Exploring Social Justice Education as a Responsive Middle Grades Pedagogy to Promote Justice-Oriented Citizenship

Middle grades students across the U.S. are learning about citizenship both explicitly and overtly through the hidden curriculum, which, in the majority of schools, promotes passive compliant citizenship. Culturally and developmentally responsive teaching in the middle grades, however, necessitates active authentic learning that engages the emerging criticality and sense of justice of young adolescents. For this reason, social justice education (SJE) is an especially promising responsive pedagogy for the middle grades. This study investigates the impact of a social justice project designed to promote justice-oriented views of citizenship on middle grades student perceptions of "good citizenship". Findings indicate shifts in student perceptions of good citizenship toward more participatory and justice-oriented views of citizenship as well as increased critical consciousness. In addition, the findings indicate two new themes in student perceptions: (a) good citizens work together and (b) good citizens sometimes have to defy norms for justice. We close with a critical analysis of the findings and implications for responsive justice-oriented teaching and scholarship.