From the Margins to the Mainstream : Enhancing Social Awareness in the Social Studies Classroom

Understanding and addressing social justice concerns has become a central focus in an increasing number of schools as well as teacher education programs. The activities in this book are grounded in the recognition that personal experience and engagement is essential for meaningful intercultural learning and social justice awareness to occur. The authors of these activities, themselves teachers and teacher educators representing a wide range of disciplines, share their favorite and most engaging strategies they have found to be effective at helping students acquire a level of comfort and insight in what can oftentimes be contentious, challenging and sensitive issues. These hands-on activities actively engage preservice and practicing teachers in real-life and simulated experiences, raising awareness and providing a foundation for introspection, reflection and discussion around these critically important issues in the safety of the classroom setting. Introduction / Kenneth Cushner and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy Futures window / Kenneth Cushner What is a family? / Martha Lash Ideal types and transgressors: reinterpreting the "family tree" experience / Janice Kroeger Do you see what I see?: Using critical role-play to help prospective teachers view activities from multiple perspectives / Monica Miller Marsh From Chernobyl to Fukushima: teaching for global justice / Frans H. Doppen and Matthew S. Hollstein Global learning wiki / Chia-Ling Kuo The arrow always points to the self: preservice teacher learning through blurred geopolitical identities / Jubin Rahatzad, Hannah Sasser, JoAnn Phillion, and Suniti Sharma The coalition for creative projects / Schea N. Fissel Conversation partner experience: a win-win culture learning encounter / Kenneth Cushner The intercultural market: an exercise in the development of cultural intelligence / Keith Sakuda What lies at the bottom ...????? An inquiry-based nature of science (NOS) activity with a multicultural twist / Rajlakshmi Ghosh Sexuality, gender, and families in the animal kingdom: lessons from the wild / Sara Raven Critically examining gender roles: deconstructing the myth of "boys will be boys, girls will be girls" / Alyse C. Hachey and Yolanda Medina When I grow up, I'll work in the factory just like my daddy: examining teaching practices that perpetuate the social class status quo / Yolanda Medina and Alyse C. Hachey Middle class mentality: using an online course assignment to teach students to know self first, then other / Randall E. Osborne and Paul Kriese Getting to know you: a simulation to understand school context / Joanne Caniglia, Ph. D. Person like me / Jason C. Fitzgerald and April A. Mattix Crossings, bridges and borderlands: an experiential assignment for multicultural education / Sofia A. Villenas Follow the multicolored brick road to cultural competence / Nancy P. Gallavan What is my cultural identity? / Debra L. Clark Who am I? Exploring students' social identities and social inequalities in cultural contexts / Jennifer L. Fisette Bricks in a backpack: respecting the invisible / Diane M. Vetter Preservice teachers are students, too: developing awareness of white identity and privilege to facilitate change for inclusivity and equality / Tracy Lara.