Cultivating Agents of Change in Children

Silva, Janelle M.; Langhout, Regina Day

doi:10.1080/00933104.2011.10473447

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…8Although critical democratic education has been gaining traction, the field is not new. Recent literature builds on work in prior decades exploring efforts to build students’ critical democratic consciousness through classroom discussion and other activities, including research by Andreotti (2006), Apple and Beane (2007), Banks (1998, 2008), Boler (2004), Crocco, 2002; Ellsworth (1989), Engle and Ochoa (1988), Howard (2004), Hursh and Ross (2000), Johnson and Morris (2010), Miller-Lane, Howard, & Halagao, 2007; Knight Abowitz and Harnish (2006), Rubin (2007), Silva and Langhout (2011), Wade (2001), and Westheimer and Kahne (2004).…”

Section: Research On Critical Democratic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Democratic Education in Practice: Evidence from An Experienced Teacher's Classroom

Sibbett

2022

The Journal of Social Studies Research

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Ever-increasing numbers of teachers are expressing commitments to social justice education today, but few experienced critical or democratic education in their own schooling or in their teaching practicum. Thus, teachers’ critical democratic commitments can be difficult to put into practice, especially in classrooms where students with diverse and unequal positionalities are engaged in learning together – what I call “heterogeneous” classrooms. Education that is “democratic” (that includes a range of warranted perspectives) can seem to come into conflict with education that is “critical” (that elevates and centers marginalized perspectives). We have little research depicting how educators meet such challenges. This paper depicts an experienced and committed social justice educator wrestling with difficult problems in the enactment of critical democratic education. Mr. Crane regularly engaged his racially and linguistically heterogeneous students in discussions of social issues, and during these discussions regularly encountered practical facilitation challenges posed by inequality among students. He wrestled with how to elevate students of color's views without spotlighting them, and how to challenge dominant perspectives without shaming the students who voiced them. Drawing on qualitative data from classroom observations and interviews, I depict Mr. Crane making sense of and mobilizing emergent instructional responses to these challenges – with, by his own reckoning, mixed results. One instructional routine, an impromptu version of a critical inquiry, was flagged by Mr. Crane as a promising method for navigating some of the trickiest problems of critical democratic education practice. This paper's findings demonstrate that enacting critical democratic education is not easy. Even experienced and committed social justice educators struggle with how to put their critical values into practice. By making visible one experienced critical democratic educator's recurring problems of practice, my research acknowledges the difficulties of this work and contributes to problem-framing. Furthermore, by deconstructing a promising routine for impromptu critical inquiry during classroom discussions of social issues, this research contributes a model of effective critical democratic education in practice.

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Section: Research On Critical Democratic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Democratic Education in Practice: Evidence from An Experienced Teacher's Classroom

Sibbett

2022

The Journal of Social Studies Research

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“…Guided by Freire's concept of praxis, critical citizenship education emphasizes the development of critical consciousness combined with that of social action (DeJaeghere, 2009). Specifically, it aims to develop students' ability to critically analyze larger social systems that maintain asymmetrical power relations and utilize individual acts of power to transform such social systems (Silva & Langhout, 2011).…”

Section: Critical Citizenship Education Against Neoliberal Education ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Crafting a third space: Integrative strategies for implementing critical citizenship education in a standards-based classroom

Cho

2018

The Journal of Social Studies Research

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In the transformative era of globalization, traditional conceptions of citizenship are challenged by a new idea of citizenship education in which students are empowered to get involved in civic actions designed to promote social justice. This single case study extends scholarship on critical citizenship education by illuminating the experience of a South Korean elementary teacher who effectively implemented the teaching of critical consciousness and social action skills in the standards-based social studies classroom by responding creatively to the mandated standards. The findings highlight three instructional strategies that the teacher created to deal with dilemmas recognized in the practice of critical citizenship education. Practical implications are provided to help teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders craft better opportunities for children to be engaged in critical citizens.

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“…When the arts are central in education, students benefit in numerous important ways, developing critical and creative thinking skills, empathy, self-awareness, and the ability to collaborate with others productively (Robinson, 2015). Arts-based educational projects have immense potential to spur discussion and encourage social action among primary-level students (Silva and Langhout, 2011). The many connections between aesthetic theories and social studies learning goals support the effectiveness of integrated learning experiences involving the arts and social studies (Garrett and Kerr, 2016).…”

Section: Exemplars In Elementary Teacher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Professors encouraged them to connect course content with these experiences and plan future social justice-oriented instruction. Exemplary arts-centered lessons, integrated meaningfully and explicitly with social studies and literacy skills and concepts, can serve as springboards for further investigation into the critical role of the arts in developing elementary-level education focused on social justice (Garrett and Kerr, 2016;Silva and Langhout, 2011). The wide variety of excellent children's literature dealing with social justice themes provides abundant possibilities for lessons that reinforce critical thinking, reading, and writing skills.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Respect for people of all races and ethnicities formed the thematic center of this lesson a creative meditation augmented by class dialogue on racial inequity. Beginning teachers can feel intimidated at the prospect of leading discussions about concepts like race, ethnicity, and prejudice (Cowhey, 2006); artistic projects like this one can provide meaningful starting points for such critical conversations (Garrett and Kerr, 2016;Silva and Langhout, 2011).…”

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Exploring exemplars in elementary teacher education

Dobrick

Fattal

2018

SSRP

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Purpose Educators who teach for social justice connect what and how they teach in the classroom directly to humanity’s critical problems. Teacher education at the elementary level must center such themes of social justice in order to prepare today’s teachers to lead their students in developing an understanding of how to make the world a better place to live. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents three case studies of exemplary, pre-service teacher-created lessons that integrate the arts, social studies, and language arts around themes of social justice. Teacher-candidates envisioned, planned and taught effective, engaging, standards-based learning experiences that began with children’s literature and led to artistic expression. Findings Through lessons like these, teacher-candidates learned to meet arts, social studies, and literacy standards while building the skills and attitudes their students need as “citizens of the world.” Research limitations/implications Elementary teacher education programs can help teacher-candidates to prepare for the challenge of teaching for social justice by integrating the arts with core academic areas, including social studies. Practical implications This integrated model suitably serves our current, mathematics- and literacy-focused, assessment-saturated school system. Pre-service teachers learn to plan and teach integrated learning activities. They learn practical ways to infuse the arts in both their field experience and future classrooms. Social implications When the arts are central in education, students benefit in numerous important ways, developing critical and creative thinking skills, empathy, self-awareness, and the ability to collaborate with others productively. The arts, essential to humanity since the dawn of civilization, thus serve as a natural focal point for education for social justice. Originality/value The innovative methods involved in this study, in which subject areas throughout the elementary teacher education program are integrated in one meaningful, practical, applied lesson on social justice, represent a practical, original, and valuable way to enhance teacher education programs’ focus on social justice.

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Cultivating Agents of Change in Children

Cited by 9 publications

References 27 publications

Critical Democratic Education in Practice: Evidence from An Experienced Teacher's Classroom

Critical Democratic Education in Practice: Evidence from An Experienced Teacher's Classroom

Crafting a third space: Integrative strategies for implementing critical citizenship education in a standards-based classroom

Exploring exemplars in elementary teacher education

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