Scaffolding for Social Action: Examining the Potential for Change in a Public School Civics Classroom

• In Event: Disrupt, Resist, Refuse: Civic Engagement as Critical Social Action

Abstract

While antiracist, problem-posing, and culturally relevant curriculum are effective in teaching students how to deconstruct the world, in practice, social justice education often falls short of helping students reconstruct those instances. In response, researchers in this study implemented a social justice action project for high school students that focused on enacting social change. Students engaged in first identifying a social problem and then addressed the issue through a guided and scaffolded process that led to direct action. This study discusses the process of the project as well as locates several patterns that emerged to provide recommendations for critical educators looking to incite student activism and social action in their classrooms.

Authors

• Ashley Summer Boyd, Washington State University - Pullman

• Nicole Ferry, Washington State University

• Matthew Scott Jeffries, Washington State University

• Johnna Lash, Washington State University - Pullman