Reading, Writing, and Revolution: Facilitating Social Activism in First Grade

ABSTRACT

This article examines how teachers can develop a sense of social activism in students through critical multiculturalism. Drawing upon data from a nine-month participant observation study of a first-grade public charter school classroom in central California, this article highlights how teachers can integrate critical multiculturalism within an elementary classroom by connecting artists' lives to social issues to raise awareness of social injustices, promote critical reflection and consciousness, and develop a sense of social activism. Particular attention is paid to how teachers can incorporate this curriculum into their own classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical multiculturalism
• activism
• elementary school
• children
• ethnography

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Ms. Monet, her students, and the faculty, staff, and families at Strawberry Fields School.

Notes

1. All proper names have been changed.

2. This section is written in first person to reflect the voice of the author, who was the ethnographer for this project.