To Know Is Not Enough: How Teachers’ Social Justice Frameworks Inform Their Classroom Practices

• In Event: Transformative Resistance: Learning to Teach for Social Justice and Equity

Abstract

Teaching for social justice is an increasingly popular emphasis among P-12 teachers and teacher educators. However, there is little understanding of the relationship between teachers’ social justice frameworks and actual classroom practices. This paper examines how 24 secondary ELA teachers implement their vision of teaching for social justice, and explores trends in social justice ideology and practice that are relevant across content areas and contexts. The author also analyzes challenges associated with teaching for social justice in standards-based contexts, with an emphasis on how teachers reconcile and/or overcome those challenges. Finally, the author explores implications for teacher education, including how teacher educators might use this research to help beginning teachers address both social justice and content-related goals.

Author

• Alison George Dover, Northeastern University