Towards Social Movement Pedagogies Local Social Movement Networks as Mechanisms for Justice in K-12 Schools

Abstract

In the current moments surrounding social studies education many P-20 educators are moving to center justice and teach truth. This paper analyzed the experiences of August, a high school Civics teacher committed to justice, who utilized social movements as tools for her students to critically read and rewrite their worlds. Drawing on conceptualizations of learning in social movements and portraiture methodological approaches, this manuscript presents a vivid narrative illuminating how August integrated social movement networks—what the co-authors define as memories and memory holders of social movements—into her activism and the class curriculum. More specifically, findings illuminated how August attuned to her and her students' social movement networks relative to their lives and communities. These social movement networks connected to students’ inquiries, extended their inquiries, and supported new inquiries about injustices in the world. In casting light on social movement networks, the co-authors hope readers can take up and contextualize these findings in their own pedagogical and curricular contexts, adding to both the practice and the empirical study of social movement pedagogies.