Running Header: SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM

Social Justice Curriculum

Andrea Chambers
EDCT 585: Curriculum Theory and Development
Fall 2014
Instructor: Perry Marker

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Option 1: Critical Analysis of Curriculum Studies

(First Paper in Two Paper Series)

Additional Criterion: Interview with local high school teacher

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We live in troublous times; we live in an age of profound change; we live in an age of

revolution (Counts, 2004/2013, p. 46). Even though George S. Counts was referencing the
1930s and the Great Depression, I felt this quote could also be referring to the current decade and
that his call to teachers is just as relevant today. I began to think of my own relationship to this
quote and my educational obligations. Working with a diverse group of high school students
with the mission to do work that promotes social, personal, and academic success, I immediately
related to what Counts is asking for teachers and educators to do. And because my job does not
require that I teach to specific state standards or give an assessment at the end of each year, I can
take some liberties in deciding how we promote social, personal, and academic success. Upward
Bound is a TRIO program federally funded by the United State Department of Education. The
program serves first-generation (neither parent has a 4-year college degree from the United
States), low-income students with college aspirations through a six-week Summer Academy,
fifteen Saturday Academy dates during the academic year, and monthly meetings with advisors.
Each Academy day begins with a one hour whole group meeting of the 190 students
served. Thinking about George S. Counts and later, Henry A. Giroux, I started to envision
curriculum that explores social justice issues and how that whole group time could be spent with
students. I was spurred even more by the positive and excited response from students when a
noted guest speaker, Dr. Darrick Smith (a professor at University of San Francisco, School of
Education and former Co-Director/Principal of the June Jordan School for Equity) had prepared
a serious of lectures on sociology that included topics such as inequalities based on race, gender,
and class. They often asked why they could not learn about similar topics in school. How could
I tell them there were no requisite standards to address such topics and thus there was no room in
the public school curriculum? They craved this information as they constantly face issues that

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marginalize them, sending them both implied and expressed messages that they are not good
enough.
And so my obligations to these students propelled me to pick this topic, with the goal of
learning what social justice education is, what it could look like in the classroom, and where it
fits on the theoretical landscape.
Eric Gutstein (2003) defines social justice pedagogy through three goals which include
teaching students to develop a sociopolitical consciousness, a sense of freedom to act as a change
agent, and to have a positive social and cultural identity. Cammarota and Romero (2003),
directors of the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP), would agree, stating that knowledge
obtained in a social justice process would help students sustain positive racial, ethnic, and gender
identities, a commitment to improving conditions within their communities, and an
understanding and sympathy for those suffering from oppression outside of their community.
Chapman, Hobbel, and Alvarado (2011) say using a social justice approach affirms students
identities and builds upon their abilities to respond to criticism. Additionally, quoting Nieto and
Bode, social justice education is considered part of the continuum of multicultural education in
which students learn about racial, cultural, and social contexts (Chapman, Hobbel, & Alvarado,
2011).
Nieto and Bode (2007, p. 11) provide the following views of social justice education: It is
to challenge, confront, and disrupt misconceptions, untruths, and stereotypes that lead to
structural inequalities and discrimination based on race, social class, gender, and other social and
human differences and to create a learning environment that promotes critical thinking and
supports agency for social change. By learning about the history of people who have been
marginalized, students are able to better grasp and grapple with their own situations or other

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current conditions. Bree Picower (2012) argues that with this type of understanding, students are
then in a position to act on injustice because they understand the causes of inequalities and how
they are perpetuated.
Curriculum addressing social justice issues could easily be renamed culturally relevant
pedagogy, civic education, critical pedagogy, or citizenship education. Esposito and Swain
(2009) argue that teachers using culturally relevant pedagogy are able to produce awareness of
social justice issues. Ladson-Billings (1992) found students that participated in culturally
relevant pedagogy felt empowered intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically, which is
one of the goals in addressing social justice issues, or rather issues of inequalities that are
experienced in our world. Culturally relevant pedagogy is a vehicle for examining social
injustices on both a micro- and macro level, thereby opening the door for the implementation of
social justice pedagogy (Esposito & Swain, 2009, p.38). Henry Giroux is known for advocating
critical pedagogy, which he sees as central to teachers and students becoming critical agents
that question and analyze the relationship between theory and application and between learning
and social change (Guilherme, 2006). And isnt such thinking really at the crux of thinking
about social justice issues?
That said, Picower (2012) insists that we must think beyond culturally relevant
curriculum development, stating that social justice education is not complete without the
engagement in action outside the classroom that furthers the information being taught. In the
classroom, Picower emphasizes that the work involves the teaching of culturally relevant
curriculum that prepares students to create change and that, as Myles Horton would also assert,
teachers take the time to understand their students lives. Through his time in Highlander,
Horton learned that education was more successful if educators learned about the students first

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and applied theory second, we learned you had to take what people perceive their problems to
be, not what we perceive their problems to be (Horton, 1990, p. 140). Additionally, he saw the
power in building a program that will deal with things as they are now and as they ought to be
at the same time (Horton, 1990, p. 131). Heather Hackman would agree, stating that learning
about social movements would allow students to see that change is possible (as cited in Picower,
2012, p.7). Horton also felt that education needed to provide learners with experience in
decision making and that from that, social equality could be gained.
Social justice education strives to build upon the growing diversity which schools are
experiencing by providing students with opportunities to engage in complex issues. But this is
not easy. Concepts involving democracy, race, and other hot topics are messy, they cannot be
packaged up neatly; conflicts in experiences, points of view, histories, and specific interests
cannot be reduced to standardized formulas and narratives, nor can their resolutions be reduced
to steps to follow (Sleeter, 2014, p. 86). This also means that creating a state test that is looking
for a right or wrong answer would be impossible and teachers have not been free to introduce
topics which could create a potential conflict. In my interview with Davon Godwin, a local high
school teacher, she expressed a desire to teach the unit entitled Teaching Tolerance in her English
courses, but could not figure out how to justify it to administration. Luckily, because she also
teaches AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), an academic elective, where she is
able to delve into various non-standards based topics, she was provided with an avenue to
implement and teach the Teaching Tolerance curriculum (personal communication, October 16,
2014). Unfortunately, for far too many teachers throughout the country, such academic freedom
to do the same does not exist.

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Looking at actual lesson plans through different articles or interviews concluded that
there is no set way to teach about social justice. In Mrs. Godwins classroom, students watch
videos from Teaching Tolerance and TED talks, read articles found in newspapers and
educational journals, and participate in discussions and Socratic seminars. Topics include the
Delano strike and grape boycott led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, the Civil Rights
Movement, immigration, and unemployment to name a few (personal communication, October
16, 2014). International Justice Mission published a nine lesson detailed outline on social justice
curriculum for high school students. Topics included defining social justice, the depth of
injustice, the impact of modern-day slavery, and sex trafficking. Each lesson is outlined for
teachers, but draws heavily on students responses (Social Justice Curriculum, n.d.). A social
justice education course in the prairie region of western Canada called The Human Condition
focused on the inequalities experienced by people based on their social groups and through
systems that either advanced or constrained them based on race, gender, or other defining terms.
Topics in this course included study of genocides, sexism, international relations, human rights,
etc. (Lund, 2011).
Common throughout is that teachers must strive to create a classroom that has trust,
support, respect, and equality amongst all voices. The teacher cannot always represent the
authority. Additionally, there should be instances for students to choose the curriculum content
and shape the direction of the class. Students appreciated the responsibility and incentive to
make positive changes in themselves and the world, whether locally, nationally, or globally
(Lund, 2011). Unfortunately, there was no data present to evaluate how students were using
what they were learning in the classroom outside of school, as Picower insisted was equally as
important. Mrs. Godwin reported only knowing of one student that has taken substantial action,

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joining a board that addresses human rights. And because she did not have a requirement that
students report on outside of school activities, it is unknown if other students have actually
become socially involved at any level. Additionally, she admitted to giving no call to action to
encourage the students to put into action issues they were attempting to resolve in the classroom
(personal communication, October 16, 2014).
In a study performed by Esposito and Swain (2009) of seven urban teachers who used
culturally relevant pedagogy as a way to teach social justice, which the teachers defined as
teaching critical thinking skills, empowerment of students, and helping students see themselves
in relation to others, they found a common theme from the data: social justice education involved
risk, time, and self-reflection for the teachers. Not all teachers feel comfortable when addressing
issues or questions that arise when discussing race, skin color, class, culture, and gender. In
another study, Mia, a White, monolingual, female teacher, stated that when a class discussion
about skin color arose, she felt incapable making a particular point because she was
uncomfortable talking about skin color with the students (Dorman, 2012).
Another concern that arises when teaching for social justice is how to provide a safe
place for all views to be expressed and heard, without appearing to condone any specific
perspective. Elizabeth Hope Dorman (2012) says this tension is always present and it is likely
that prejudiced comments will arise in class discussion. This is part of the challenge. Dorman
encourages teachers to guide students in critical reflection of their beliefs and assumptions.
Despite the challenges, the ultimate goal of social justice education is to help students fight
oppression while also being able to participate fully in a democratic society (Bell, 1997). Davon
Godwin would agree, stating that she feels that the purpose behind the curriculum she teaches is

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to help students learn how to question inequalities or intolerances in the world, to not simply
accept them and feel powerless (personal conversation, October 16, 2014).
This idea that topics in school should reflect our lives can be linked back to John Dewey.
Dewey believed that education is meant to improve our society through social reform and
progress, stating in My Pedagogic Creed, that society can, through education, formulate purpose,
can organize itself, and can shape itself in the direction it wishes to move (Dewey, 1938/2013).
Dewey believed that only true education can come from empowering the child by the demands
of the social situations around him. A Progressivist, Dewey saw the role of the teacher as a guide
to problem solving, stating that the teacher is not there to impose certain ideas, but is there to
assist the student in responding to influences, and thus is engaged in the training of students and
the formation of the proper social life (Dewey, 1938/2013). Chapman, Hobbel, and Alvarado,
authors of A Social Justice Approach as a Base for Teaching Writing (2011, p. 540) echo Dewey,
seeing teachers in a similar role, insisting they should help students learn to express themselves
as individuals, community members, and global citizens.
George Counts and Harold Rugg, both prominent figures of Social Reconstructionism,
took those ideas further, urging educators to use the power of their position to close the gap
between school and society. In 1927, Counts wrote that education was starting to shift from the
development of tests and ways to measure successful learning outcomes to a more critical
examination of the education system itself. He did not feel that students showing mastery of
algebra or history on a test satisfied our knowledge that schools were fulfilling their social
obligation. He felt there was a clear need for a new type of assessment that measured the effect
education had on social behavior outside of the school (Counts, 1927, p. 14). He argued that
school in its state at the time was limited because it was the tool of the dominant forces of the

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present and the past, and thus could not be thought of as an instrument of social progress
(Counts, 1927, p. 15).
Inspired by visits to Russian schools, Counts saw that Soviet leaders...had correctly
recognized the power of organized education as an instrument of cultural transformation (Gutek
as quoted in Sewell, 2005). As the United States was devastated by the Depression, Counts saw
the Soviet Union transform through revolution and was inspired to look for alternatives to the
United States education model. As the Soviet Union embarked on a socialist experiment that
seemed promising, the United States was in need of some new energy.
Counts went on to write Dare the School Build a New Social Order in 1932 to address
these issues further. As a Reconstructionist, he saw education as a way to improve and
reconstruct society, even more so, he wanted students to understand and accept the need for
social reconstruction. His ideas seem spurred by his frustration toward the Great Depression,
Here is a society that manifests the most extraordinary contradictionsdire poverty walks hand
in hand with the most extravagant living the world has ever know; an abundance of goods of all
kinds is coupled with privation, misery, and even starvation (Counts, 1932/2013, p. 47).
This connects to issues we are experiencing today, to the extent that Roland F. Gray
(1985, p. 287) even suggested that had education in the 1930s taken on some of Counts ideas,
they might have succeeded in producing a somewhat more intellectually competent and
cultivated generation which could be in a better position to come to grips with the problems of
todays society. Stern and Riley (1998) would also argue that a Reconstructionist approach may
be especially relevant today as the view on education is starting to shift toward valuing critical
thinking and problem solving.

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Harold Rugg would argue, as Counts would, that education is meant to solve social
programs by teaching students to be critical. Rugg thought that if students could be taught how
to use their knowledge to solve social problems, then the current state of life could be improved.
To do this, he believed that all curriculum could be viewed through a social studies lens. Students
should work with real-world problems, which included working in their communities to find
solutions that would improve the lives of all involved (Rugg, 1939). Rugg saw the role of the
teacher as a facilitator to guide students through critical thinking and the study of problems
happening in the world. The goal was to build a more equitable democratic society in the United
States (Stern & Riley, 1998).
Many leftist intellectuals at that time were in support of destroying capitalism to fight the
injustice. But Rugg, like Dewey, believed in democracy and felt that reform movements could
address problems facing Americans (Boyle-Baise & Goodman, 2009). Rugg argued that
education should be where people learn and understand public issues, thus becoming
empowered, and further, becoming involved in reform movements (as cited in Boyle-Baise &
Goodman, 2009). Rugg saw two functions for the school. First was that schools should provide
students with an understanding of all aspects of present-day life. Secondly, schools should teach
students to be informed, thoughtful, and tolerant citizens that felt empowered to deal with
controversial issues (Boyle-Baise & Goodman, 2009). While Rugg is mostly viewed as a
Reconstructionist, he may be a better fit with John Dewey and other social Progressivists due to
his views on democracy.
As America entered World War II, critics of Rugg, Counts, and other Social
Reconstructionists felt focusing on what was wrong in American was not what was needed.
Additionally, the Cold War brought further criticism as Social Reconstructionist ideas were

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linked with the Soviet Union and those views were branded as communist. It became unAmerican to insist that curriculum address issues of inequality or suggest that there was need for
improvements in America (Sewell, 2005; Stern & Riley, 1998).
Despite such criticisms, Rugg still felt that students would develop social understanding
from actively participating in the society surrounding them (Boyle-Baise & Goodman, 2009).
Similarly, Counts believed that education should be contextual, reflecting the social issues
occurring at that time. He wanted school to be the device for social reform and that teachers
should not be neutral (Keenan, 2002). Counts saw the teacher in a leadership role, urging those
in the profession to seek power and use it in the interests of the masses of the people (Counts,
1932/2013). Giroux would agree with this, stating in an interview that teachers must be treated
as a vital resource because they are essential to empowering the educational experience for
students and the formation of a democratic society. Further, it is teachers who should shape the
school curriculum (Guilherme, 2006).
To do this, Giroux argues that educators should create conditions in which learning can
be linked to social change and that pedagogy would take on the task of regenerating both a
renewed sense of social and political agency and a critical subversion of dominant power itself
(Giroux, 2004, p. 33). He states further that civic education is central to the struggle over
political agency and democracy. Democracy, as defined by Counts, is about the moral equity of
men, moreover, it is an aspiration towards a society in which that ideal will be fulfilled and it
will combat all forces that produce social distinctions and class (Counts, 1932/2013). I think
Giroux would agree with this definition as he thinks about the role of civic education in the
2000s.

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Like Counts, Giroux believes education needs new pedagogy for addressing the changes
affecting the world. His solution calls for educators to counter our capitalistic nation by teaching
a variety of radical theories that include feminism, critical theory, postmodernism,
poststructuralism, etc. (Giroux, 2004). He values learning how to become a skilled citizen over
everything else, stating that particular skill set is the most vital in addressing politics and power.
Learning should be about the struggle for individual rights and social justice rather than
processing received knowledge, as is the current form of school. He challenges educators to
teach students the skills, knowledge, and confidence to be inquiring individuals who take action
when faced with anti-democratic forms of power and injustices (Giroux, 2004).
In his 2006 interview, he states that educators must take on the responsibility of raising
questions about social issues and teaching students the skills necessary to write policy papers,
be resilient against defeat, analyze social problems and learn the tools of democracy
(Guilherme, 2006). Asking questions is essential to his view of education, insisting that students
need to question what it is they have become within existing societies and to think about what is
might mean if they were to challenge that (Giroux, 2004).
Because both Counts and Giroux urged us to see education in terms of the changing
world, it is important to note that one of Girouxs principles is to not treat pedagogy as a
commodity, but rather as a theoretic resource which is constantly changing based on problems
that arise in everyday life (Giroux, 2004). Some of his work focuses on pop culture and how
media, education, movies, and politics generate cultural images and dialogue that produce forms
of oppression (Kellner, 2001). It seems that a study of these works could be part of a social
justice curriculum as they bring these issues to the forefront and ask the reader to analyze.

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Additionally, Giroux urges teachers to think about their own biases. This raises the
question about whether educators should be neutral or indoctrinating. Giroux seems to believe
that educators should learn to not only teach students to question, but they themselves should
question their own views. If they focus on teaching critical reflection to the students rather than
a specific social view, they can remain neutral. That said, it is clear from his various writings
that Giroux has certain biases and feels those should be reflected in the curriculum.
There are many theorists that would argue against a social justice curriculum.
Undoubtedly, Franklin Bobbitt or E.D. Hirsch would have some objections to the ideas of
Reconstructionism. Bobbitt would argue that social justice curriculum does not fit into the realm
of topics which need to be learned. While he is concerned about the social deficiencies that
could arise from lack of adequate preparation in history, literature, or geography (Bobbitt,
1918/2013), I do not think he is referring to students lacking in the ability to question how or
why things are in the world. Hirsch, another Essentialist and like Bobbitt, insists there is an
essential set of common knowledge that needs to be learned. There is no room for multicultural
topics in Hirschs idea of curriculum.
These competing ideas about the purpose of education make it hard to change an entire
education system to include social justice curriculum. Beyond that, critics would say that social
justice is a vague concept. Further criticism includes focusing on social justice would mean
ignoring traditional subject matter goals and that there is a potential for indoctrination (Cochran
Smith et al., 2009).
Giroux has received strong criticism due to this radical stance on education. Jeff Zorn
(2001) asks Giroux to consider questions which move past the theory and to the practice of such
ideas, such as who is being taught these ideas and by what standards are teachers prepared to

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teach such things? When Zorn envisions how this may look in a classroom, he is sure the
readings will only reflect underrepresented groups in the most flattering of lights and the only
villainswill be rich white males (Zorn, 2001, p. 71). He also worries that children are too
impressionable for them to be critical of this type of education. However, he does agree with
Giroux about encouraging students to be critical thinkers and to embrace, or at the very least
tolerate differences in race, language, gender, customs, and sexual orientation, to name a few.
Incorporating social justice as described in the examples from actual classrooms shows
that it is possible for teachers to stay neutral in their views and that critical thinking can extend to
several subjects while still meeting academic goals such as reading and writing.
Both Giroux and Counts provide a big picture rationale for why educating for social
purposes is needed. Giroux warns that the road to authoritarianism begins when societies stop
questioning themselves and when such questioning stops it is often because intellectuals either
have become complicit with such silence or they actively produce it (Guilherme, 2006). Counts
similarly warned in 1932 that unless the democratic tradition is able to organize and conduct a
successful attack on the economic system, its complete destruction is inevitable (Counts,
1932/2013, p. 50). I think Giroux said it best, The greatest threat to our children...comes from a
society that refuses to view [them] as a social investment, that consigns 14 million children to
live in poverty, reduces critical learning to massive testing programs (Giroux, 2004).
Researching this topic has expanded my own definitions of social justice curriculum and
possible purposes of education. I am left with questions, such as how can these idea and theories
be integrated into our current education system? Although Giroux would want me to even
question that and ask, why do they need to be integrated? Is the current system working so well
that we should keep using it and only add items that merely represent change, but do not really

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change anything? I can feel myself becoming a Reconstructionist as I read about Counts and
Giroux, inspired by their passions. That said, I am probably more in line with Harold Rugg,
traveling between Progressivism and Reconstructionism. I want students to have a deeper
understanding of society and to be empowered by such knowledge that they can create social
reform. I do believe it is important to be careful about indoctrinating students and I feel that
providing them with the information to learn how to question is more important than a teacher
telling them which injustices to fight. This is a careful line we must walk if we are to bring
social justice into our curriculum.
Through my research, I was introduced to some great authors and websites. In addition
to the Teaching Tolerance and International Justice Mission websites that have several resources,
I found a wonderful author whom I feel a kinship in Bree Picower. Her story is not that
dissimilar to mine and has even provided to be somewhat of a guide as I think about my
professional goals. She describes various life experiences that put her on a path to social justice
activism, referring to them as experiences that would interrupt the internalization of hegemonic
understandings (Picower, 2012, p. 13).
Additionally, Iris Marion Young provided some political information in her book, Justice
and the Politics of Difference, which while I did not end up using in this paper, provided some
interesting insight into the distributive paradigm. She describes taking on a plural notion of
social justice, instead of describing it through a solely distributive dimension, which restricts the
definition to the morally proper distribution of benefits and burdens, include recognitional
justice, which refers to the absence of cultural domination, non-recognition, and disrespect
experienced by social groups and associational justice, which means the degree of

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participation by individuals or groups in decision which affect the conditions in which we live
(as quoted in Cuervo, 2012, p.87).
I am moved to action, already thinking about a series of lesson plans to use during our
hour long whole group time. However, I, like other teachers, fear that I will find myself
uncomfortable to address certain issues because the students will not think that I could possibly
understand. I am hoping that the trust and respect that I have with the students, along with
knowing when to bring in the appropriate experts to address issues, will allow us to overcome
that, along with my own investment in understanding different cultures.
Perhaps through my job I can create a Hull House-like environment as Jane Addams did,
to address the needs of students by providing an education beyond the school subjects and
standards. There I can help students develop positive identities, become more confident in their
place in this world, and help them push the boundaries of what we accept simply because that is
how it is. Defining social justice by its commitment to improve the life chances of all students
resonates with me. It was inspiring to learn what some teachers are currently doing in their
classrooms, yet it saddens me to know that there are large numbers of students that will never
receive an opportunity to explore these ideas.

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