Chapter 22: Maps and Apps for Responsible Consumer Literacy

This consumer and spatial literacy activity incorporates mobile technology and place-based learning for teacher candidates to examine issues of ethics, access, and privilege related to consumerism in a global economy.

The question driving this activity is: How does the intersection of civics, place, and economics affect your agency as a citizen, consumer, and educator? By moving away from abstract activities related to budgeting and opportunity costs that assume access and food security, teacher candidates ask critical questions about capitalism and geography and their roles as citizen educators responsible for reducing and teaching about food insecurity and consumer literacy.

The Task: My course is framed by the question: How will you teach about social (in)justice for informed active citizenship in the social studies? Candidates answer the question multiple times throughout the course using readings and strategy discussions on topics such as civil rights, global education, human rights, gender, indigenous perspectives, and labor and socio-economic status. They read Kumashiro’s (2009)Against Common Sense and work with the Freedom Schools curriculum to interrogate issues of power, culture, and injustice in society and schools (Radical Teacher, 1964/1990). Candidates compare the Freedom Schools curriculum with the Iowa social studies curriculum to identify spaces where more diverse perspectives can be included to promote critical thinking and action in alignment with Dimensions 3 and 4 of the C3 Inquiry Arc (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013).