Article title: Elementary social studies: A place to start changing the world
Author: Brant, C. A. R.
Journal: Theory & Research in Social Education
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2019.1578456
After this review of (Re)Imagining Elementary Social Studies: A Controversial Issues Reader (edited by S. B. Shear, C. M. Tschida, E. Bellows, L. B. Buchanan, and E. E. Saylor; Charlotte, NC: Information Age Press, 2018) was published online, the reviewer realized that she did not accurately represent the book in her comments on how the book could be strengthened. The volume does offer one chapter on gender variance; however, given the importance of this topic in U.S. society, the reviewer thinks the volume would have benefited from multiple chapters on the topic.
The final paragraph of the review has been revised accordingly:
While, overall, the book is an excellent resource for any elementary teacher or teacher educator, there are a few topics which are missing. The volume would be strengthened by including a chapter about the ways ability and disability are constructed in elementary education. Additionally, I would have liked to have seen multiple chapters on LGBTQ topics, but specifically transgender topics. Often, issues of non-cisgender gender identities are lumped in with sexuality when gender and sexuality are two distinct topics. These topics are extremely important to discuss in the early grades, yet many teachers are hesitant to do it. They need more models of how it can be done successfully. Despite these minor critiques, this book is important as it helps expand the current field of elementary social studies education by providing examples of how to make equity topics more accessible for both teachers and teacher educators.