Young people around the world show considerable engagement with climate change. How can education draw on this engagement in order to benefit students and society? In this article, we discuss how inquiry-based dialogues can support students' development in their societal engagement. We argue that such dialogues should include real-world problems…

When pressing societal challenges (e.g., COVID-19, access to clean water) are sidelined in science classrooms, science education fails to leverage the knowledge and experiences of minoritized students in school, thus reproducing injustices in society. Our conceptual framework for "justice-centered STEM education" engages all students in…

Low levels of students' critical reasoning and environmental literacy can negatively influence their attitudes toward environmental issues in their surroundings. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI)-based electronic module on the topic of environmental change to enhance critical reasoning and…

Background: Data storytelling is an interdisciplinary practice that uses visual and narrative elements to engage an audience with data. Students need more opportunities across school curriculum to consider the connections between data and social and environmental contexts. Few studies have investigated how to support teachers in co-designing for…

Providing opportunities for elementary students to engage with enduring social issues, such as houselessness, is essential in preparing informed, engaged, and social justice-oriented citizens. This article draws from the following standards: (1) C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards that center inquiry; (2) Learning for Justice's Social…

Mathematics has a unique and powerful role to play in the teaching of social justice issues. There is substantial quantitative evidence for social injustice, but many citizens lack the quantitative skills to understand that evidence. A course in quantitative literacy is a unique opportunity to provide this quantitative understanding to a wide…

Big Brother, newspeak, doublethink, vapourised people and thought police became worldwide famous expressions. 1984 novel portrays a nightmare society controlled by information manipulation and by suppression of both history and science. This study aimed to investigate the impact of using the 1984 dystopian novel associated with socio-scientific…

In light of societal pluralism, diverse visions exist for social justice. In this sense, uncertainty is a marker of social justice education and research. This article shares insights into how we came to ask a question about teaching for social justice through cross-cultural collaborative self-study. Eight New Zealand pre-service teachers…

Socioscientific issues are ill-structured problems that involve moral, ethical, and financial aspects, and lack clear-cut solutions. Teaching socioscientific issues necessarily puts a demand on teachers to draw on knowledge stemming from other domains, and to also appreciate, and present to the students the societal aspects of science. For new…

Developing activities which are effective in assessing what counts in social studies and showing progress is challenging for social-studies teachers. In this article, we explore the three dimensions of the social studies learning area which were identified in the Nature of Social Studies (NSS) scale developed by the National Monitoring Study of…

Developing problem solving skills is often accepted as a desirable goal in many educational settings. However, there is little evidence to support that students are better problem solvers after graduating. The students can solve routine problems but they confronted difficulties when adapting their prior knowledge for the solution of new problems.…

This study examines high school students' views of mathematics as a tool for social inquiry in light of their classroom experiences using mathematics to explore social issues. A critical theoretical perspective on mathematics literacy is used to ascertain the ways in which their views challenge or affirm the dominant image of mathematics in…

For over a decade, we have collaborated with secondary school history teachers in an evolving line of inquiry that applies research-based propositions to the design and testing of a problem-based learning framework and a set of wise practices that represent a professional teaching knowledge base for implementing a particular model of instruction,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of socially relevant mathematics applications in high school mathematics classrooms and students' views of mathematics in light of their experiences with these applications. Also, the study sought to determine whether inquiries afforded by these applications incorporated features that promoted…

Based on a yearlong critical inquiry project in a central Los Angeles high school, the author discusses the implications of engaging students in dialogue and critique about their experiences with race. The students' voices, through participant observation field notes and their own writing, tell stories of struggle and newfound understandings about…