"We Don’t Have a Curriculum”: The Lack of Resources in Elementary Social Justice Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Equity and Social Justice to Activate Student Agency (Table 8)

Abstract

As young people have more access to information and higher levels of social consciousness, elementary educators are considering their role in shaping youth understanding of social issues. In this exploratory study, I investigate how 17 K-2nd grade teachers teach their students about social justice. I use Dover’s (2013) Dimensions of Teaching for Social Justice as a theoretical framework. The findings demonstrate the lack of resources for teaching about social justice at the elementary level and the implications of those lacking resources. This results in inconsistent social justice education that varies widely in quality. When done poorly, teaching about social justice can cause more harm than good, so efforts to help create meaningful, high-quality social justice education materials are needed.

Author

• Shelby M Kretz, Little Justice Leaders