Chapter 5: Global and Social Justice in Teacher Education: Using Children’s Literature, Threaded Discussions, and Other Instructional Strategies

In essence, when taught well global education encompasses social justice. Social justice requires cultural sensitivity to the needs of people of diverse ethnic populations. Global education extends to preparing learners for life in pluralistic societies that are not only ethnically diverse but also transcultural. It is therefore critical to equip learners with skills that prepare them to function. This calls for instructional strategies that develop learners who possess a high degree of world-mindedness and who are interculturally knowledgeable (Schuerholz-Lehr, 2007). A global social justice education curriculum also prepares world-minded learners who favor a worldview of humankind when confronted with social issues instead of narrow nationalistic views. According to Sampson and Smith (1957), such a curriculum prepares learners who have a heightened awareness of international issues. Additionally, these learners are able to transcend national boundaries while thinking about the human condition. An education that includes global social justice therefore, provides students with the opportunity to put their own values into action (Torres-Harding & Meyers, 2013). Furthermore, such an education enhances learners’ intentions to engage in social justice, an increased cultural awareness and the ability to live in a more just and fair world (Goodman, 2001). According to Freire (1970), education for social justice also is key in helping learners to be willing to engage with marginalized others in a genuine, empathic, caring and collaborative relationships. “Teaching for social justice is teaching that arouses students, engages them in a quest to identify obstacles to their full humanity, to their freedom, and then to drive, to move against those obstacles” (Grant & Gibson, 2010, p. 27). Therefore, for teachers, to offer an education for global social justice, sometimes requires exploring controversial issues. According to Haas and Laughlin (1997) teaching about controversial issues is unsettling and requires complex reasoning abilities. Thus, the intentional introduction of controversy is nonexistent, particularly in elementary classrooms—”Lower grade teachers do not feel properly trained or prepared to address such issues, and they are reluctant to engage in teaching subjects that, they feel, will take valuable instructional time” (Haas & Laughlin, 1997, p. 158). Others are afraid of repercussions from parents and administrators. The paradox is that students are exposed to controversy on a daily basis through their homes, schools and communities in which they live in. As such, preservice teachers need to be equipped with skills that will help them to better meet the needs of the children with whom they will work. Students need to acquire appropriate academic skills that promote the development of informed, skilled citizens who can make well-reasoned decisions (National Council for the Social Studies, 2010). While teaching for global social justice education teachers should provide experiences that teach students the following: