Teaching Movements in History: Understanding Collective Action, Intersectionality, and Justice in the Past

Movements have been the driving force of social change through most of human history. Yet despite the important impacts that movements had in the past that led to a more just present, most Americans generally hold low opinions of movements. The authors see this as a major failing of history education. The authors argue for a need to center the people, rather than individual leaders, and their experiences in the history classroom. This article outlines three important concepts that should guide how history teachers approach the reorganization of their curriculum around movements, and ways this can ultimately help students develop a stronger understanding of the past. First, teachers should emphasize the role of the people organized in movements and engaged "collective action" in the past and present. Second, teachers should illuminate the role of "intersectionality" in movements for justice. Third, teachers should help students understand the difference between movements "for" and "against justice." Finally, the authors conclude this paper by presenting ways history teachers can do this work both as renegades and subversives, and how the role of community and school context influences how teachers might approach this work.