The purpose of this theoretical paper is to provide a praxis oriented example of a qualitative methodology called portraiture for environmental justice and critical environmental education. The five essential elements for a portraiture study are context, voice, relationship, emergent themes, and aesthetic whole. Context is the frame, thus…

This study explores whether campus sense of community predicts critical consciousness among students. Analysis of a sample of 197 students showed a mixed relationship between campus sense of community and critical consciousness. Students who felt a sense of belonging were more likely to engage in sociopolitical action, whereas those who perceived…

We explore a site of unplanned, informal critical pedagogy and how raising critical consciousness occurs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students in England were required to pay rent for accommodation they could not occupy, or which offered reduced amenities. These undergraduates, who were largely first years, had yet to meet each other.…

Research in early childhood and elementary social studies education has illuminated how teachers can use children's literature to explore issues of injustice, elevate hidden histories, and affirm students' identities. Integrating children's literature into social studies instruction not only supports literacy education aims but also promotes…

In living history museums, where young people work and volunteer as historically dressed interpreters, participate in field trips, and attend summer camps, young people can simultaneously represent the past, the present and the future. In these spaces, they also shape the past through their questions, their retellings, and their reimaginings based…

Analyzing the impact of the Civil Rights Movement and the Post-civil Rights era, this article will attempt to delineate how marches and protests, while highlighting political and social injustices, do not holistically advance ideals of egalitarianism and cultural empowerment. It will discuss how an authentic Multi-cultural Education and honest…

Because she has seen students increasingly advocating for social justice and for their intersectional identities, Rachel Epp Buller hoped that developing a new course called Activism, Art, and Design might offer students models of how to leverage art for social change, while also connecting to their institution's values. She is an associate…

Unions have played a decisive role in promoting democracy and social justice in Tunisia. In 2023, two teacher unions led a yearlong 'silent strike' of withholding student marks from administration. Based on interviews with 60 teachers, this article analyses teacher views on the unions and on ongoing protests. While unions are still considered the…

This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to examine how health and physical education (HPE) curricula from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice in schools. The findings highlight the presence of social justice intentions across the five curricula as related…

Youth of Color in the United States are often leaders in movements for social justice. Evidence suggests that organizing has a positive macro-therapeutic effect on the mental health of young organizers; however, they can also experience strain and become targets of the very systems they are trying to change. In a community-based participatory…

The School Strike 4 Climate New Zealand (SS4CNZ) movement have organised and led four strikes between 2019 and 2021. With each successive strike, adult support for students' demands increased. Their most notable achievement was garnering sufficient support to pass Aotearoa New Zealand's Zero Carbon Bill into legislation. However, tensions with…

The purpose of the study was to construct the life history of Mateo, an American Latino/Hispanic college basketball coach. The study was guided by elements from Latino/a/x critical race (LatCrit) theory. Data were collected through formal semi-structured interviews, informal interviews, and documents and artifacts. They were analyzed by employing…

This article will discuss "reflections" by six youth activists in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, who were interviewed for an international collaborative research project which explored civic forms of youth-led activism which could lead to social change. The aim was to investigate different forms of civic engagement and youth activism in…

This teaching note reflects on the challenges we face when attempting to cultivate the seeds of social justice in our pedagogy and our engagement toward social justice. First, we situate our vision of pedagogy in a critical lens and present challenges we encounter when trying to foster activism among students. The challenges we identify allow us…

Education has recently gained new attention as a key strategy for addressing climate change. Much of these efforts are aimed at young people via formalized climate change education. At the same time, young people are increasingly engaging with climate change via activism and social movement participation. But to what extent does existent climate…