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The purpose of this small-group case study was to determine to what extent an asset-based social justice curriculum could cultivate critical consciousness as evidenced by teachers' written discourse about students of color and students living in poverty. Participants were selected based on enrollment in an online graduate course in diversity in the college of education of a state university in the southern United States. Participants wrote reflective responses and contributed to online discussion forums before, during, and after exposure to curriculum that was explicit in its social justice and asset-based approach. From a critical lens, analysis of discourse was applied to 7 weeks of participants' reflective writing in discussion forums and individual self-reflective assignments. Participants in this study exhibited varying degrees self-reflection and critical consciousness based on analysis of written discourse. Findings indicate participants' ability to engage in critically conscious thought coalesced into three categories of interaction with course content: (1) resistance; (2) critical consciousness interspersed with cognitive dissonance; and (3) adoption. Participants' discourse indicated the continued presence of deficit thinking and reliance on anecdotal evidence to support claims. Participants used a variety of strategies to avoid or minimize cognitive dissonance, including distancing language, reinterpretation, and anecdotal evidence. When participants were resistant or struggled with cognitive dissonance, anecdotal evidence served as a defense mechanism to support their beliefs.

Research on stakeholder perspectives in language immersion contexts is relatively new (Padron & Waxman, 2016; Whitacre, 2015). This current qualitative research examined perspectives of stakeholders at a mini-conference for immersion educators and administrators called Conversations in Immersion. The mini-conference encouraged immersion stakeholders to discuss their concerns about immersion and provided an expert immersion educator and collaborative networking experience to address those concerns. Themes within the data emerged from three sources: (1) pre-conference questions, (2) a collaborative discussion session with administrators, and (3) a question-and-answer session with a keynote speaker. Data collected from this conference were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Themes that emerged from the data included pedagogically-based concerns and concerns about how to manage relationships with gatekeepers. Findings indicate that participants' conversations focused on instructional and administrative aspects of language immersion and on the roles of gatekeepers in language immersion contexts.

This case study explores the presence of deficit thinking among social studies educators in the State of Florida. Included in this research is an analysis of semi-structured interview data that focused on pivotal experiences and participants' understandings of the connection between social class and academic achievement, mobility, and race and ethnicity. Despite divergent pivotal experiences with social class, findings suggest social studies teachers exhibit deficit thinking towards students living in poverty. From a social justice perspective, in order for social studies teachers to develop asset-based knowledge of students living in poverty, they must receive explicit training that challenges deficit thinking and stereotypes that lead to lowered expectations of students living in poverty.

At the intersection of social studies and world language curricula are opportunities to explore students' prior learning with vocabulary-rich content designed to support language acquisition goals. "Funds of knowledge" is defined as socio-cultural, economic, and historical knowledge from home and community settings. The instructional strategies presented in this inquiry-based unit were sequenced by two Spanish-speaking teachers in two-way bilingual classrooms to provide space for students' families to contribute "funds of knowledge" to learning activities in early childhood and elementary classrooms. In contrast with an additive approach to multicultural education, a funds of knowledge approach invites educators to craft a curriculum organically, drawing from their students' home experiences and cultural knowledge. An additive approach to multicultural education has been criticized for its superficial ethnic representation in curriculum. In contrast, the funds of knowledge approach represented in the unit requires the teacher to invite students and families to co-create content in the instructional sequence.

In 2022, Parker et al. published a special issue in Research Issues in Contemporary Education with the intention of curating manuscripts addressing marginalization in higher education. Within the framework of Subalternity/Subaltern Studies, the current study employs a Postcolonial Critical Discourse Analysis methodology to investigate the intersectional nature of the 11 included manuscripts, thereby advancing the special issue. Findings highlight recurring themes including individual experiences, the need for theory to inform practice, and a focus on classroom dynamics. Additionally, within each manuscript numerous key terms are referred to relating to diversity, racism, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Last, from the findings, Black Women are prominently identified as subaltern within higher education and victims of the power dynamics at play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social studies teachers in language immersion settings are tasked with simultaneously teaching students social studies content while also scaffolding target language acquisition. An abundance of resources exists for teaching social studies, yet language immersion teachers often rely on collaboration with colleagues to create lessons and translate materials and resources. As part of a U.S. Department of Education professional development grant, the authors of this article, two university professors and two Spanish language immersion teachers, embarked on a collaborative project to develop an upper elementary social studies curriculum for students in Spanish/English two-way dual language immersion settings. In these immersion contexts, many students come from multilingual homes, where two or more languages are spoken, while other students come from monolingual homes where Spanish or English is spoken. Thus, the focus of this upper elementary curriculum project was two-fold: we aimed to (a) support biliteracy and metalinguistic awareness1 while students (b) applied history and economic knowledge and forms of representation to consider the compelling question, How do multinational communities support the economy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the less developed world it is women and girls who are expected to provide water for their family. Frequently, young girls are unable to complete school or get jobs because water scarcity means they are forced to walk miles daily to obtain this most basic need. Since the creation of the United Nations Millennium Goals, progress has been made in providing clean water and sanitation to billions of people. Although there are still many regions where water scarcity and gender inequity exclude women from schooling and the workforce. With the new Social Studies C3 Framework students are expected to apply and evaluate civic concepts and take action by engaging in global citizenship. In the "How Do You Get 'Your' Water?" Curriculum students' apply the concepts of structural violence and universal human rights to a case study on the connection between women, social inequity, and water. A writing extension gives students the reflective time to cultivate empathy for families experiencing water insecurity. Simulations meant to evoke emotional responses make the experience of water stress a reality and a culminating service-learning project fosters global citizenship.

The non-violent participation of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Buddhist monks in resistance efforts to advocate for the welfare of Myanmar's people has played an important role in educating the world about human rights violations in the country. Faced with international condemnation, Myanmar's junta released Aung San Suu Kyi from over a decade of house arrest and began to take steps towards democracy. Myanmar offers an excellent case study for classroom teachers to educate their students about the challenges of resolving human rights abuses and moving a nation towards greater freedom. (Contains 3 online resources and 7 notes.)