How Christian Social Studies Teachers Understand Teaching for Social Justice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Issues of Controversy in the Social Studies

Abstract

Most teachers in Saskatchewan schools come from Christian backgrounds. This inspired me to ask the following questions: (a) How do practicing Social Studies teachers who self-identify as Christian understand the term social justice? (b) How does their interpretation of social justice influence their teaching of values? The purpose of this research was three-fold: first, to further my understanding of how teachers support a more inclusionary civil society; second, to investigate how a person’s faith influences the ways in which they teach Social Studies; and third, to determine whether students in Social Studies are given the opportunity for on-going rational reflection of their values. The findings suggest that Christian teachers interested in social justice do support a more inclusionary civil society.

Author

• Paul Michael Orlowski, University of Saskatchewan