With a change in access to information and a rising social and political consciousness for young people, elementary schools must start to think more about their role in shaping kids' understanding of social issues. While researchers certainly have not agreed upon a single definition of social justice education, Bell (2016) defines its aim as…

This study explores the racial pedagogical decision making of teachers presented with the opportunity to address the #BlackLivesMatter movement in their classroom. Findings of more than 4,000 teachers indicate that suburban, urban, African American and Latino/a were most likely to address BLM through an antiracist positioning. Rural and more…

Until recently, many early childhood educators, particularly those in nontraditional preschool spaces, leaned on a color-evasive approach to their work, largely ignoring systemic racism and bias, claiming love and acceptance of all children in their care. While well-intentioned, these practices left young children to construct their own…

The annual What's Hot in Literacy survey was conducted to determine what topics are currently receiving attention, and how they are being addressed effectively within schools and in the emerging research. Twenty-five literacy experts served as panelists and were interviewed to determine which of the 30 topics were a focus of current attention. The…

This dissertation examines the meaning-making of children (ages 2-5) as they read and play with picture books related to social justice themes, such as identity and diversity, in a preschool and childcare center. The study goal is to investigate the analysis of children's meaning-making of picture books to understand the social world around them…

This article explores the outcomes of instruction employing a pedagogy of discomfort (or disequilibrium)--a teaching style that embraces discomfort as a part of the learning process--in a teacher preparation program. Drawing on data from a case study, we present findings from our work involving teacher candidates in discussions about social…

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia has long been associated with the concept of social justice, however, a clear understanding of what it looks like across diverse services and communities is not available. This article reports the process of inquiry, as well as the outcomes, of a small-scale study designed to uncover the…

This systematic review aims to identify the Discourses (Gee, 2000) invoked regarding justice in PK-12 mathematics education literature, linking visions and practice. The three Discourses of Justice presented in this manuscript draw upon different visions of justice, where the differences arise through the proposed locus of change -- the individual…

Gallagher and Sahni elaborate on their decade-long collaboration, focussing here on their latest multi-sited ethnographic study, Youth, Theatre, Radical Hope and the Ethical Imaginary: an intercultural investigation of drama pedagogy, performance and civic engagement (2014-2019) and the pedagogy and theatre work carried out at Prerna School for…

In this article I examine how teachers in a rural school in Australia produce social justice through their everyday teaching practices. Drawing on data from a qualitative study using focus groups and semi-structured interviews, I focus on teachers' enactments of social justice pedagogies amidst social class divisions in the community. I draw on…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

A good deal of scholarship on social justice in early childhood education explores antibias curriculum and pedagogy at the classroom level. Antibias education refers to a specific approach to social justice teaching that was first developed by a group of educators in California in the 1980s (DermanSparks & A.B.C. Task Force, 1989). Since then,…

In this essay, I reflect on my lived experiences as a girl child growing up in my home country of Botswana, and also as a mother in a foreign country, Canada. I am experimenting with my personal essay and making connections with academic articles that will help me understand my behaviors, attitudes, and responses to challenging situations that…

This research explored the nuances of co-creating and implementing a co-constructed and reconceptualized Kindergarten mathematics curriculum including innovative teaching practices such as number talks, math baskets, and counting collections to examine their impact on a student's mathematical identity, mindset, and content knowledge. The goal of…

This study explored the benefits of using critical multicultural education (Critical multicultural education examines all forms of marginalization in order to develop new possibilities and opportunities for all groups) in the current context of globalization. Preservice teachers (N = 17) experienced a variety of instructional activities, including…