Social Justice in the Classroom

Portrait of a Citizen: Rethinking Civic Education with Darcy Daniels & Denise Furlong – The Teaching History Her Way Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Teaching History Her Way, I'm joined by Darcy Daniels and Denise Furlong. If you've listened before, you've heard the brilliance of Darcy, and Denise adds to the magic. They're on the podcast to talk about their brand new book, Portrait of a Citizen (Routledge).Together, we dig into what it actually means to raise engaged, thoughtful citizens in today's classrooms, and how Darcy and Denise built a framework that goes way beyond "memorize the Bill of Rights and move on." We talk origin stories, the thinking behind the book, what they're seeing work with real students, and practical ways you can start bringing this into your own classroom tomorrow.Grab the book by clicking here! If you teach civics, government, or really any flavor of social studies, Portrait of a Citizen needs to be on your shelf. Darcy and Denise built an awesome toolkit, and it's the kind of resource you'll come back to again and again. Let's be friends and continue the conversation!Instagram: @teachinghistoryherwayX: http://www.twitter.com/historyherwayOn the Web/Blog: https://www.teachinghistoryherway.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/teachinghistoryherwayBlueSky: @historyherway.bsky.socialSupport the production of the Teaching History Her Way Podcast by purchasing some really great history tees.  Click here to shop now or go to www.teachinghistoryherway.com and click on "Merch."
  1. Portrait of a Citizen: Rethinking Civic Education with Darcy Daniels & Denise Furlong
  2. Presidential Conspiracies 101 with Stephen Knott
  3. From Research to Exhibit: Letting Students Tell the Story of History
  4. Moving Beyond Memorization: Using Hexagonal Thinking to Deepen Student Thinking
  5. Teaching is an Act of Hope

Lindsay defines social justice in the classroom as a foundational and cultural mindset of partnership between teacher and student in which students are talking and grappling with meaningful work that has eyes beyond the teacher and changes the community for the better in some way. Additionally, they are able to see mirrors of their own experiences and backgrounds of their identities as well as step into someone else’s experience through this work. To do the work, and fit it into our classes, she tells us to take a topic that students are talking about and then use our historical knowledge and pedagogical background to bring those issues into the class by designing our lessons from the present to the past. She recommends the Social Justice Framework from Learning for Justice as a way to guide you through making work developmentally appropriate.

Lindsay also makes the excellent point that you need to make your classroom a place where students are prepared and ready to talk about the issues at hand as well as be able to work through disagreements. She’s so generously given us a template for Circle Planning, which is a really great discussion method, for our students. Get your free Circle Planning Template here!

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