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The purpose of our research was to identify challenges middle grades educators face as they strive to disrupt for justice in their predominantly white schools/districts. Developmentally and culturally responsive education for all middle grades students calls on educators to embrace justice-oriented teaching. Yet middle grades teachers attempting to disrupt unjust practices and policies are often met with significant challenges that can undermine their efforts. Research illustrating these challenges could help justice-oriented middle grades teachers and leaders prepare for and proactively address these challenges. This article draws on the experiences of a group of middle grades educators to illustrate the numerous challenges they faced while leading and engaging in justice-oriented initiatives in the predominantly white state of Vermont. We describe four categories of challenges faced by the group: (a) institutional challenges; (b) interpersonal challenges; (c) pedagogic challenges; and (d) inner challenges. Drawn from the findings, we offer implications for justice-oriented middle grades teachers, administrators, and teacher educators.

Purpose This study aims to examine how early childhood and elementary teachers share picturebooks to support justice-oriented science learning about water, fostering students’ critical thinking and civic relationships in a politically charged environmental education context. Design/methodology/approach In a qualitative multicase study, five early childhood–grade 6 teachers integrated water-themed picturebooks into lessons. Data included plans, reflections, classroom artifacts and interviews, analyzed through critical eco-pedagogy and common worlding frameworks. Findings Teachers positioned water as a science concept and as relational, cultural and civic presence. Across age groups, students engaged in emotional attunement, storytelling, place-based observation and advocacy. Findings are synthesized within a justice-oriented instructional framework with four dimensions: relational starting points, lived inquiry, story as civic inquiry and curricular flexibility. Practical implications The framework offers adaptable approaches for teachers to cultivate environmental responsibility through story and inquiry, even in politically constrained contexts. Originality/value This study contributes a novel framework for integrating environmental and civic learning. It demonstrates that justice-oriented instruction is possible across grade levels and that young children can engage with ethical concepts and relational pedagogy ecologically.

The purpose of this cross-case analysis is to understand how mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) educators integrated social justice (SJ)-oriented computer science (CS) instruction into middle school classrooms. An integrated curriculum synthesises content and methods from two or more fields to teach curricular concepts and solve complex problems. This research explores data collected as part of a research-practice partnership (RPP) to deepen the field’s understanding of achieving this integration. Through co-designing and implementing instructional units that integrate social justice-oriented CS instruction, we uncovered important themes and patterns that make CS accessible to teachers across varying contexts. These themes encompass the demonstration of the teachers’ (1) willingness to collaborate, (2) design of integrated experiential learning, and (3) adaptive expertise throughout the process. The study aims to highlight actionable conditions and factors for practitioners, teacher educators, and curriculum developers interested in adapting this work to create a justice-oriented integrated curriculum in their context. We meet this purpose by answering the research question: How do middle school teachers describe the co-learning and collaborative design process of integrating justice-oriented computer science instruction into mathematics and ELA classrooms?

Despite substantial investment in teacher preparation, low levels of teacher assessment literacy persist, particularly with respect to the sociocultural and ethical dimensions of assessment. This study reports on interviews with 12 Chilean elementary teacher candidates (TCs). During interviews, TCs reviewed a set of assessment challenges and reported how they would address each challenge. Challenges were designed to elicit assessment as, for, and of learning in response to assessment challenges involving language and culture. Chile presents an interesting context due to its strong policy emphasis on formative assessment and a changing, increasingly diverse student population. TCs’ proposed assessment moves were highly context-dependent and tended to favor formative practices. Culturally responsive assessment approaches were also mentioned, but were primarily oriented toward valuing students as individuals rather than toward sustaining and expanding cultural and linguistic identities. Responses also reflected dominant group-oriented perspectives, characterized by deficit views or the absence of sociocultural considerations. Together, these results highlight the challenge of moving beyond technical assessment skills toward developing the dispositions and skills necessary for justice-oriented classroom assessment practices.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to present two case studies of bilingual, culturally sustaining elementary educators engaging students in daily interactive read-alouds with justice-oriented picturebooks. Design/methodology/approach Using qualitative multi-case study and ethnographic approaches, along with constant comparative methods, the authors analyzed two case studies to explore how educators work toward disruption and transformation through literacy instruction in dual language contexts. Data included interviews, classroom observations of interactive read-alouds and classroom artifacts. Findings The authors found that the teachers prepared for teaching with justice-oriented picturebooks by developing Humanizing Critical Sociocultural Knowledge (HCSK), growing critical content knowledge and enacting culturally sustaining pedagogical knowledge. The authors argue that culturally sustaining literacy instruction requires that teachers not only curate justice-oriented texts but also cultivate their own HCSK through lived experience, activism and pedagogical preparation to create student-centered interactive read-aloud spaces. Research limitations/implications This article underscores the consequential development of educators’ HCSK and culturally sustaining pedagogies as foundational to justice-oriented literacy instruction, which should be emphasized in teacher education research and programs. Practical implications This article demonstrates that critical interactive read-alouds are most effective when teachers intentionally prepare through ongoing self-reflection, activism and purposeful text curation that centers students’ lived experiences. Originality/value This article offers an original contribution by shifting the focus from text selection to the critical preparation and humanizing sociocultural knowledge teachers must cultivate to meaningfully enact culturally sustaining interactive read-alouds with justice-oriented texts.

Purpose Picturebooks can be considered sociopolitical art and, as such, are ideal for inviting children into critical conversations during justice-oriented interactive read-alouds. Therefore, how teachers critically curate their picturebook collections, finding and selecting texts, is important. This paper aims to answer the question: How do primary-grade teachers critically curate their picturebook collections to share in justice-oriented interactive read-alouds? Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon critical literacy theory, this study uses qualitative research methods to examine how primary-grade teachers curate picturebooks for their justice-oriented interactive read-alouds. The data derives from a multiple case study investigating the perspectives and practices of primary-grade teachers sharing diverse children’s literature as part of their justice-oriented approaches to teaching. Findings This paper identifies three themes that emerged from the data. First, the teachers critically engaged with resources and collaborators. Second, the teachers critically analyzed potential picturebooks. Third, they prioritized finding multiple and varied perspectives for their picturebook collections. Originality/value Although the scholarship outlines essential aspects for teachers to consider as they select picturebooks, there are few studies that explore primary-grade teachers’ critical curation processes and practices. This study offers insights into how primary-grade teachers enact a critical stance to find and select picturebooks as their initial step in designing justice-oriented interactive read-alouds.

This article discusses suggestions for integrating feminist epistemology, theory, pedagogy, and praxis even more intentionally into existing U.S. teacher education curricula. The premise is that in light of recent 21st century women’s empowerment movements, such ideas should be examined and integrated fully in justice-oriented teacher education programs. Supporting them with a review of the relevant literature, the author offers additions to existing frames within teacher education in U.S. programs. The author suggests emphasis on establishing authentic teacher voice through intentional pedagogy that incorporates feminism, through establishment of community, and through praxis and reflection. With these aspects firmly established in teacher education as essential to justice-oriented teacher education, the author advocates for counter-hegemonic conversations and storylines that encourage feminist voice and feminist praxis in teacher education.

This paper reconceptualizes intellectual safety in mathematics spaces by centering the voices and lived experiences of BIPOC students. The marginalization of BIPOC students is compounded by structural racism, historical exclusion, and deficit narratives that continue to shape academic environments, especially in mathematics contexts. While definitions of intellectual safety reflect white, Eurocentric norms, we argue that for BIPOC students, intellectually safe environments must be anti-racist, culturally responsive, and rooted in belonging. We started with existing definitions of intellectual safety and incorporated a more critical approach to sense of belonging. Through ethnographic research design we gathered student interviews and daily journal entries from a 12-day anti-racist mathematics summer institute for secondary students. Analysis revealed that while existing attributes captured much of the scholar’s joy, cultural affirmation, and belonging, new themes, like pride/confidence, clarity/transparency, and being listened to, emerged directly from how students experienced intellectual safety in practice. This led to a refinement of our initial conceptualization. This study provides insight into how intellectual safety manifests in a space intentionally designed to support BIPOC youth in exploring mathematics in agentic and culturally sustaining ways.

This qualitative research underscores the influence of social justice-oriented pedagogies on the growth of emerging bilinguals (EB) enrolled as teacher candidates in English language teacher education programs in terms of both linguistic, instructional, and long-term professional realms. Collaboratively conducted with dedicated pre-service student teachers (PST), this case study addresses cultural gaps and structural disparities in Vietnamese educational society. By delving into the expanding literature on these associated types of pedagogies within language education research, the case study involved 20 PST-EB in Vietnam. Engaging with social organizations, these PSTs integrated real-life experiences into their classroom knowledge production. The outcomes revealed that the PST developed an enhanced awareness of diverse worldviews, a heightened sense of responsibility towards marginalized communities, an inclination towards culture-oriented educational solutions to combat inequality and injustice, and improved skills for public knowledge dissemination. The manuscript explores these findings and delineates their implications.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching holds significant importance in advancing the worldwide efforts towards promoting equity and justice in this transformative age. This study comprises a critical review of the equity and justice-oriented strategies (EJOS) implemented by EFL teachers within classrooms settings. By examining 20 studies published between 2013 and 2022 in Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases, four categories of EJOS (equalizing support for all, respecting the diversity of learners, creating a supportive learning climate, and fostering critical awareness for social change) and their varying effects on learners’ cognition, behavior, affection and social identity were identified. Besides, the study highlights challenges and gaps in the realm of EJOS, providing a solid foundation for future research in this domain. Drawing on the findings, this systematic review highlights the theoretical and practical implications for equity and justice-oriented EFL teaching and calls for researchers and social justice advocates to continue exploring effective strategies across diverse educational, national, and socio-cultural contexts to promote equitable education.