Chapter 12: Social Justice and Curriculum: A Terrain of Promise and Problems

Social justice has gained increasing attention as a moniker of affiliation for a variety of curriculum efforts, pedagogical practices, and policy initiatives that broadly aim to promote greater social equality, recognition of diversity, and engaged democracy. As in all alliances of thought that seek transformation, there are conceptual differences, points of disjuncture about how to proceed, and lines of demarcation about what constitutes appropriate action. In this chapter, we selectively survey the broad terrain of social justice with particular attention to social justice curriculum. We argue that while there is much of educative value in these varied efforts, social justice curriculum has not received widespread implementation because it (1) challenges deeply normative thinking about knowledge, (2) subverts historically rooted notions of the purpose of schooling, and (3) lacks a coherent conceptualization and tends to devolve into superficial essentializing.