Teaching Social Justice Research to Undergraduate Students in Puerto Rico: Using Personal Experiences to Inform Research

Abstract

This article explores the process of teaching undergraduate students to conduct social justice research. We were interested in understanding how to develop a social justice perspective among students while training them in conventional research methods. The following questions guided our research activities. How can the principles of social justice inform undergraduate research projects? What pedagogical strategies prepare students to conduct social justice-based research? What are the challenges and opportunities in teaching social justice research? We documented the lessons and activities during the field school and collected students' comments in journals, extensive observations, focus groups, and interviews to understand the influence of social justice on the students' approach to research. We identify three lessons in teaching social justice. First, teaching social justice requires that students develop meaningful relationships with the community understudy. Second, gender dynamics can prohibit or promote meaningful student engagement and learning. Third, it is important to consider how to integrate, rather than "add on," social justice activities and discussions into research lessons.

Sociopolitical efficacy as a mediator of pedagogical experience and sociopolitical involvement

“…While previous research has demonstrated that social justice education requires helping youth develop an understanding of social inequities (e.g. Esposito and Swain, 2009; Ginwright and Cammarota, 2015), this study points to the possibility that understanding alone may not suffice. Rather, successful teachers should direct their attention to improving youth’s perceptions of their capacity to impact their communities, and a variety of methods noted in this study may be helpful to this end.…”

Exploring Community Residents’ Motivations for Interacting With American Field School Undergraduates in South Africa

“…Researchers and pedagogues have argued that community engagement and fostering community-student relationships is key to achieving their goals (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2015;Hawthorne et al, 2014;Hutchins et al, 2014;Nelson & Klak, 2012;Robson, 2002). Spending more time in communities is a way of increasing bonds and fostering meaningful relationships (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2015). Spending full days in the same neighborhood four to five days a week for five weeks is a relatively novel structure for a study abroad opportunity and echoes the epistemological commitments of place-based pedagogy outlined by Pipitone (2018, p. 69-70), including cultivating "forms of relationality that transcend categorical differences" and recognizing "engagement with place as fundamental to learning about someone else's local".…”

“…Linked to this is the issue of engagement and relationship-building. Researchers and pedagogues have argued that community engagement and fostering community–student relationships is key to achieving their goals (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2015; Hawthorne et al, 2014; Hutchins et al, 2014; Nelson & Klak, 2012; Robson, 2002). Spending more time in communities is a way of increasing bonds and fostering meaningful relationships (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2015).…”

“I am a change agent”: A mixed methods analysis of students’ social justice value orientation in an undergraduate community psychology course.

“…Community engagement functions as “a collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity” (Driscoll, 2008, p. 38). Students become essential resources to a community by offering their services, time, and knowledge and, simultaneously, the community functions as a space and resource for students to gain knowledge of human behavior, development, and motivation (Gallor, 2017; Ginwright & Cammarota, 2015; McAuliff, Williams, & Ferrari, 2013; Schlehofer & Phillips, 2013). For instance, Ginwright and Cammarota (2015) found several advantages of placing undergraduate students in international community settings to conduct applied research on issues related to health.…”