SOCIAL STUDIES FOR A BETTER WORLD:
AN ANTI-OPPRESSIVE GUIDE FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS
By Noreen Naseem Rodríguez & Katy Swalwell
Plan and deliver a curriculum to help students connect with the humanity of others!
In the wake of 2020, we need today’s young learners to be prepared to develop solutions to a host of entrenched and complex issues, including systemic racism, massive environmental problems, deep political divisions, and future pandemics that will severely test the effectiveness and equity of our health policies. What better place to start that preparation than with a social studies curriculum that enables elementary students to envision and build a better world? In this engaging guide two experienced social studies educators unpack the oppressions that so often characterize the elementary curriculum—normalization, idealization, heroification, and dramatization—and show how common pitfalls can be replaced with creative solutions. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, methods student, or curriculum coordinator, this is a book that can transform your understanding of the social studies disciplines and their power to disrupt the narratives that maintain current inequities.
Pre-order here.
In the wake of 2020, we need today’s young learners to be prepared to develop solutions to a host of entrenched and complex issues, including systemic racism, massive environmental problems, deep political divisions, and future pandemics that will severely test the effectiveness and equity of our health policies. What better place to start that preparation than with a social studies curriculum that enables elementary students to envision and build a better world? In this engaging guide two experienced social studies educators unpack the oppressions that so often characterize the elementary curriculum—normalization, idealization, heroification, and dramatization—and show how common pitfalls can be replaced with creative solutions. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, methods student, or curriculum coordinator, this is a book that can transform your understanding of the social studies disciplines and their power to disrupt the narratives that maintain current inequities.
Pre-order here.
ANTI-OPPRESSIVE EDUCATION IN 'ELITE' SCHOOLS: PROMISING PRACTICES & CAUTIONARY TALES FROM THE FIELD
Edited by Katy Swalwell & Daniel Spikes, afterword by Paul Gorski
This collection of groundbreaking essays brings together a diverse group of experts who are researching, theorizing, and enacting anti-oppressive education in “elite” schooling environments—that is, schools imbued with wealth and whiteness. This volume explores how those who are in a position of power can be educated to take active steps that reduce and disrupt oppression. Each essayist, writing with practitioners in mind, responds to one of four guiding questions from their unique point of view as an educator, student, or researcher: Why does this work matter? What is needed to start and sustain it? What does it look like in practice? What are the common pitfalls and how can they be avoided? Readers are encouraged to mull over various perspectives and experiences to find answers that fit their own contexts. This important book addresses the need to educate for social justice within economically privileged settings where power can be leveraged and repurposed for the benefit of a diverse society. Pre-order here.
- -- Identifies ethical and effective pedagogical and curricular approaches to use with students in “elite” school settings.
- -- Examines what it means to work or learn in “elite” educational spaces for those who hold nondominant identities.
- -- Explores the special obligations and responsibilities these schools require furthering justice.
- -- Looks at how teachers can navigate the unique challenges that arise, the conditions needed to support them, and what counts as success for anti-oppressive education in “elite” schools.
EDUCATING ACTIVIST ALLIES
One of CHOICE Magazine’s 2013 Outstanding Academic Titles and an Honorable Mention for the 2014 AERA Division B-Curriculum Studies Outstanding Book Award
Other praise for Educating Activist Allies (Routledge, 2013):
"In this accessible, story-rich volume, Swalwell offers example after example of how educators in different elite contexts attempt to teach for social justice—described in many instances through her own careful observations of their teaching. Interviews with students offer a window into how this teaching was received. This is a valuable book for any educator trying to clarify what it means to teach for social justice, but especially for those who find themselves teaching the children of the wealthy." --Rethinking Schools
"In this book, Katy Swalwell reminds us that critical consciousness is not just the purview of the marginalized, and that lasting social change based on equity and justice requires a transformation in consciousness of all people, including elites. Filled with eloquently written prose, sharp political analysis, and powerful story, Educating Activist Allies grounds us in the challenges of teaching for social justice while providing concrete hopeful models of practice." -- Wayne Au
Other praise for Educating Activist Allies (Routledge, 2013):
"In this accessible, story-rich volume, Swalwell offers example after example of how educators in different elite contexts attempt to teach for social justice—described in many instances through her own careful observations of their teaching. Interviews with students offer a window into how this teaching was received. This is a valuable book for any educator trying to clarify what it means to teach for social justice, but especially for those who find themselves teaching the children of the wealthy." --Rethinking Schools
"In this book, Katy Swalwell reminds us that critical consciousness is not just the purview of the marginalized, and that lasting social change based on equity and justice requires a transformation in consciousness of all people, including elites. Filled with eloquently written prose, sharp political analysis, and powerful story, Educating Activist Allies grounds us in the challenges of teaching for social justice while providing concrete hopeful models of practice." -- Wayne Au
AMAZING IOWA SERIES
Named to the Library of Congress Great Places, Great Reads Special Collection
Winner of the 2021 Loren Horton Community History Award Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Research or Publication from the Iowa State Historical Society
Click here to access information about the books, traveling exhibits, and supplemental curriculum for the Amazing Iowa series launched in 2018. Illustrated by Iowa artists, the books include kid-friendly biographies of incredible Iowans from diverse backgrounds. For purchasing the books, check out RAYGUN.
Winner of the 2021 Loren Horton Community History Award Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Research or Publication from the Iowa State Historical Society
Click here to access information about the books, traveling exhibits, and supplemental curriculum for the Amazing Iowa series launched in 2018. Illustrated by Iowa artists, the books include kid-friendly biographies of incredible Iowans from diverse backgrounds. For purchasing the books, check out RAYGUN.
COMING SOON...
Becoming A Threat to Inequity (ACSD)
with Paul Gorski
SELECTED PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Swalwell, K. & Sinclair, K. (2020). The appeal of a controversial text: Who uses A People’s History of the United States in the U.S. history classroom and why. Journal of Social Studies Research.
Gallagher, J., Swalwell, K., & Almond-Bellows, E. (2019). Pinning with pause: Supporting teachers’ critical consumption on sites of curriculum sharing. Social Education, 83(4), 217-224.
Howard, A. Swalwell, K., & Adler, K. (2018). Making class: Children’s perceptions of class through illustrations. Teachers College Record, 120(7).
Swalwell, K. & Sinclair, K. (2017). Building a “better” elite: The proliferation and discourses of educational travel programs for elite youth. In H.M. Gunter, D. Hall, & M.W. Apple (Eds.) Corporate elites and the reform of education. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Swalwell, K. & Schweber, S. (2016). Teaching through turmoil: Social studies teachers & local controversial events. Theory and Research in Social Education, 44(3), 283-315.
Swalwell, K., Pellegrino, A., & View, J. (2015). Teachers' curricular choices when teaching histories of oppressed people: Capturing the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Journal of Social Studies Research, 39(1).
Swalwell, K. (2014). Model citizen or bad influence? The contested nature of teachers’ public activism. In N. Bascia (Ed.) Teacher Unions in Public Education: Politics, History and the Future (pp.83-100). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. (invited to submit)
Swalwell, K. (2013). "With great power comes great responsibility": Privileged students' conceptions of justice-oriented citizenship. Democracy & Education, 21(1).
Gallagher, J., Swalwell, K., & Almond-Bellows, E. (2019). Pinning with pause: Supporting teachers’ critical consumption on sites of curriculum sharing. Social Education, 83(4), 217-224.
Howard, A. Swalwell, K., & Adler, K. (2018). Making class: Children’s perceptions of class through illustrations. Teachers College Record, 120(7).
Swalwell, K. & Sinclair, K. (2017). Building a “better” elite: The proliferation and discourses of educational travel programs for elite youth. In H.M. Gunter, D. Hall, & M.W. Apple (Eds.) Corporate elites and the reform of education. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Swalwell, K. & Schweber, S. (2016). Teaching through turmoil: Social studies teachers & local controversial events. Theory and Research in Social Education, 44(3), 283-315.
Swalwell, K., Pellegrino, A., & View, J. (2015). Teachers' curricular choices when teaching histories of oppressed people: Capturing the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Journal of Social Studies Research, 39(1).
Swalwell, K. (2014). Model citizen or bad influence? The contested nature of teachers’ public activism. In N. Bascia (Ed.) Teacher Unions in Public Education: Politics, History and the Future (pp.83-100). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. (invited to submit)
Swalwell, K. (2013). "With great power comes great responsibility": Privileged students' conceptions of justice-oriented citizenship. Democracy & Education, 21(1).
SELECTED BLOG POSTS & PRACTITIONER PUBLICATIONS
Swalwell, K. (2015). Strike! Teaching and learning labor history in a right-to-work state. Rethinking Schools, 29(2), 47-55.
Gorski, P. & Swalwell, K. (2015). Equity literacy for all. Educational Leadership.
Swalwell, K. (2011). Why our students need equity literacy. Teaching Tolerance Blog.
Gorski, P. & Swalwell, K. (2015). Equity literacy for all. Educational Leadership.
Swalwell, K. (2011). Why our students need equity literacy. Teaching Tolerance Blog.
SELECTED AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2020 ISU College of Human Sciences, Faculty Award for Inclusive Achievement
State Library of Iowa selection of Amazing Iowa Women for the Library of Congress Great Reads Great Places list
2016 National Council of Social Studies, Research Into Practice Award, Honorable Mention for Swalwell, K. & Schweber, S. (2016)
2014 Outstanding Faculty Award, Iowa State University Greek Community
AERA Division B-Curriculum Studies, Outstanding Book Award, Honorable Mention for Educating Activist Allies
2013 Kipchoge Kirkland Social Justice Award, College & University Faculty Assembly - National Council of Social Studies
CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Title for Educating Activist Allies
2012 Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association - Division B (Curriculum Studies)
State Library of Iowa selection of Amazing Iowa Women for the Library of Congress Great Reads Great Places list
2016 National Council of Social Studies, Research Into Practice Award, Honorable Mention for Swalwell, K. & Schweber, S. (2016)
2014 Outstanding Faculty Award, Iowa State University Greek Community
AERA Division B-Curriculum Studies, Outstanding Book Award, Honorable Mention for Educating Activist Allies
2013 Kipchoge Kirkland Social Justice Award, College & University Faculty Assembly - National Council of Social Studies
CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Title for Educating Activist Allies
2012 Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association - Division B (Curriculum Studies)
