Category Archives: Social Studies

Preview of The Social Studies Curriculum (5th Edition)

The Social Studies Curriculum (5th Ed) The fifth edition of The Social Studies Curriculum: Purposes, Problems, and Possibilities will be published later this year by State University of New York Press.

The Social Studies Curriculum, Fifth Edition updates the definitive overview of the issues teachers face when creating learning experiences for students in social studies. The book connects diverse elements of the social studies curriculum – social issues, history, cultural studies – offering a unique and critical perspective that separates it from other texts. The social studies curriculum is contested terrain both epistemologically and politically and this completely updated book includes new chapters on politics of social studies curriculum, historical perspective, critical historical inquiry, Black education and critical race theory, whiteness and anti-racism, decolonial literacy and decolonizing the curriculum, gender and sexuality, Islamophobia, critical media literacy, evil in social studies, economics education, anarchism, children’s rights and Earth democracy, and citizenship education. Readers are encouraged to reconsider their assumptions and understandings of purposes, nature, and possibilities of the social studies curriculum.

Here’s a preview of the Table of Contents as as well as a a PDF of the book’s preface and introduction:

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction:  Curriculum Ideologies, Social Studies Traditions, and the Teacher-Curriculum Encounter
E. Wayne Ross

Part 1: Purposes of the Social Studies Curriculum

1. It is All Indoctrination: Power and the Impossibility of Apolitical Social Studies Curriculum
Wayne Au

 2. A Curricular Reading of Historical Perspective, Agency, and Viral Futures in Social Education
Kent den Heyer

3. A Critical Media Literacy Analysis of Social Studies Education
Emil Marmol

Part II: Social Issues and the Social Studies Curriculum

4. Beyond the Nation-State: A Foundational and Black Diasporic Examination of the Politics of Black Educational Curriculum
Christopher Busey & Tianna Dowie-Chin

5. The Politics of Black History in the United States: Black History Mandates and Anti-Critical Race Theory Laws
LaGarrett J. King, Brianne Pitts & Daniel Tulino

6. Does Social Studies Want to be Anti-Racist? Thoughts on Decentering Whiteness in Curriculum
Andrea M. Hawkman

7. Social Studies as a site for Building Decolonial Literacy
Shannon Leddy

8.Settler Social Studies: On Disappointment and Hope for the Future
Sarah Shear & Leilani Sabzalian

9. A Queer Agenda for Gender<>Sexuality and Social Education
Sandra J. Schmidt

10. Responding to Islamophobia in the Classroom
Özlem Sensoy

Part III: The Social Studies Curriculum in Practice

11. Critical Historical Inquiry: Disrupting the Dominant Narrative
Cinthia Salinas & Brooke Blevins

12.Studying Evil in Social Studies
Cathryn van Kessel

13. Does She Even Go Here? Economics and its Place in Social Studies Education
Erin C. Adams

14.An Eco-Anarchic Social Studies: Teaching for Children’s Rights and Earth Democracy
Brandon Edwards-Schuth & John Lupinacci

15.Teaching for Critically Engaged Denizenship: Lessons from Morocco on Teaching for an Empowered Other Civic Status
Jennice McCafferty Wright

16.Dangerous Citizenship
E. Wayne Ross

Part IV: Afterword

17. What is the Future of Social Studies Curriculum?
E. Wayne Ross

 

Critical Education Call for Manuscripts: Palestinian Liberation in Education

Critical Education

Palestinian Liberation in Education: Solidarities and Activism for a Free Palestine

Special Issue Editor:

Hanadi Shatara
Assistant Professor
California State University, Sacramento
h.shatara@csus.edu

Overview and Aims:

Starting even before 1948, Palestinians and activists for a free Palestine continue to raise global awareness of the oppression and struggles of the Palestinian people. The genocidal events of October 2023 in Gaza along with the continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians did not happen in a vacuum, but are informed by the historical context of Palestine and the continued activism that has expanded due to social media. Young Palestinian journalists such as Bisan Owda, Plestia Alaqad, and Motaz Azaiza are documenting in real time the atrocities within Gaza (Arafat, 2023) and many young social media consumers are speaking out and becoming civically engaged for Palestine (Roscoe, 2023), all while social media companies are censoring Palestine specific posts (Shankar, et al., 2023). Large scale protests and solidarity rallies for Palestine are happening around the world and almost every continent (Al Jazeera, 2023) with the possibility of free speech under threat in Europe when speaking for Palestine (Rajvanshi, 2023). Organizations led by young people such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, Students for Justice in Palestine university groups, and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center are showing the world capacity and volition for a free Palestine. With the increasing acts of civic engagement, these conversations have permeated into classrooms throughout the world.

Conversations on freedom dreaming for educational justice (Love, 2023) must connect social justice and critical education to Palestinian struggles, activism, and realities, and call for a free Palestine. Several critical education organizations have spoken out for Palestine and provided supports for educators and education researchers to use in their (un)learning. For example, the Abolitionist Teaching Network spoke in solidarity with Palestine on social media and curated resources for teachers in ways to teach Palestine and raise awareness of the liberation movement (Abolitionist Teaching Network, 2023). The Zinn Education Project (2023) in partnership with Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change also provided lessons and other resources to speak about the violence and historical context in Palestine.

Yet, with these avenues of resources, there is much to learn about Palestine in the context of education. Silencing occurs within educational spaces, through social studies and ethnic studies curriculum (Morrar, 2020; Shatara, 2022) and dismissing the experiences of Palestinian young people in schools (Abu El-Haj, 2015; Shatara 2023). For example, in November 2023, a Palestinian American boy was suspended for saying “Free Palestine” when another student called him a terrorist (Conybeare & Ramos, 2023). Given these realities, how do critical educators decolonize their teaching and research to connect to themes of global oppression, resistance, solidarity, freedom dreaming, and liberation for and with Palestine and Palestinians?

Description of Invited Articles:

For this issue, I invite scholars, educators, and activists to connect their work in education to Palestine. I seek submissions for a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, empirical and conceptual research, critical social theoretical framings, and varying formats to engage with solidarities and educational activism for Palestine. Papers can be conceptual, theoretical, empirical with varying critical methodologies. Potential manuscripts can include interviews with Palestinian teachers and activists, book, film, curricula, and media reviews, field reports, as well as traditional academic papers. Some of the questions, but not limited to these, that papers can engage with include:

  • What does it mean to be a critical educator with regards to Palestine?
  • How can or do educators support the centering and (un)learning of Palestine in critical education work?
  • How do global themes of (settler) colonialism, imperialism, oppression, resistance, solidarity, freedom dreaming, and joy connect to the overall mission of critical education?
  • How can Critical Race Studies, decolonial and post-colonial theories frame the work in education for Palestine?
  • How can teachers and activists work together to teach Palestine in classrooms?

Timeline:

Abstracts (500 words) due to Editor via email (h.shatara@csus.edu): February 28, 2024.
Decisions of Acceptance: March 15, 2024
Manuscript due to Editor: August 9, 2024
Manuscripts under review: August 10 – September 30, 2024
Manuscripts returned to authors for revision: October 11, 2024
Final Manuscript due to Editor: November 8, 2024
Publication of Special Issue: December 6, 2024

About the Editor:

Dr. Hanadi Shatara is an Assistant Professor at California State University, Sacramento. She received her doctorate in Social Studies Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on critical global education, critical world history, teacher positionalities, the representations of Southwest Asia and North Africa, Palestinian and Arab American teachers, the teaching of Palestine, and teacher education. Her work is published in The Critical Social Educator, Social Studies and the Young Learner, Social Studies Research and Practice, and Curriculum Inquiry. She has also published several book chapters with the most recent called “This is not about religion: Troubling the perceptions of Palestine and Palestinians” with co-author Dr. Muna Saleh in the edited volume Religion, the First Amendment, and Public Schools: Stories from K-12 and Teacher Education Classrooms. Dr. Shatara was also a middle school social studies teacher for seven years in Philadelphia, PA, where she became a National Board Certified Teacher.

About Critical Education:

 Critical Education is an international, refereed, open access journal published by the Institute for Critical Education Studies (ICES). Contributions critically examine contemporary education contexts, practices, and theories. Critical Education publishes theoretical and empirical research as well as articles that advance educational practices that challenge the existing state of affairs in society, schools, higher education, and informal education. ICES, Critical Education, and its companion publication Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, defend the freedom, without restriction or censorship, to disseminate and publish reports of research, teaching, and service, and to express critical opinions about institutions or systems and their management. Co-Directors of ICES, co-Hosts of ICES and Workplace blogs, and co-Editors of these journals resist all efforts to limit the exercise of academic freedom and intellectual freedom, recognizing the right of criticism by authors or contributors.

Author Guidelines: https://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/about/submissions

References

Abolitionist Teaching Network [@ATN_1863]. (2023, November 17). Our schools continue to be a vital space for teaching and organizing for a free Palestine. Here are a few resources to inspire conversations in your classrooms. Comment ⬇️ with materials & lesson plans you’re finding inspiring & activating #Educators4Palestine [Images attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ATN_1863/status/1725700843729473713?s=20.

Abu El-Haj, T. R. (2015). Unsettled Belonging: Educating Palestinian American Youth after 9/11. University of Chicago Press.

Al Jazeera. (2023, November 17). In photos: People protest Israel’s war on Gaza across the world. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/11/17/photos-people-protest-israeli-war-on-gaza-across-the-world.

Arafat, Z. (2022, December 29). Gaza through my Instagram feed. New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bisan-plestia-motaz-gaza-through-my-instagram-feed.html.

Conybeare, W. & Ramos, A. R. (2023, November 15). Orange County student suspended for saying ‘Free Palestine,’ family claims. KTLA. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/orange-county-student-suspended-for-saying-free-palestine/#:~:text=The%20family%20of%20a%20student,being%20suspended%20for%20three%20days.

Love, B. (2023). Punished for dreaming: How school reform harms Black children and how we heal. St. Martin’s Press.

Morrar, S. (2020, November 6). Changes to ethnic studies in California include expansion on Asian American lessons The Sacramento Bee. https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article247016937.html.

Rajvanshi, A. (2023, October 23). Europe’s balancing act: Protecting free speech while curbing anti-Israel rhetoric. Time. https://time.com/6326360/europe-palestine-protests-free-speech/.

Roscoe, J. (2023, November 13). TikTok: It’s not the algorithm, teens are just pro-Palestine. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjb8b/tiktok-its-not-the-algorithm-teens-are-just-pro-palestine.

Shankar, P., Dixit, P., & Siddiqui, U. (2023, October 24). Shadowbanning: Are social media giants censoring pro-Palestine voices? Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/24/shadowbanning-are-social-media-giants-censoring-pro-palestine-voices.

Shatara, H. (2022). “Existence is Resistance”: Palestine and Palestinians in social studies education. In S. B. Shear, N. H. Merchant, & W. Au (Eds.), Insurgent social studies: Scholar-Educators disrupting erasure & marginality. Myers Education Press.

Shatara, H. (2023). Critical Political Consciousness within Nepantla as Transformative: The Experiences and Pedagogy of a Palestinian World History Teacher. Curriculum Inquiry. 53(1), 28-48. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2022.2123214

Zinn Education Project. (2023, December 4). Teaching About the Violence in Palestine and Israel. Zinn Education Project. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/violence-in-israel-and-gaza/.

Rethinking Schools’ recent recommendations for social justice resources

Rethinking Schools‘ recent picks social justice resources includes a wide variety of resources including picture books, novels, films, and education policy and practice.

I’m proud to have contributed to one the recommended resources, Insurgent Social Studies: Scholar Educators Disrupting Erasure and Marginality (Myers Education Press, 2022), edited by Natasha Hakimali Merchant, Sarah B. Shear and Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools says:

“In the introduction to Insurgent Social Studies, the editors’ opening line is “Social studies education in the United States is a problem.” The problem is that the field of social studies has historically been dominated by white men, and this book serves as an intervention to that problem. Chapters in this collection offer perspectives and analyses of social studies from a variety of groups that have typically been marginalized, including the need for anticolonial social studies, Black Lives Matter in the social studies, the necessity of teaching about Palestine as part of social studies curriculum, challenging whiteness in social studies education, and queering world history, among others. This is an important collection for learning about social studies research and practices that are not typically included in the field.”

Introduction
We Won’t Wait Any Longer: An Introduction and Invitation to Insurgency for Social Studies
Natasha Hakimali Merchant, Sarah B. Shear, and Wayne Au

Chapter 1
Insurgence Must Be Red: Connecting Indigenous Studies and Social Studies Education for Anticolonial Praxis
The Turtle Island Social Studies Collective

Chapter 2
Solidarity Is a Verb: What the Black Lives Matter Movement Can Teach Social Studies About the Intersectional Fight Against Anti-Black Racism
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson

Chapter 3
The Audacity of Equality: Disrupting the Distortion of Asian America in Social Studies
Noreen Naseem Rodríguez and Esther June Kim

Chapter 4
“Existence is Resistance”: Palestine and Palestinians in Social Studies Education
H. Shatara

Chapter 5
Insurgente: A Familia in Conversation About Latinxs Voices in the Field of Social Studies
La Familia Aponte-Safe Tirado Díaz Beltrán Ender Busey Christ 

Chapter 6

Unsatisfied: The Conceptual Terrain of De-Essentializing Islam in Social Studies
Natasha Hakimali Merchant

Chapter 7
Queer Worlding as Historical Inquiry for Insurgent Freedom-Dreaming
Tadashi Dozono

Chapter 8
Democracy Is Interdisciplinary: The Case for Radical Civic Innovation Across Content Areas

Antero Garcia, Nicole Mirra, and Mark Gomez

Chapter 9
Cultural Bombs and Dangerous Classes: Social Studies Education as State Apparatus in the War on Terror
Jennice McCafferty-Wright

Chapter 10
Whiteness and White Responsibility in Social Studies
Andrea M. Hawkman

Afterword
Insurgent Social Studies and Dangerous Citizenship
E. Wayne Ross

About the Authors

Index

 

New online cohort: MEd in Social Studies Education at University of British Columbia

New online cohort: MEd in Social Studies Education at University of British Columbia | Curriculum, Historical inquiry, & Pedagogy (CHiP)

Issues of equity, diversity, and social justice serve as foundational lenses for interrogating social studies curriculum and pedagogy.

Application deadline January 30, 2023.

This graduate program delves into key aspects of social studies curricula with connections to historical thinking, historical consciousness, visual culture, anti-oppressive and anti-racism education, gender studies, moral education, and the history and politics of curriculum.

The cohort-based model invites you to work through the program in a collaborative community of practice. Students in this program will construct strong, foundational knowledge about teaching and learning in social studies. Building on that base, you will investigate the ways in which inquiry, inter-culturalism, and 21st century teaching and learning are central to social studies education.

By the end of the 26-month program, students will have a wealth of knowledge to share. During the first semester of the program, incoming students will have a chance to learn from graduating students though a mini conference where they will share what they have learned and consider how it can help other Social Studies teachers in their contexts.

This program is offered by the Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy.

Objectives

Through the program, students will consider theories, principles, and practices in social studies education related to:

  • Critical analysis of dominant and alternative theories of learning, teaching, and assessment in Social Studies,
  • Improvement of practice through the study of educational theory, philosophy, and practice in Social Studies,
  • Analysis of different approaches to curriculum development and implementation and their impact on social studies teaching and learning,
  • The place of curriculum and pedagogy for social studies education in historical context, understanding the social, political, economic, and cultural factors that direct past, present, and future decision making, and
  • Using an inquiry stance toward your professional practice as an educator in a variety of settings.

Additionally, students will continually reflect on what they are learning and consider how it can help them understand the aims and purposes underlying social studies curricula in their contexts. This knowledge can then be used to inform new practices in their educational contexts.

Information sessions (via Zoom).

How to apply.

More information.

International Conference on Education in Historical and Democratic Memory

EDUCATION IN HISTORICAL AND DEMOCRATIC MEMORY

TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR ERNESTO GÓMEZ

Faculty of Educational Sciences

University of Malaga, Spain

October 26-28, 2022

Desde febrero de 2020, en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Málaga, EDUSOC (Grupo de Investigación HUM 856 Educación Social y Ciudadana) organiza las Jornadas Memoria y Olvido en la Enseñanza de la Historia, junto a la asociación INCIDE (Inclusión, Ciudadanía, Diversidad y Educación), con el apoyo del Consejo Social de la universidad y la Asociación contra el Silencio y el Olvido y por la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica de Málaga. De esta forma desarrollamos y visibilizamos prácticas formativas y docentes en torno a Lugares de la Memoria Democrática relevantes para la historiografía, pero desconocidos para la práctica educativa. Abordamos el fenómeno de la Desbandá o la huida de población civil de las tropas sublevadas que la bombardea por tierra, mar y aire, dando lugar al que es reconocido como el episodio más cruento de la Guerra Civil, con una cifra indeterminada de 3000 a 5000 víctimas. Cuenta con un especial tratamiento el antiguo Cementerio de San Rafael, la mayor fosa común en Europa Occidental, al haber sido escenario de la represión ejercida por los bandos contendientes y hasta los años 50, durante la Dictadura Franquista. El trabajo arqueológico ha descubierto 9 fosas comunes, 4300 víctimas identificadas, 2800 cuerpos recuperados, entre ellos 300 infantiles, muertos en la Cárcel de Mujeres.

En esta ocasión, con ayuda de la Secretaría de Estado de Memoria Democrática, celebraremos el I Congreso Internacional sobre Educación en Memoria Histórica y Democrática para participar en el debate público abierto, a causa de la tramitación parlamentaria y aprobación de la Ley de Memoria Democrática. Un evento científico de estas características puede aportar elementos de discusión vinculados con el Cap. IV Del deber de Memoria Democrática, en concreto relacionados con el artículo 56 Cumplir la importante misión educativa y de trasmisión de valores. A ello se suma la aprobación de los Reales Decretos de la LOMLOE, que siguiendo el artículo 45 de la anterior ley, recoge medidas en materia educativa como la actualización de contenidos curriculares y formación del profesorado.

Con todo ello queremos contribuir a visibilizar prácticas educativas, pero sobre todo a impulsar una investigación que aborde los desafíos éticos del futuro, la construcción de conciencia histórica y ciudadanía democrática. Esa tarea no podemos abordarla sin reflexionar e investigar de forma sistemática sobre cómo y por qué se abordan en el aula pasados en conflicto. El profesorado y el alumnado se debate en ese contexto, entre problemas pedagógicos y políticos, pero también a reacciones afectivas, a frustraciones y confusiones que necesitamos conocer para avanzar en el conocimiento didáctico.

+++++

Since February 2020, at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Malaga, EDUSOC (Research Group HUM 856 Social and Citizen Education) organizes the Memory and Forgetfulness Conference in the Teaching of History, together with the INCIDE association (Inclusion, Citizenship, Diversity and Education), with the support of the Social Council of the university and the Association against Silence and Oblivion and for the Recovery of the Historical Memory of Malaga. In this way we develop and make visible training and teaching practices around Places of Democratic Memory relevant to historiography, but unknown to educational practice. We address the phenomenon of the Desbandá or the flight of the civilian population from the rebel troops that bombard it by land, sea and air, giving rise to what is recognized as the bloodiest episode of the Civil War, with an undetermined figure of 3,000 to 5,000 victims. The old San Rafael Cemetery, the largest mass grave in Western Europe, has received special treatment, as it was the scene of the repression exerted by the contending sides and until the 1950s, during the Franco dictatorship. Archaeological work has discovered 9 mass graves, 4,300 victims identified, 2,800 bodies recovered, including 300 children, who died in the Women’s Prison. during the Franco dictatorship. Archaeological work has discovered 9 mass graves, 4,300 victims identified, 2,800 bodies recovered, including 300 children, who died in the Women’s Prison. during the Franco dictatorship. Archaeological work has discovered 9 mass graves, 4,300 victims identified, 2,800 bodies recovered, including 300 children, who died in the Women’s Prison.

On this occasion, with the help of the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, we will celebrate the I International Congress on Education in Historical and Democratic Memory to participate in the open public debate, due to the parliamentary processing and approval of the Democratic Memory Law. A scientific event of these characteristics can contribute elements of discussion linked to Chap. IV Of the duty of Democratic Memory, specifically related to article 56 Comply with the important educational mission and transmission of values. Added to this is the approval of the Royal Decrees of the LOMLOE, which, following article 45 of the previous law, includes measures in educational matters such as updating curricular content and teacher training.

With all this we want to contribute to making educational practices visible, but above all to promote research that addresses the ethical challenges of the future, the construction of historical awareness and democratic citizenship. We cannot tackle this task without systematically reflecting and investigating how and why conflicting pasts are addressed in the classroom. Teachers and students debate in this context, between pedagogical and political problems, but also affective reactions, frustrations and confusions that we need to know to advance in didactic knowledge.

Conference web stite

Program

#edusocmemoria

Book Cover Social Studies in Latin America

New book: Social Studies in Latin America: Critical Perspectives from the Global South

I’m very pleased to announce the publication of Social Studies in Latin America: Critical Perspectives from the Global South. Published by Routledge and co-edited by Sebastián Plá and me, this the first book in a new series titled Social Studies and Citizenship Education in the Global South.

Social Studies in Latin America offers a path forward, for the growing collaboration in social studies education between Global North and South educators, practitioners, and researchers. In this volume, leading critical social studies education researchers from Latin America explore the constant presence of colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and state violence.  Chapter contributors represent a large part of the continent, and offer perspectives on a wide range of topics, including; recent history and memory, cultural dimensions of social studies education, and comparative studies among Latin American countries.

By bringing together this critical work in one volume, the book fosters conversation across geographic regions to transcend the national contexts for which these analyses are generally produced. This collection provides insights into issues of curriculum, teaching, teacher education and research in the region and will be of interest to readers both familiar with and new to research on social studies, history, citizenship, and geography education in Latin America.

Citation:

Plá, S., & Ross, E. W. (Eds.). (2023). Social studies education in Latin America: Critical perspectives from the Global South. Routledge. (Published August 30, 2022)

Reviews

Social Studies Education in Latin America is an achievement and an opportunity to facilitate a better exchange of ideas and more equal academic discussion. Written by leading researchers in Latin America and edited by key authorities in the field, it opens access to Latin American social studies research in their own words. The book is an essential read for social studies academics and practitioners who are open to being challenged and engaging in more ethical constructions of knowledge.

Edda Sant, Reader in Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

There is an essential uniqueness toSocial Studies Education in Latin America that could truly benefit social studies education in North America. We are in urgent need of a global len s and vital dialogue that examines the political, economic, and social histories inherent to Central and South America. Like none before, this book will bring to our classrooms perspectives on power and a wonderful opportunity to shift our practices.

Cinthia Salinas, Ruben E. Hinojosa Regents Professor in Education, University of Texas at Austin, USA

The collection of critical research on social studies in Latin America, in dialogue with global issues, makes Social Studies Education in Latin America an indispensable contribution to the renewal of critical social studies education.

Antoni Santisteban Fernández, Professor & Director of the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature, and Social Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

Social Studies Education in Latin America offers readers vital insights into critical teaching and learning. The chapters call upon educators to account for the classed, gendered, and racialized nature of systems born in Empire and inequality and for the capacities of communities to learn themselves into a more just co-existence.

Kent den Heyer, Professor, Department of Secondary Education, University of Alberta, Canada

Language has become a barrier to knowledge and exchange between research carried out in countries whose language is of Latin origin, in our case Spanish and Portuguese. It is important to promote and discuss the knowledge created in Latin America, which makes Social Studies Education in Latin America relevant.

Ángel Díaz-Barriga, Institute for Research on the University and Education, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

Table of Contents

Preface

1. The New Social Studies Research in Latin America: An Introduction
Sebastián Plá & E. Wayne Ross

2. Educational Trajectories in an Adverse Political Context: The Social Sciences and History in the Colombian School
Sandra Patricia Rodríguez Ávila

3. Education, History, and Memory in the Chilean School: A Perspective on Chile’s Recent History from the Narratives of High School Students
Fabián González Calderón & Graciela Rubio Soto

4. Interculturalism in the Training of History Teachers: Persistence of the Disciplinary Code
Omar Turra Díaz & Juan Salcedo-Parada

5. Decolonial Pedagogy: Intersections and Resistances of Memory and History, in Mapuche Communities of Southern Chile
Carolina Huenchullán Arrué

6. Afrodescendant in Latin America and Social Studies: A Perspective from Mexico
Gabriela Iturralde Nieto

7. When Gender and Sexuality Intersect with History Teaching: Brazil is Burning
Fernando Seffner

8. Crossroads of History Teaching and Learning and Political Science in Latin America: TheResidenteProject
Luis Fernando Cerri

9. Disciplinary Codex in History Education
María Paula González

10. On the History We Teach Every Day: Historics, Historiography and Philosophy of History
Ana Zavala

11. The Critical Reading of the Southern Geographical Reality: The Challenge of School Geography
José Armando Santiago Rivera

12. The Panorama of Social Studies in Latin America Curricula
Sebastián Plá

Insurgent Social Studies

 

Insurgent Social Studies: Scholar-Educators Disrupting Erasure and Marginality has just been published by Myers Education Press.

The collection brings together contributions from a “new(er)” generation of social studies scholar-educators who take as one of their starting points a social studies curriculum that is “designed to erase or otherwise marginalize voices, bodies, and experiences not accepted by or created for the benefit of white supremacist society.”

The project was inspired by Wayne Au’s conception of pedagogy of insurgency. Au describes this kind of pedagogy as requiring:

  • Bravery and risk, as rebellious educators take the step of fighting back against social and educational injustice in public and visible ways.
  • Allies, accomplices, and solidarity, as educators and community members come together across different identities in order to build a more broad-based and effective movement for educational justice. This, in turn, also helps to mitigate risk.
  • Understanding organizing, protest, and demonstrations as a valuable and worthwhile form of pedagogy and curriculum in itself.
  • Using critical analyses of power as a central approach for teaching and learning about social and educational injustice.
  • Developing a curriculum of insurgency for educators, students, and the community to engage in critical analyses of power in schools and society.
  • Embracing schools as sites of both oppression and liberation, and in the process also reimagining the role that schools can play in broader social change.
  • Connecting to broader social movements, as educators, students, and community see and understand that their own struggles for justice and liberation are part of broader, historic traditions in the fight for change.

The editors, Natasha Hakimali Merchant, Sarah B. Shear and Wayne Au, argue that “taken as a whole, a pedagogy of insurgency seeks to understand and at least partially explain the ways that teachers have the power – through pedagogy, curriculum, and community activism – to actively resist injustice while also working towards a more radically just world.

This is a path-breaking work in social studies education and anyone who is engaged and the political/pedagogical struggles for social justice in schools and the larger society will benefit from reading this collection.

I want to thank the editor for inviting me to write a brief Afterword.

Table of Contents

Introduction – We Won’t Wait Any Longer: An Introduction and Invitation to Insurgency for Social Studies
Natasha Hakimali Merchant, Sarah B. Shear, and Wayne Au

1. Insurgence Must Be Red: Connecting Indigenous Studies and Social Studies Education for Anticolonial Praxis
The Turtle Island Social Studies Collective

2. Solidarity Is a Verb: What the Black Lives Matter Movement Can Teach Social Studies About the Intersectional Fight Against Anti-Black Racism
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson

3. The Audacity of Equality: Disrupting the Distortion of Asian America in Social Studies
Noreen Naseem Rodríguez and Esther June Kim

4. “Existence Is Resistance”: Palestine and Palestinians in Social Studies Education
Hanadi Shatara

5. Insurgente: A Familia in Conversation About Latinxs Voices in the Field of Social Studies
La Familia Aponte-Safe Tirado Díaz Beltrán Ender Busey Christ

6. Unsatisfied: The Conceptual Terrain of De-Essentializing Islam in Social Studies
Natasha Hakimali Merchant

7. Queer Worlding as Historical Inquiry for Insurgent Freedom-Dreaming
Tadashi Dozono

8. Democracy Is Interdisciplinary: The Case for Radical Civic Innovation Across Content Areas
Antero Garcia, Nicole Mirra, and Mark Gomez

9. Cultural Bombs and Dangerous Classes: Social Studies Education as State Apparatus in the War on Terror
Jennice McCafferty-Wright

10. Whiteness and White Responsibility in Social Studies
Andrea M. Hawkman

Afterword – Insurgent Social Studies and Dangerous Citizenship
E. Wayne Ross