Integrating EcoJustice pedagogy with social justice pedagogy in children’s literature courses

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined students’ perceptions of EcoJustice and Social Justice curriculum in an undergraduate children’s literature course. Data included beginning-course and end-course Likert scale questions and open-ended responses, student reflective writings, and assignments. This study also examined survey responses from faculty teaching children’s literature. Results showed that students, primarily preservice teacher candidates, want EcoJustice topics in the curriculum and believe such teaching is more important than educators do. Students and teachers viewed Social Justice and EcoJustice pedagogy as separate and had much less understanding of EcoJustice topics and pedagogy compared to those of Social Justice; however, after experiencing an EcoJustice inclusive curriculum, the end-course results demonstrate that students had a much better understanding and a stronger belief in the importance of EcoJustice topics. Student participants reported a better understanding of how connected justice topics and pedagogy are and how they could incorporate such pedagogy into their own K-12 teaching using children’s literature. The author made her children’s literature courses more ecologically inclusive and justice-focused and provides brief recommendations for incorporating EcoJustice pedagogy in undergraduate children’s literature courses.

Keywords:

• Children’s literature
• Ecojustice pedagogy
• social justice pedagogy
• preservice teacher candidates

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

• SDG 4: Quality education

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Serafina Pastore, Education, Psychology, Communication, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy

SUBJECTS:

• Teachers & Teacher Education
• Teacher Education & Training
• Critical Theory

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 I have chosen to only share the end-course student demographic data because there was little difference in the beginning-course and end-course responses. For example, 74% of students beginning-course indicated they planned to pursue teaching as opposed to 73% of students end-course. Any end-course number changes reflect students withdrawing from the course or identifying differently from their beginning-course responses such as in which grade level they may wish to specialize.

2 Student participants were able to select from multiple gender identities; however, they only chose female and male.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen M. Hindhede

Karen M. Hindhede is an English Professor and Interim Academic Dean at Central Arizona College. She is finishing her Ph.D. in Sustainability Education at Prescott College. Professor Hindhede has taught children’s literature classes in person and online for twenty-four years. Professor Hindhede noticed a lack of environmental justice picturebooks, despite the numbers of picturebooks portraying social justice. This led Professor Hindhede to investigate picturebook portrayals and publish We All Need to Be Water Protectors: Diversity, the Environment, and Social and Environmental Justice Picturebook Themes and Portrayals in Environmental Education Research. Given the intertwining aspects of environmental justice and social justice, Professor Hindhede began researching EcoJustice pedagogy for her dissertation and how it might be applicable in children’s literature courses. This research and the corresponding changes she instituted in her courses led to this article. In conjunction with this piece, Professor Hindhede wrote a practitioner-focused article building on the research discovered in this study. That article, Implementing Ecojustice Praxis in Children’s Literature Courses, is under review.