ABSTRACT
Topics: economics, economic content knowledge, global economy, capitalism, inequality, justice, perspective-consciousness, local/global connections, issues-oriented approach, teacher refl ection, role-play/simulation, fi lm, photographs/pictures, power/authority, government
A primary goal of my teaching is to have students critically refl ect about practice so that they are able to see themselves, their teaching contexts, and their curriculum within social, political, historical, and economic contexts. I want students to see themselves and their teaching within the context of systems that tend to organize students and learning in particular ways and I want them to understand the complexity of how these systems work. In class, students critically examine these typically inequitable systems and refl ect on their own roles in reproducing or changing them. I remain hopeful that students’ critical inquiry will encourage them to teach their own students to think critically about social issues and systems as they relate to the social studies. Th e ability to do this type of teaching does not develop from merely reading about inquiry; prospective teachers need to engage in this type of inquiry in their coursework.
