal goals and promotes social and economic justice. Thirty-six students attending high-performing high schools in the United…

This paper provides insight into working-class parents' views of the structural and systemic injustices shaping post-school options and opportunities in contemporary Australia, drawing on interview data with a group of mothers living in growth corridor suburbs in the outer west of Melbourne. Illustrating aspects of Berlant's (2011) notion of…

Abolitionist dreamers have called for justice-oriented teachers to teach K-12 students with marginalized identities through methods of critical and culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogies (Freire, 1970/2018; Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995/2021; Paris & Alim, 2014); acts of love, care, hope, and healing (Ginwright, 2016; Love, 2019); and…

This comparative case study examines the experiences of two Latinx teachers in the Southeastern United States who navigate critical social studies without substantive support in their schools. Their school spaces and experiences are myriad and overlapping, but generally the teachers describe being outside the traditional social studies curriculum,…

Manifest in research, national policy, and instructional standards, the United States has a long-documented interest in teachers as 'content experts.' Yet, research offers limited empirical examinations of teachers' discipline-specific critical content knowledges--their curricular agility in noticing and disrupting power and oppression, and…

This case examines the pressing need for systemic equity and social justice in educational structures in the society of the United States (US). The case critiques the inadequate responses to racial justice and highlights the challenges faced in enacting meaningful educational reform amidst declining patriotism and cultural schisms. Introducing…

This book explores teacher well-being in light of the increasingly ethnically diverse profiles of schools and classrooms, focusing on socially and linguistically diverse teaching contexts. It draws attention to the socio-economic disadvantages that can often be characteristic of ethnically diverse classrooms, prior to examining and reviewing the…

In this article, the authors argue that curriculum needs to change, bringing school knowledge into greater proximity to community 'problems that matter' (PTMs) and gathering students, community members, teachers and academics with relevant knowledge to work on the problem. Illustrating this orientation through a collaborative project in a local…

Several mathematicians, social scientists, and psychologists have written about the role that mathematics has played in disenfranchising traditionally marginalized groups. Mathematics educators who are concerned with equity and inclusion have been calling for mathematics curricula that place social justice at the center of mathematics teaching and…

This article chronicles a community coalition's efforts to revitalize a "failing" school, the Walter H. Dyett High School in Chicago. It tells the story of one group of people fighting to keep a school open and, moreover, to see it reflect their vision for their community and their children's education. We see that this community's…

Given the current political context in the United States, the increased explicit and implicit othering of marginalized communities, and the related societal fracturing--often along ideological lines--this article calls for educators to support and participate in school-community partnerships explicitly framed through a lens of social justice to…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Bridging the Digital Divide." Contents include: (1) Texas High School Attrition…