Education for Good Humans: Challenges of Teaching Early Elementary School Students About Social Justice

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 12:40 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Unraveling Challenges to Social Justice Through Youth Activism and Agency (Table 36)

Abstract

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. In this exploratory qualitative study, I interviewed 17 K 2nd grade teachers who teach their students about social justice. I apply Dover’s (2013) Dimensions of Teaching for Social Justice as the theoretical framework to guide understanding of the results. The findings show the complex ways in which teachers address challenging topics of social justice while navigating the various social and political contexts of classroom and school environments.

Author

• Shelby M Kretz, Little Justice Leaders