case studies in elementary education

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Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

Center for Teaching

Case studies.

Print Version

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality.

Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case:

• What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case?
• What do they already know that applies to the case?
• What are the issues that may be raised in discussion?
• How will the case and discussion be introduced?
• What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?)
• What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish?
• Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class?
• Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how?
• What are the opening questions?
• How much time is needed for students to discuss the case?
• What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion?
• How will you evaluate students?

To find other cases that already exist, try the following websites:

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science , University of Buffalo. SUNY-Buffalo maintains this set of links to other case studies on the web in disciplines ranging from engineering and ethics to sociology and business
• A Journal of Teaching Cases in Public Administration and Public Policy , University of Washington

For more information:

• World Association for Case Method Research and Application

Book Review :  Teaching and the Case Method , 3rd ed., vols. 1 and 2, by Louis Barnes, C. Roland (Chris) Christensen, and Abby Hansen. Harvard Business School Press, 1994; 333 pp. (vol 1), 412 pp. (vol 2).

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Using Case Studies to Teach

Why Use Cases?

Many students are more inductive than deductive reasoners, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with basic principles. The use of case studies can therefore be a very effective classroom technique.

Case studies are have long been used in business schools, law schools, medical schools and the social sciences, but they can be used in any discipline when instructors want students to explore how what they have learned applies to real world situations. Cases come in many formats, from a simple “What would you do in this situation?” question to a detailed description of a situation with accompanying data to analyze. Whether to use a simple scenario-type case or a complex detailed one depends on your course objectives.

Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.

Common Case Elements

Most “full-blown” cases have these common elements:

• A decision-maker who is grappling with some question or problem that needs to be solved.
• A description of the problem’s context (a law, an industry, a family).
• Supporting data, which can range from data tables to links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, or audio.

Case assignments can be done individually or in teams so that the students can brainstorm solutions and share the work load.

The following discussion of this topic incorporates material presented by Robb Dixon of the School of Management and Rob Schadt of the School of Public Health at CEIT workshops. Professor Dixon also provided some written comments that the discussion incorporates.

Advantages to the use of case studies in class

A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples. This develops their skills in:

• Problem solving
• Analytical tools, quantitative and/or qualitative, depending on the case
• Decision making in complex situations
• Coping with ambiguities

Guidelines for using case studies in class

In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study establishes a framework for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations. Instructors may choose to use several cases so that students can identify both the similarities and differences among the cases.

Depending on the course objectives, the instructor may encourage students to follow a systematic approach to their analysis.  For example:

• What is the issue?
• What is the goal of the analysis?
• What is the context of the problem?
• What key facts should be considered?
• What alternatives are available to the decision-maker?
• What would you recommend — and why?

An innovative approach to case analysis might be to have students  role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters. Videos or even field trips showing the venue in which the case is situated can help students to visualize the situation that they need to analyze.

Accompanying Readings

Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case. The amount of emphasis placed on the use of the reading during the case discussion depends on the complexity of the concept or method. If it is straightforward, the focus of the discussion can be placed on the use of the analytical results. If the method is more complex, the instructor may need to walk students through its application and the interpretation of the results.

Leading the Case Discussion and Evaluating Performance

Decision cases are more interesting than descriptive ones. In order to start the discussion in class, the instructor can start with an easy, noncontroversial question that all the students should be able to answer readily. However, some of the best case discussions start by forcing the students to take a stand. Some instructors will ask a student to do a formal “open” of the case, outlining his or her entire analysis.  Others may choose to guide discussion with questions that move students from problem identification to solutions.  A skilled instructor steers questions and discussion to keep the class on track and moving at a reasonable pace.

In order to motivate the students to complete the assignment before class as well as to stimulate attentiveness during the class, the instructor should grade the participation—quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. This might be a simple check, check-plus, check-minus or zero. The instructor should involve as many students as possible. In order to engage all the students, the instructor can divide them into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case, and then ask a randomly selected person in each group to present the group’s answer and reasoning. Random selection can be accomplished through rolling of dice, shuffled index cards, each with one student’s name, a spinning wheel, etc.

Tips on the Penn State U. website: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/cases/

If you are interested in using this technique in a science course, there is a good website on use of case studies in the sciences at the University of Buffalo.

Dunne, D. and Brooks, K. (2004) Teaching with Cases (Halifax, NS: Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education), ISBN 0-7703-8924-4 (Can be ordered at http://www.bookstore.uwo.ca/ at a cost of $15.00)

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Making and Using Case Studies in the Classroom

 naspaa tpac 2020 case study workshop.

Learn how to Teach With Case Studies and Make Your Own

Click below to check out an article on competency-based portfolios

Article: Case Studies Pedagogy

Download the slideshow presentation used by Blue Wooldridge:

Slide Show: A Strategic Contingency Approach to Instructional Design

Download the slideshow presentation used by Andrew Graham:

Slide Show: Case Study Formats and Learning Objectives

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An identity project: a case study of two inservice elementary stem teachers’ experiences with a comprehensive professional development

• Open access
• Published: 29 May 2024
• Volume 3 , article number  63 , ( 2024 )

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• Carolyn A. Parker 1 &
• Nicholas Lehn 1  

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This paper describes the experiences of two teachers, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik, who participated in a comprehensive National Science Foundation-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professional learning experience. This comparative case study describes how Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik leveraged the justice-oriented curriculum of a STEM professional learning opportunity to transform their identities as educators while influencing their instructional practices. The professional learning experience included access to a justice-oriented curriculum introduced through monthly content-focused experiences, regular faculty learning communities, and support from an expert onsite coach. Evidence of transformed identities and instructional practices is derived from semi-structured in-depth interviews and video recordings of classroom teaching and learning. Analysis of the interview data suggests that Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik found the professional learning experience transformative and that the experience served as a pedagogical identity project. Evidence from the classroom videos suggests that Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s instructional practices shifted, becoming more justice-oriented and student-centered. Moreover, Ms. Santiago’s practices shifted in a manner more aligned with an engaged teaching approach. We conclude that the comprehensive STEM professional learning experience served as a pedagogical identity project while positively influencing the instructional practices of Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik. Implications for preservice and in-service teacher education are discussed.

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1 Introduction

Public schools in Baltimore City have long strived to meet their students’ needs under the weight of societal obstacles contributing to socioeconomic reproduction, including systemic racism and violence [ 23 ]. This weight was exemplified by the 2015 death of Freddie Gray and the nationally televised riots that followed. Contrary to how mass media portrayed the City's youth during this challenging time, Baltimore-based sociologists DeLuca, Clampet-Lundquist, and Edin [ 8 ] found that the majority of young people growing up in Baltimore actively resist pernicious stereotypes of involvement in drugs and violence by pursuing post-secondary education and careers. This finding was supported by the authors of Coming of Age in the Other America who also found that many young people in Baltimore graduated from high school, and went on to higher education or found jobs, further rejecting the stereotype that “poor children growing up in Baltimore are less likely to escape poverty than those growing up in any other city in the nation,” [ 8 ], p. xv]. Students who successfully overcame these obstacles were able to break free of the “legacy of deep racial subjugation, intergenerational poverty, and resource-depleted neighborhoods” and often engaged with what the authors termed an “identity project,” a consuming passion that acted as a life raft and helped students transcend daily challenges and hardships [ 8 , p. 11].

In this paper, we extend and apply the localized work of DeLuca, Clampet-Lundquist, and Edin [ 8 ] through a comparative case-study approach examining the professional identity transformation of two Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) elementary school teachers, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik. Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik participated in a five-year, comprehensive, professional learning program supported by a National Science Foundation Mathematics and Science Foundation partnership, STEM Achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools (SABES), which through their participation became an identity project, supporting them to transform their instructional practices and enact a or more engaged, justice-oriented approach with their students.

1.1 STEM achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools (SABES)

SABES was established in 2012 as a community partnership initiative focused on grades 3–5 between BCPS and The Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. The project focused on three distinct Baltimore neighborhoods, the Pimlico/Arlington/Hilltop area, the Greater Charles Village/Barclay region, and the Highlandtown neighborhood. SABES provides a student-centered, justice-centered science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum for grades 3–5 [ 30 , 32 ]. A comprehensive and intensive professional learning experience support the teachers who adopt SABES’ justice-centered curriculum and includes subject-specific coursework, grade-level collaborative professional learning communities, and in-school coaching by an expert science coach.

Our analysis of interviews and classroom observations with Ms. Santiago and Ms. Jelenik indicates their involvement with SABES’ comprehensive professional learning program served as a pedagogical identity project, consuming their professional lives while transforming their identity as educators. Subsequently their identity transformation fueled a change in their instructional practices to what bell hooks [ 16 ] described as engaged teaching, especially for Ms. Santiago.

1.2 Baltimore City Public Schools

Researchers have found that economically impoverished school districts like Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) often face many challenges, such as chronic shortages of experienced educators, low student achievement on standardized measures, and a lack of financial resources [ 12 , 13 , 17 , 23 , 30 ]. BCPS is no exception. BCPS serves approximately 85,000 students, eighty-four percent of whom are eligible for free- or reduced-price meals, a marker of poverty in Maryland. Pre-pandemic data from the 2019 Nation’s Report Card [ 27 ] tell a story of a challenged district. The average score on the National Assessment of Education Progress of eighth-graders who attend BCPS was 243, fifteen points lower than the average score of 258 for public schools in other large cities. BCPS’s students' academic achievement is among the lowest in Maryland. In science, in 2019, only 7.2% of students scored at or above proficient on the state’s fifth-grade science test, compared to 29.1% of students statewide [ 27 ].

Moreover, following national trends, science in elementary schools is greatly deemphasized. According to the most recent National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education [ 3 ] of 7600 science and mathematics teachers across the United States, students in elementary classrooms spent an average of 20 min per day on science far less than the 87 or 58 min per day spent on reading or mathematics, respectively.

However, contrary to the national narrative of diminished science instruction, the two teachers in our comparative case study, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik, embraced teaching the SABES justice-oriented STEM curriculum to their elementary-aged students and used the comprehensive professional learning experience to transform their professional identities and instructional practices. This assertion is supported by data from six transcribed interviews, 31 video recordings of their classroom STEM instruction (totaling 16 h of footage), and field notes. The evidence indicates that both teachers enacted the justice-oriented curriculum while incorporating the tenets of SABES professional learning in ways compatible with an identity project [ 8 ]. Moreover, the instructional transformation, particularly for Ms. Santiago, was compatible with what bell hooks [ 16 ] described as engaged teaching, teaching “in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students [ 16 , p. 13]”.

2 Literature review

2.1 educator identity.

A teacher’s identity influences how they enact instruction, influences their professional learning, and their career trajectory [ 36 ]. Within the domain of science, teacher identity is uniquely contextual [ 9 ]. By studying science teacher identity, we can better prepare and support teachers to teach science at the elementary and secondary classroom.

Teacher identity can be described in a multitude of ways. Darragh [ 7 ] divides identity into five categories: participative, narrative, discursive, psychoanalytic, and performative. Gee [ 10 ] describes four ways to view identity: nature-identity, institution-identity, discourse identity, and affinity-identity. It is important to note that one’s identity is complex, and no matter how a researcher categorizes identity, the categories cannot be thought of as separate from one another. We must consider categories of identity as related and influenced by one another.

Our study is primarily guided by what Darragh [ 7 ] describes as participative identity. In particular, participative identity as constructed through participation and engagement in a social group. This definition of participative identity builds on Lave and Wenger’s [ 19 ] and Wenger’s [ 38 ] notion of “communities of practice within which one’s participative identity is situated; “a layering of events of participation and reification by which our experience and its social interpretation inform each other” [ 38 , p. 151].

Very recently, Chen and Mensah [ 5 ] incorporated Lave and Wenger [ 19 ] as well as Wenger [ 38 ] situated learning theoretical framework in their examination of science teachers. Chen and Mensah [ 5 ] poisted that participation within a CoP supported the development of a science teacher identity while developing the knowledge and skills necessary to teach. As their teaching practices and participation in the CoP developed, their study’s participants became part of their science teaching community while developing an increased sense of identity as science teachers.

Holland et al.’s [ 15 ] identity and agency in cultural, figured worlds framework describes the process of identity development with figured worlds or socially constructed frames of reference. The framework provides a perspective for how individuals navigate their cultural and social environment, drawing from cultural models to construct one’s identity while exercising individual agency. The process is active. The individual actively engages with their cultural and social environment, constructing a figured world through interaction governed by cultural norms, social structures, and power dynamics.

Moore utilized Holland et al. [ 15 ] to frame the development of three African American science teachers’ identities. This framework helped guide a more personalized and individual understanding of each teacher informed by their experiences in culturally constructed worlds (e.g., race, gender, class, ethnicity, age, and religion), their classroom practices, and their professional learning, helping to develop assertions on how each teacher negotiated power and their roles as science teachers.

Teacher identity frameworks share the complex and contextualized nature of teacher identity development. Each framework emphasizes the importance of social interactions in identity development, mainly when situated within a teacher’s immediate school context. Each framework also emphasized the ever-changing nature of identity development. Educator identity is not static and is heavily influenced by context. In our study, participation is an all-encompassing professional development experience [ 2 ].

2.2 Justice-centered science curriculum and pedagogy

In the context of STEM education, Basu and Calabrese-Barton [ 4 ] incorporated the ideas of socially just teaching in their exploration of how implementing democratic science pedagogy and curriculum can transform a secondary science classroom. They state that a goal of “democratic science pedagogy is to explore ways of teaching science for social justice among diverse school populations by drawing on the ideas and assets of students and teachers” [ 4 , p. 72]. Through interviews, focus groups, analysis of artifacts, and classroom observations, six teachers and twenty-one students expressed differing interpretations of what a classroom's democratically active science instruction could look like. Students described three common concepts of democratic science pedagogy: freedom and choice, community and caring, and leadership. They went on to express the need for the classroom to be caring, friendly, and peaceful. Basu and Calabrese-Barton [ 4 ] provided general examples of teachers’ and students' ideas for a democratic science classroom that included supporting students’ funds of knowledge and valuing students’ voices, which they believe may enhance student motivation and desire to learn. SABES curriculum was justice-oriented because it drew for the assets of each neighborhood SABES served. For example, the Highlandtown area of Baltimore City has experienced rapid growth of emerging English language students, primarily from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. SABES intentionally incorporated lessons that would draw on the ideas of students from Central America. The curriculum supported pedagogy was student centered, specifically instructional practices that supported student discourse and discussion [ 24 , 28 ].

Through the lens of critical ethnography, Seiler and Gonsalves [ 34 ] worked with two teacher candidates co-teaching in a high school in West Philadelphia. Guided by the words, “We can learn whatever you want in science” [ 35 , p. 90], and by student interest and input, the two teacher candidates worked with their students to co-develop the course curriculum. They predicted that student agency would improve through a participatory, democratic process. Finding the role of a decentralized facilitator challenging, two co-teachers expressed that when they were viewed as facilitators of instruction by their students, they felt that student agency improved. Seiler and Gonsalves [ 35 ] concluded that teachers could establish a facilitator role during science teaching by incorporating a more liberation-oriented approach in a classroom. The SABES curriculum not only includes topics readily encountered in Baltimore, but is very student-centered, supporting the students to explore science while the teacher serves as a facilitator, aligning to what Seiler and Gonsalves described as a participatory and democratic process and pedagogy.

Aligned to the work of Seiler and Gonsalves [ 35 ], Morales-Doyle [ 26 ] found that science teachers becoming classroom facilitators also help correct long-standing inequalities in science education by empowering students to become transformative change agents via embracing justice-centered science pedagogy. Embedded within both critical theory and Ladson-Billings’ [ 18 ] culturally relevant pedagogy, Morales-Doyle describes justice-centered science pedagogy as a framework where students must experience academic success, develop cultural competence, and develop a critical consciousness through relevant, Baltimore-centric curriculum and more student-centered pedagogies. He positions justice-centered science pedagogy as one way to challenge oppression by addressing inequality in science education. Morales-Doyle [ 26 ] identifies a need for studies that focused on empirical analyses of socially transformative science education in urban school settings. Our study and this paper fills this need as identified by Morales-Doyle.

Chen and Mensah [ 5 ] and Varelas, Segura, Bernal‐Munera, and Mitchener [ 37 ] examines the interaction between teacher identity and more inclusive, justice-focused pedagogy and found that a social justice orientation is influenced by the larger institutional context and more local school-based context of each educator. Moreover, the design of science professional learning along with a more student-centered, justice-oriented curriculum are effective in supporting teachers to transform their science teacher identities. Our study extends the work of Chen and Mensah [ 5 ] and Varelas, Segura, Bernal‐Munera, and Mitchener [ 37 ] by examining the confluence of a justice-centered elementary STEM curriculum to transform the science teaching identities and the instructional practices of two Baltimore City elementary teachers.

3 Theoretical framework

Our theoretical framework of a justice-focused approach supports us to understand the factors influencing our study’s two participants interaction with SABES science curriculum and professional learning, the two teachers science teaching identity, and their instructional practices.

3.1 Science teacher identity: Lave and Wenger’s (1991) situated learning theory and Wenger’s (1998) Communities of Practice (CoP)

Situated learning theory guides identity formation, according to Lave and Wenger [ 19 ]. Situated learning theory includes the following key tenets: (a) Legitimate peripheral participation that supports the novice learner to participate in meaningful peripheral participation. This means that over time, the novice learner becomes more and more involved in the community’s activities. As the novice learner becomes more involved, the individual transitions from a more novice learner to a more active and expert participant. During this transition from novice to expert, the individual's identity is shaped; (b) A connection between learning and the individual's identity. Engagement with the CoP must shape and form the individual’s identity; (c) Each learner, through participation in and interaction with the CoP develops a sense of belonging, negotiating their role while shaping and reshaping their identity; (d) Identity Negotiation: AS the individual interacts with the CoP, they iteratively negotiate their role in the CoP and their identity. By participating in the CoP and interacting with other learners, participants develop an identity fundamentally a part of the collective identity of the CoP [ 37 ].

3.2 Engaged teaching

In Teaching to Transgress (1994), bell hooks [ 16 ] describes the development of the ideas of engaged pedagogy as a means to overcome the “overwhelming boredom, uninterest, and apathy” [ 16 , p.10] that she feels characterizes the way that professors and students felt about their teaching and learning experiences. Drawn from anti-colonialist, critical, feminist, and multicultural theories, hooks [ 16 ] describes engaged teaching as “not merely to share information but to share in the intellectual and spiritual growth of our students. To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin [ 16 , p. 13].” She believes that engaged teaching is much more demanding than conventional, critical, or feminist pedagogies because of the emphasis on both teachers' and students’ well-being. “Teachers must be actively committed to a process of self-actualization that promotes their well-being if they are to teach in a manner that empowers the student. [ 16 , p. 15].” While traditional education is often delivered in a way that is disengaged from real life, hooks believes that students want a relevant and meaningful education. Engaged pedagogy focuses on empowering teachers and students in a process that connects to and enriches their lives. When connecting lives, the knowledge supports a more profound and sustained academic engagement. Socially just teaching emphasizes improving the learning and life opportunities of typically marginalized students.

4 Research context and methodology

Our comparative case study with Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik and their classrooms is part of the broader work of SABES. Although SABES’s research agenda does not explicitly focus on individual teachers, as we analyzed our data, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s prolonged and seemingly transformative engagement with SABES could not be overlooked. Therefore, we delved deeper into their interviews and classroom observations and explored the following three research questions, developing a case study for each teacher.

How did Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik describe the change in their educational identity as they experienced SABES?

How did Ms. Santiago and Ms. Jelenik enact SABES’s justice-oriented approach with their students?

How did Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s embrace of SABES's justice-oriented STEM approach support engaged teaching, as described by bell hooks [ 16 ]?

4.1 Context of the study

SABES is driven by the belief that a justice-oriented elementary STEM teaching, guided by rigorous curriculum documents, must also be authentic, student-centered, and reflective of individual teachers’ beliefs. SABES includes an in-school curriculum, teacher professional learning, a neighborhood-focused afterschool program, and community events. SABES required that participating schools commit to teaching STEM to grade 3–5 students for an average of at least forty-five minutes each day [ 30 , 32 ].

There are three ways that SABES engages directly with students. In school, students are taught with a Baltimore-centric STEM curriculum. The curriculum draws from the wealth of knowledge in Baltimore City and includes units on the Chesapeake Bay, water quality (lead pipes is a huge issue in Baltimore City) and other salient and local topics. In an afterschool setting, students engage in a program that focuses on long-term, problem-based, student-directed projects that integrate STEM principles, particularly engineering, in ways relevant to their lives and communities [ 29 , 32 ]. For example, at the time of this study, one group of students identified the need to develop a low-cost and accessible way to decrease the amount of lead in their school’s water fountains. This spurred the students to explore water filters. Although the students’ solutions were not logistically feasible to adopt across the schools of Baltimore City, the students learned a tremendous amount about filters, and the topic was identified and explored by the students. The adults facilitated their exploration. Finally, community-based organizations help organize local STEM events for SABES that bring teachers, students, families, other community members, and university-based partners together to collaboratively learn about local STEM topics, while celebrating students’ projects, increasing family awareness and enhancing interest in STEM and STEM careers.

Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s professional learning experiences included STEM Academies; courses designed to teach STEM content knowledge aligned to the project’s elementary STEM curriculum. SABES offers three content-specific academies: physical science, earth and space science, and life science. Each STEM Academy consists of twelve two-and-a-half-hour sessions held every other week during the academic school year. Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik completed all three content-specific STEM academies.

Moreover, SABES aims to develop master teachers to lead STEM academies in building elementary science teaching capacity in the district and ensuring continued professional learning beyond the grant's lifetime. As SABES matured and Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik became more involved, they served as master teachers, leading and teaching several STEM Academies.

4.2 Ms. Santiago and Ms. Jelenik

Our study participants, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik, teach at Flint Hill Elementary/Middle School. Flint Hill School has a predominantly African-American student population (89.79%), a 93.40% attendance rate, and 79.10% of students receiving free and reduced meals, a marker of poverty in Maryland. Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik have been involved in SABES since it was implemented in the school district in 2012.

Ms. Santiago identifies as female and Latinx. She was in her mid-20 s and was relatively new to teaching when the program began in 2012. Originally from California, she moved to Baltimore after graduating from UC Berkeley as a general education elementary teacher. Ms. Santiago became a teacher at her current school, which is only a few blocks from the university. She initially taught 4th and 5th grade before becoming her school’s middle school engineering teacher and STEM Coordinator.

Mr. Jelenik identifies as male and White. He has been teaching at Flint Hill School for 16 years. He went to a Baltimore-based university for his undergraduate degree. One summer, while he was still in college, he joined a university-sponsored program offered to help close the summer learning gap for lower-income students. He was placed at Flint Hill Academy that summer, and they offered him a job teaching math and reading upon graduation. Mr. Jelenik also began an elementary school basketball program at his school.

Finally, the first author, Carolyn Parker identifies as a White female who has worked in STEM education for almost 30 years. Her teaching and research have been situated within the greater Washington-Baltimore area and have focused on inclusive STEM education in K-12 schools. Nicholas Lehn, the second author, is in his early 30 s, a self-identified White male with a master's degree who grew up in the suburbs within the greater Washington-Baltimore area where SABES was implemented.

4.3 Research methods

Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik participated in six interviews and focus groups from January 2015 to September 2016, which were transcribed. Two researchers coded these transcriptions, emphasizing how the two teachers’ view of elementary STEM education in a high-poverty urban setting changed as SABES was implemented. The interviews were also coded based on how each teacher’s identity as an elementary STEM teacher was transformed via their participation in SABES. Guided by our research questions and in the tradition of grounded theory, we utilized constant comparative analysis [ 34 ].

In addition to the interviews, thirteen classroom periods of science instruction (8 of Mr. Jelenik and 5 of Ms. Santiago) were observed, and video and audio were recorded between October 2014 and December 2016, totaling 16 h of recorded observation. Utilizing a similar technique as Gamez and Parker [ 11 ], we watched each video, taking notes to develop a data repository for each teacher and class. We focused on the instructional topic and how Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik structured the learning activities. These classroom observations were also coded based on how each teacher enacted pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), facilitated STEM learning, fostered students’ finding their voice in the classroom, facilitated prosocial student–student interactions in group settings, and used local or more student-friendly localized touchstones in their lessons. These codes provided empirical evidence of the implementation of the hands-on STEM curriculum and the identity transformation of Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik described in the case studies.

The protocol for our study was approved by the Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Board based on the institution's ethical standards and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

5 STEM achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools as an identity project

As we explored how SABES supported Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s adoption of SABES’s approach to STEM teaching, we found that both Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik valued the role SABES played in their teaching and the lives of their students. SABES’s innovative curriculum and professional learning serve as an identity project for the two teachers. Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik’s involvement became a participative identity project [ 7 , 8 ], an all-consuming passion that focused their teaching constructed through participation and engagement in a social group; a community of practice [ 19 , 37 ]. This identity project, situated within the context of a community of practice of science teachers [ 5 ], helped Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelinek “transcend daily challenges and hardships” [ 8 , p. 11] of teaching in a high-poverty urban setting. SABES transformed Ms. Santiago's and Mr. Jelinek’s teaching identity from a more teacher-centered approach to a more student-centered approach aligned with bell hooks' concept of socially just teaching in the elementary classroom.

5.1 Ms. Santiago—educating future engineers

SABES professional learning gave Ms. Santiago her first exposure to an elementary, comprehensive STEM approach. Ms. Santiago often tells her students that she never knew about engineering growing up. She “never knew about the career in my elementary, middle school, high school, nothing… [she] had friends [in college] who were engineering majors, but still technically did not even know what [her]friends were majoring in” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016).

Ms. Santiago identified so fully with SABES that had she been exposed to STEM classes growing up, she “would have been an engineer. Point blank. It suits [her] personality. It is fun, I would have been an engineer had somebody exposed me to it” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016).

She reflects that for her, “science and throwing science in with STEM has become, literally, my entire life” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). This statement strongly aligns with both Suarez & McGrath’s [ 36 ] idea that a teacher’s identity reflects their instruction, professional learning, and career trajectory as well as two of Gee’s [ 10 ] four descriptions of identity: discourse-identity and affinity-identity. Ms. Santiago grew with SABES, saying she joined:

The summer after my very first year of teaching. Then, I jumped straight into STEM academies. I then jumped into the STEM certificate with the IHE associated with SABES while finishing my last STEM academy on top of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and curriculum and everything else. But you know what? I love it all. The amount that I have learned is literally a college degree's worth, in my opinion. I did not have any of the science knowledge that I had. (Focus Group, September 28, 2016)

Her statement clearly demonstrates that the strength of SABES's justice-oriented curriculum, comprehensive professional learning support, and the STEM certificate have not only amounted to “a college degree’s” worth of knowledge but have completely shaped her career trajectory. Her “sole mission” as a teacher has become “creating engineers…. I tell them all the time, I want to see their names, somewhere in the future, creating something that solves some sort of world problem. Where I can… be like, ‘I taught that kid” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). This supports bell hooks concept of engaged teaching, truly caring for the success and well-being of her students [ 16 ].

Ms. Santiago describes how participation in SABES transformed her teaching in general and the impact it had on the structure and values of the school itself. With regards to the impact SABES had on her pedagogy outside of STEM, Ms. Santiago concludes that being “introduced to STEM and SABES so early on in [her] teaching career” shaped the way she teaches her “other subjects… and the kind of student-centered classroom approach that I taught [is] because of the curriculum” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). This effect on broader identity shaping her approach to pedagogy outside of STEM is a reflection of her deepened identity as a science teacher as described by Chen and Mensah [ 5 ] and Suarez & McGrath [ 36 ].

SABES has also transformed the school itself, as Ms. Santiago believes that her school would not have any life science or engineering programs if it were not for SABES. This transformation was not only curricular as Flint Hill School now has a state-of-the-art engineering classroom and laboratory funded and built with support from JHU’s Whiting School of Engineering.

Ms. Santiago’s investment in and identification with SABES extended even further beyond teaching STEM, or STEM influencing how she taught non-STEM subjects, to the point of giving up her planning periods to teach it and her summer break to create and revise SABES’s curriculum. This all-encompassing investment and identification with SABES is, as Ms. Santiago describes, felt by her students as well. She described days when she “hated going to resource” because her students wanted to “stay and finish science” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). The fact that Ms. Santiago was readily willing to give up her planning period so that her students could spend more time learning STEM reflects her investment in the curriculum and mission of SABES. Ms Santiago’s commitment extends to the summer as well, spending time to improve The Ms. Santiago reflects:

All summer was STEM stuff. STEM curriculum writing. STEM PD.

writings… because… you feel like you should. Especially. when you're somebody now who's been developed so much through SABES…. You're like, 'I can do this, and if I don't do this, then… who else is? Do they have the same background? Do they have the same knowledge?' (Focus Group, September 28, 2016)

Congruent with DeLuca, Clampet-Lundquist, and Edin’s [ 8 ] concept of an identity project, Ms. Santiago adopted the focus of SABES whole cloth. SABES’s approach to elementary STEM education is now a part of her core identity as an educator. She so powerfully identifies with SABES community of practice [ 2 , 5 , 19 , 37 ] to the point of expressing a strong sense of ownership and stewardship over the work and a strong desire to improve and give back to a program that fundamentally shaped her personal and professional identity. This sense of ownership and stewardship over SABES is indicative of Lave and Wenger's [ 19 ] situated learning theory, as the novice has become the expert.

In addition to developing her students’ interest in STEM, Ms. Santiago hopes that teaching SABES’s STEM curriculum will make her students more engaged, confident, and willing to take risks. Furthermore, congruent with bell hooks’ [ 16 ] engaged teaching, Ms. Santiago wants her students to have a more “‘inquisitive’ nature instead of 'the teacher is just going to give me all the answers’” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016) . Her reflections indicate a significant pedagogical shift from the teacher as a “giver” of information to individual, student-driven learning. This shift coincides with a similar shift from a general education teacher to a STEM facilitator, “'I’m here to watch to make sure nobody hurts themselves…. And you notice, the more you let the kids do that, the more amazing the results are” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). Some of the students that Ms. Santiago had during her second year participating in SABES “ended up naming themselves the Flint Hill School Risk Takers” because “taking risks is just something they do now” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016).

The spillover effect of SABES on other content areas, like reading and writing, is echoed by Ms. Santiago's students. She says that her students are applying the steps of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) “without even knowing they are, like asking those questions, trying to figure out what the problem is in other subjects” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). In addition to applying the EDP outside of STEM class, her students are engaged with reading and writing, saying they “want to write because they’re excited. When they’re reading about STEM, they're reading something that they are interested in” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016).

Ms. Santiago was amazed by the objects that her students have created in her engineering classes, “We’re doing, for example, aerospace vehicles right now. I’m like, ‘You guys need to become engineers and create those things…. Nobody’s working on that. That can be your work’” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016). Her students’ passion for STEM and a strong desire to be on the engineering track all show how much Ms. Santiago and her students have been transformed by their participation with SABES.

6 Mr. Jelenik—taken under SABES wing

Like Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik has also been influenced by his participation in SABES. Mr. Jelenik has been teaching much longer than Ms. Santiago, recently completing his eighteenth year at Flint Hill Elementary School. Despite being a more veteran teacher, Mr. Jelinek has embraced SABES similarly to Mrs. Santiago, serving as an identity project.

Sixteen years ago, when Mr. Jelenik was still an undergraduate student, he knew that working in a Baltimore City elementary school was essential to him. As an undergraduate student in Baltimore, he participated in a program called “Teach the City of the Study,” an earlier initiative the university implemented that attempted to close the summer learning gap. In his second year with the program, he was placed at Flint Hill School, where he volunteered with the students on Mondays and Wednesdays. The school offered him a job the following year. Mr. Jelenik was passionate about supporting the learning of Baltimore City’s youth even before his first official year as a teacher.

Mr. Jelenik’s interest in STEM was present, although underdeveloped, early in his career. Although he both “liked science” and “liked the idea of finding stuff out,” though he “wouldn’t really say that starting off, [he] had any passions or anything like that in science” (Interview, November 15, 2016). When he first started teaching, he taught all subjects. However, the focus was on reading and math. They “mandated a lot of how much you have to teach reading in a day, two and a half hours, and then an hour and a half of math” and that “there wouldn’t be any time for science or social studies”' (Interview, November 15, 2016). This statement supports the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education [ 3 ] finding about the significant reduction in minutes per day allocated for science instruction compared to reading and math. It is a sentiment shared by both Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik, reflecting the historical de-emphasis on science in the District’s elementary schools. However, counter to the District’s message, Mr. Jelenik “always thought to [himself], ‘That’s unfair for the kids not to have [science]’” (Interview, November 15, 2016).

Mr. Jelenik is thankful that SABES mentored him. In an interview three years after he became a part of the program, Mr. Jelenik felt:

super lucky that [he] happened to be here, and SABES picked [him] up and took [him] under its wing. I'm a way better teacher now than I would've been if SABES hadn't come along. I probably would still be in textbooks reading chapters and doing worksheets rather than having science come alive in the classroom (Interview, November 15, 2016).

Like Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik’s identity as an educator transformed via participation in SABES, aligned to Lave and Wenger’s [ 19 ] notion of participative identity constructed within SABES’s community of practice. When asked what made a difference in his STEM instruction, Mr. Jelenik mentioned the “different courses in the academies, the professional development, “as well as the logistical and materials help” (Interview, June 12, 2016).

Like Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik discussed the positive changes he saw in his students after he started participating in the SABES project. He said his students “don’t need a lot of encouragement [or] motivation" and "jump right into it,” especially for units like the rollercoaster and electricity units (Interview, November 15, 2016), two of his favorites. According to Mr. Jelenik, this curriculum teaches them other skills, like “how to get along well with each other” during collaborative small group work and to “solve a problem or be creative in how you are going to solve this problem” (Interview, November 15, 2016). His students also learn from each other. In small group work, “someone figured it out, and then the rest of the class feeds off of that.” (Interview, November 15, 2016). Mr. Jelenik described a classroom similarly described by Seiler and Gonsalves [ 35 ], a democratic, justice-oriented classroom built on cooperation, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.

Despite the benefits of participating in the SABES’ program, Mr. Jelenik said there had been some challenges. He reflected that he probably does “a better job of having a whole group discussion” than “having them talk in their little groups of four” (Interview, November 15, 2016). Mr. Jelenik highlighted his “vision of what STEM should be: doing things and then explaining those things” (Interview, November 15, 2016). This more teacher-oriented approach to instruction is also reflected below in the video recordings of Mr. Jelenik’s classroom instruction and the stark contrast of Ms. Santiago's more student-driven approach.

7 Instruction in Ms. Santiago’s and Mr. Jelenik’s classroom

To better understand how Ms. Santiago’s and Mr. Jelenik’s identities as elementary teachers were transformed by their participation in SABES and their implementation of the curriculum, 13 classroom instruction periods were observed over two years. Recordings include the engineering design challenge, which occurred over three days at the end of each unit. Although both teachers taught at the same school, have been participating in SABES since its inception, and participated in numerous PLC opportunities, it transformed the identities of both teachers in different ways, resulting in different degrees of instructional transformation.

8 Topics that were taught during the classroom observations

While Mr. Jelenik has taught 4th grade at Flint Hill for four years, Ms. Santiago only taught 4th grade for one year before becoming a 5th-grade teacher. She then transitioned to STEM lead of the middle school engineering program and, therefore, out of the direct scope of SABES. As a result of their minimal overlap, the “Seashell Unit,” which reflects Baltimore’s proximity to the Chesapeake Bay was the only common unit observed and recorded by the research team (see Table  1 below for a complete list of the units taught by both teachers). For this unit, 4th-grade students learned about different types of shells and how to identify them. Ms. Santiago adapted the unit to include fossils and “fossil imprints” of real-world items like keys and leaves localized to Baltimore City. Although there was some overlap in how both teachers taught the unit and approached the content, there was substantial evidence of divergence in their implementation, which is not uncommon in large-scale curriculum projects [ 30 ].

Informed by lens of a justice-oriented, student centered approach, five theoretical themes emerged from analyzing the videos of Mr. Jelenik’s and Ms. Santiago’s instruction. These five themes were identified because they aligned well with our theoretical construct of justice-oriented teaching and provide evidence for Mr. Jelenik’s and Ms. Santiago’s identity transformation, and their subsequent shift in instructional practices.

Enactment of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): enacted localized science pedagogical content knowledge informed by their participation in SABES via their adherence to, modification of, and implementation of the curriculum.

Facilitation of STEM Learning: approached interactions with their students on a class, small group, or individual level as a facilitator rather than an instructor, reflective of justice-oriented pedagogy.

Enhancement of Student Voice: fostered student voice during instruction, promoting student engagement with the scientific material and transforming their identities as scientists, reflective of justice-oriented pedagogy and, in the case of Ms. Santiago, engaged teaching.

Fostering Student-to-Student Interactions: fostered prosocial student-to-student interactions during STEM instruction, reflective of justice-oriented pedagogy.

Use of Local Touchstones: incorporated elements of local knowledge and pop-cultural touchstones during their lesson instruction, reflective of justice-oriented curriculum.

We will describe each theme’s evidence in the next section, beginning with the science unit both teachers taught on seashells and then analyzing instruction from the non-overlapping units describing the relationship between participation in SABES, the identity transformation of Mr. Jelenik and Ms. Santiago, and the eventual influence of their instructional practices evidenced by the five theoretical themes identified in the videos of classroom instruction.

9 Pedagogical approaches and adherence to, modification of, and implementation of SABES’s curriculum

9.1 enactment of pck through facilitation: the sea shell units.

When we observed Ms. Santiago teaching the unit on seashells, she demonstrated localized PCK by emphasizing the description of the shell's characteristics while reinforcing student independence throughout the lesson. Ms. Santiago gave each group of students a bag of shells collected in and around the Chesapeake Bay and fossils to identify by examining their characteristics and then had one speaker from each group model how the students were supposed to present to the class, “I think this fossil is [X] because [Y]….” (Classroom Observation, January 27, 2014) Ms. Santiago ended the lesson by having each student create their fossil imprint by following the directions on a handout using cement and an object in a milk carton.

Throughout the lesson, Ms. Santiago reinforced student independence by responding to student questions that supported student autonomy such as “what does your handout say?” (Classroom Observation, January 27, 2014) rather than simply providing the students with the answer. This is an example of Ms. Santiago's transformation via SABES, as she wanted to develop independence within her students, embodying the facilitator's role that is integral to a justice-focused approach.

In contrast, Mr. Jelenik supported his students differently. Mr. Jelenik spent the first 15–20 min of the lesson with the whole class using teacher-centered instruction by reviewing a PowerPoint of seashell vocabulary. Following this instruction, the students then completed a hands-on shell identification task in small groups, reinforcing scientific vocabulary terms.

After observing that several groups of students struggled with the difference between bivalve and univalve shells, Mr. Jelenik led the class in a discussion.

Mr. Jelenik: Why would there have to be another piece to this shell? Student: To protect the mollusk Mr. Jelenik: Good. Do you think if this shell was just one piece, would the creature be protected? Student: No, because it needs the other piece so it can open and close. Mr. Jelenik: Exactly, so we’ve established that this is a bivalve. (Classroom Observation, January 24, 2014)

During this lesson, Mr. Jelenik walked each group through identifying the same shell, a bivalve with a straight hinge and grooves. He also modified the lesson by modeling how to present their findings to the class before having one person from each group present one of the shells they identified to the class.

9.2 Enactment of PCK through facilitation in non-overlapping units

Mr. Jelenik and Ms. Santiago adapted lesson plans by showing their students a prototype of what they would build. During the “Weather Watchers” unit, Ms. Santiago showed her students a prototype of the barometer they would make before dismantling it. Before the engineering design challenge for the “It’s Electric” unit, where students had to build and wire a cardboard house, Mr. Jelenik showed his students a prototype of the house that previous students had built. He emphasized the house's simplicity, as he did not want students to spend time creating a cardboard box mansion “with 15 rooms and a garage” when the challenge is to wire a house with two rooms. Unlike Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik kept the prototype on display while students planned and built their houses.

Congruent with engaged teaching, Ms. Santiago identifies her role as a facilitator for her students. At one point during a lesson in the “Weather Watchers” unit, Ms. Santiago asked her students.

Ms. Santiago: If you have any questions, what do you do? Class: Raise your hand Ms. Santiago: Am I going to give you the answers? Class: No Ms. Santiago: I am not going to give you any answers, but I will help you out (Classroom Observations, September 29, 2015)

Her role as a facilitator promotes student independence, confidence, self-reliance, and problem-solving skill development, reflective of a justice-oriented approach. The approach is also reflective of her transformation via her participation in SABES, an aspect she identified during her interviews. As evidence of co-developing the lesson plan with her students, Ms. Santiago told her class that it was “up to the students” if they wanted to make one barometer or two.

After discussing how students define what engineers do, Mr. Jelenik sees an opportunity to make a significant point. Most of the students mentioned either building or fixing electronic objects. However, one student mentioned that engineers design and build bookcases. Mr. Jelenik seized on this suggestion, which led to an unplanned but fruitful discussion about how bookcases and non-electronic objects are also designed and built by engineers (Classroom Observation, December 2, 2016).

During each unit's engineering design challenge portion, the curriculum supports the teacher’s role shifting from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered facilitation. When facilitating students should be allowed to work through problems and arrive at potential solutions relatively independently. Aligned with engaged teaching and the intent of SABES's curriculum, Ms. Santiago described her role during the engineering design challenges as “allowing the students to” “do what [they] gotta do.” (Teacher Focus Group, September 28, 2016).

Contrary to Ms. Santiago’s more student-centered approach, Mr. Jelenik’s role in instruction is more teacher-directed. In addition to setting more restrictive parameters, Mr. Jelenik spent 7 min discussing SABES's required supplies instead of letting the students figure things out for themselves (Classroom Observation, December 7, 2016). Additionally, Mr. Jelenik required each group to seek his approval of their plan for their model before they could start getting materials, limiting students' ability to modify their design, an essential component of the iterative engineering design process (Classroom Observation, December 7, 2016). As described earlier in the paper, these observations provide evidence of Mr. Jelenik’s internal struggle between his years spent teaching in a more teacher-centered classroom and his burgeoning teacher-as-a-facilitator identity.

9.3 Enhancement of student voice: the seashell unit

An integral part of SABES curriculum is emphasizing a justice-oriented student-centered instruction through student-centered pedagogy alongside student presentations, which supports student discourse and their ability to articulate their ideas about STEM. Ms. Santiago fosters student voices by asking students to describe their understanding of STEM using everyday language with some technical language. In one example, Ms. Santiago reinforces student usage of vocabulary terms when one student says, “I think… I predict that this is a seashell with a straight line.” to which Ms. Santiago replies, “So it has grooves? That is a characterization. So it has grooves, a straight hinge.” Notably, this student voiced academic vocabulary examples, such as “I think” and “I predict” in their answer. (Classroom Observation, January 27, 2014).

Ms. Santiago also lets her students respond to each other’s points and ideas without interrupting, thereby allowing them to build off each other’s ideas, creating a student-driven co-construction rather than one with the teacher as an intermediary. When she does speak after several students have had the opportunity to share, she says, “OK, so I think we can all agree that that is Minnie Mouse. I like that Student 1 gave us a few characteristics about why he thought it was Minnie Mouse, and like he said, not Mickey. I like that Student 2 added on the whiskers and Student 3 added on the ears” (Classroom Observation, January 27, 2014). Reflective of a student-centered, justice-oriented approach, Ms. Santiago simultaneously synthesized the three previous students' responses while giving positive feedback on their statements.

Like Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik also emphasized characterizations in his seashell lesson. However, Mr. Jelenik’s students rooted their descriptions in the more technical vocabulary terms from the lesson, reflecting the vocabulary review that Mr. Jelenik did to begin the lesson. In one example, students were asked to spot differences between two shells:

Student 1: One of the grooves for the left picture is taller, and the other one has little circles in it. Mr. Jelenik: OK, so one looks like lines, and the other is a little circular. Student 2: The one on the right has hinges. Mr. Jelenik: Nice, yes, it has hinges. What kind of hinge does it have? Class: Straight hinge (Classroom Observation, January 24, 2014)

Later in the class, Mr. Jelenik led his students to identify several different shells and had one student from each group present:

Student 1: The shell was a bivalve because it has a round hinge at the bottom and another part, so I’m going to say bivalve and go to number 2. Mr. Jelenik: I think what you’re saying is really smart. Does anybody agree or disagree? Student 2: I think it's a bivalve because it's going to have another piece to it at the bottom, is missing, the other shell that didn't have another piece they look rounded. I think it's going to be two shells, like [student 1] said. Mr. Jelenik: I thought it was a really smart thing that [student 2] said because he thought that there was a hinge, so that probably means there are two pieces. (Classroom Observation, January 24, 2014)

These opportunities to speak in front of the class and reinforce the science concepts the students are learning while allowing them to find their voice in the classroom and develop their public speaking skills.

9.4 Enhancement of student voice: non-overlapping units

The teacher’s ability to foster students’ autonomy and voice during classroom instruction occurs during several units. In one class, Ms. Santiago asked her class, “What is an adaptation?” One student responded, “an adaptation is a feature that all living things have that help them survive in their habitat.” Without missing a beat, another student said, “I agree with [the first student] because when we were getting our habitats, you told us that an adaptation was to help parts of animals to help them survive in their habitats.” Following this discussion, several other students gave specific examples of adaptations, such as a beaver’s teeth or stripes, a bear’s claws, or a Komodo dragon’s poison in its mouth. After several minutes, Ms. Santiago responded that she “appreciates… that [the students] did not just tell me the adaptation, but you told me how it helped the animal survive.” (Classroom Observation, October 5, 2015). She allowed multiple students time to answer the question in this example. She waited to respond until several students raised ideas, thereby maximizing student participation, student discourse, and the freedom to influence classroom discussion, an essential aspect of Ms. Santiago’s identity transformation and an example of her more engaged approach.

In contrast to Ms. Santiago’s more student-centered approach to classroom discussion and Q&A, Mr. Jelenik’s approach is more teacher-to-student. In discussing the types of forces that get a roller coaster to move through a track, Mr. Jelenik asked the class, “What force is responsible for the roller coaster leading up the hill?” One student responded with “the machine.” Mr. Jelenik said, “Right, the machine. And then what makes the roller coaster go down the hill? Gravity, right?” A minute or so later, one student points out that “the energy changes… from potential to kinetic and from kinetic to….” Without allowing the student to finish, Mr. Jelenik said, “To thermal, through friction. What kind of energy comes out of a roller coaster besides kinetic, thermal?” (Classroom Observation, April 22, 2015). In this example, Mr. Jelenik interrupted the discussion by filling in the answer he was looking for (gravity and thermal energy). While Ms. Santiago allows students to respond to each other and build on each other’s answers without interruption, Mr. Jelenik responds after every student, subtly and not-so-subtly shaping the discussion himself. Mr. Jelenik’s more teacher-centered approach is less reflective of justice-oriented pedagogy, reflecting only a partial transformation via his participation in SABES.

9.5 Fostering student-to-student interactions: the seashell unit

How Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik give their students feedback while working in small groups reflects their differences in adopting a justice-centered approach. When Ms. Santiago discovered a mistake one of her students made, she had the student walk her through their thought process and what they needed to do differently:

Ms. Santiago: [Student 1] how much [water] did you put in here? Student 1: One and a half [cups]. Ms. Santiago: How much does it tell you to add? Student 1: One and a half [cups]. Ms. Santiago: Read the directions again. Student 1: Oh! One half [cup]. (Classroom Observation, July 27, 2014)

In addition to this exchange representing an example of the cross-curricular nature of SABES material involving both reading and math, Ms. Santiago indirectly helped her student realize their own mistake instead of giving them the correct answer.

In contrast to Ms. Santiago’s feedback style, Mr. Jelenik directly points out his students’ mistakes and talks them through the correct approach. When tasked with using deductive reasoning to identify a shell correctly:

Mr. Jelenik: Is it a bivalve or univalve? Student 1: Univalve. Mr. Jelenik: It is not a univalve, it has to have another part covering it, so it’s a bivalve. Is the outer surface smooth or shiny? No, it’s rough with grooves, is it flat or a dome? Student 1: Flat. Mr. Jelenik: This is a dome, see? It’s a dome, so [this shell] is a kitten’s paw. So take a look at this [other shell] again because you mislabeled it. (Classroom Observation, July 27, 2014)

Although Mr. Jelenik led his students through the correct thought process to the right answer, he neither allowed his students to find the correct answer for themselves nor answered all of the questions. There are also points when Mr. Jelenik stops the student entirely before they even consider the process themselves, saying, “Wait, wait, wait. Stop, stop, stop. You need to look at this [the instruction sheet]. This will tell you what letter [each shell] is” (Classroom Observation, January 24, 2014). These are both examples of Mr. Jelenik’s struggle to reach their understanding instead of more teacher-controlled discourse, examples of a partial transformation via his participation in SABES.

9.6 Fostering student-to-student interactions: non-overlapping unit

The differences between how Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik provided feedback to their students while facilitating are reflected in other units. During the “Amazing Adaptations” unit, Ms. Santiago gave positive feedback to her students and incorporated the teaching material into that feedback. During a task where students had to write letters to an animal, Ms. Santiago told one small group of students, “I’m very happy with your letters [to the polar bear]. You and your hairy feet that help it stay warm in your cold environment.” (Classroom Observation, October 5, 2015). Later that class, after students colored butterflies that had to camouflage with objects in the classroom, Ms. Santiago told the class, “I really liked [student’s] butterfly that is camouflaged with the slide [on the smart board]. That was creative, [because she] had to draw the letters onto it… and actually had to shade it beige” (Classroom Observation, October 5, 2015). Not only did Ms. Santiago provide positive feedback to her students, but she also identified specific aspects of the student's work that showed evidence of learning.

Unlike Ms. Santiago, Mr. Jelenik alternated between doing the entire exercise for the student and starting the task while letting them finish it. In one unit on electricity, students had to sequentially arrange paper strips of the engineering design process steps and glue them in order. Mr. Jelenik noticed one student did not have their steps in the correct order and told the student, “That’s ‘create,’ you want ‘ask.’ Wait a minute” before taking the strips and putting them all in the correct order. In another small group exercise, students had to wire a cardboard house. Mr. Jelenik walked over to one group and took the scissors and wire, saying, “all right, I'm going to cut this. So you want to connect this now to the bottom. And if I were you, I would use the glue stick” (Classroom Observation, October 2, 2015).

9.7 Teacher’s use of local knowledge and pop-cultural touchstones: the sea shell unit

Ms. Santiago modified the lesson plan to identify clay “fossil” imprints of keys, leaves, and two cultural touchstones: Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Throughout the shell and fossil identification lesson, Ms. Santiago had her students describe characteristics such as the holes and triangles in the key, the distinctive ears that Mickey and Minnie Mouse have, and Minnie Mouse’s bow (Classroom Observation, January 27, 2014). Ms. Santiago’s approach more student-centered, engaged approach contrasted with Mr. Jelenik’s emphasis on students reciting definitions.

9.8 Teacher’s use of local knowledge and pop-cultural touchstones: non-overlapping units

During a lesson on animal adaptations, Ms. Santiago drew from The Lion King to illustrate an important point about camouflage, incorporating a second pop-culture touchstone. During the first 10 min of the lesson, Ms. Santiago’s students discussed how different animals camouflage with their environment to hide from predators. To illustrate this point, Ms. Santiago mentions the scene from The Lion King, where “Mufasa is teaching Simba how to pounce. And he has him crouch down because he blends in with the field. Lions do that because they are trying to attack their prey. But, other animals do that to hide so that they won't be attacked.” (Classroom Observation, October 5, 2015).

Mr. Jelenik uses local knowledge and pop-cultural touchstones to highlight critical scientific concepts. Before his students began building and wiring their cardboard houses during the “It’s Electric” unit’s engineering design challenge, Mr. Jelenik discussed roof types. Although the prototype he showed the class had a triangular roof, he said it “could have been a flat roof like a rowhome,” which is very common in the City of this study and, therefore, in his students’ immediate environment.

During the engineering design challenge for the “Rollercoaster” Unit, groups of students discussed problems they had encountered with their designs. One of the students needed help with the first hill. To highlight the concept of having an optimal hill height, Mr. Jelenik referenced Goldilocks and the Three Bears . One student explained the problem. She said, “I tried higher, but it went too fast and would bounce off the track. I tried lower, and it wouldn’t get all the way up the hill," to which Mr. Jelenik responded, “So high went too fast, and low didn’t get over. So, making it medium height, kind of like Goldilocks, might work” (Classroom Observation, April 22, 2015).

10 Discussion and implications

According to interviews with Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik described their participation with SABES as a transformative experience, using SABES as an identity project. Like the students who participated in DeLuca, Clampet-Lundquist, and Edin [ 8 ] Coming of Age in the Other America, SABES supported Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik to overcome an educational environment that has deemphasized STEM in the elementary setting. They broke free from a resource-depleted school environment to embrace STEM teaching, which ultimately influenced their instructional practices to align to a more student-centered, justice-centered, and in the case of Ms. Santiago, a more engaged teaching style.

Although Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik teaching was transformed, teaching is a demanding profession that has been made all the more challenging as teachers must prepare their students for high-stakes testing, often with a lack of instructional time, few curriculum resources, and little school support [ 6 , 20 , 21 ]. In the STEM domains, the demands are even more significant due to the systematic devaluing of science and the resulting decrease in instructional time [ 14 ]. In addition to day-to-day instruction, teachers are responsible for introducing new standards while including design-based science instruction in the grades [ 33 ]. Elementary teachers must now understand how to adapt instruction to fit their students' needs [ 31 ] while teaching the engineering design process [ 30 ]. Fortunately for the students of Flint Hill Elementary/Middle School, Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik embraced the SABES project and transformed their practice to a more justice-oriented, student-centered approach.

However, there were also differences in the identity transformation and subsequent influence on instruction between Ms. Santiago and Mr. Jelenik. Bell hooks' concept of engaged teaching emphasizes that the teacher must help facilitate interest in a subject by paying attention to who the learners are and supporting them. At the same time, they articulate their thinking in a safe place. Interest and excitement are not separate from intellectual pursuits in engaged pedagogy but must be built from how the classroom environment is structured. We argue that Ms. Santiago completely adopted the identity and instructional practices fully aligned to what bell hooks described as engaged teaching. In contrast, Mr. Jelenik adopted an identity aligned with engaged teaching, however, at times, his pedagogy, as evidenced by the classroom structures he created, was less student centered and therefore, less aligned.

Our results further the work of Morales-Doyle [ 26 ] on justice-centered pedagogy and provide empirical evidence of their theoretical framework, filling a hole they identified in the literature [ 26 , p. 1035]. Ms. Santiago’s statement that some of her students “named themselves the Flint Hill School Risk Takers [because] taking risks is just something they do now” (Focus Group, September 28, 2016) provides evidence of both resilience and student transformation into what Morales-Doyle describes as “transformative science intellectuals” [ 26 , p. 1035].

Contrasting the length of time Mr. Jelenik and Ms. Santiago have been teaching, Ms. Santiago had much less experience than Mr. Jelenik. Appleton and Kindt [ 1 ] found that beginning teachers' learning often reflects teachers’ personal biographies and they may be more open to instructional shifts. Luft [ 22 ] found that the beliefs of induction science teachers appeared to be impacted by school experiences, such as district curriculum and interactions with program staff and fellow participants. Moreover, McGinnis, Parker, and Graeber [ 25 ] found that beginning teachers’ perception of their school culture was a significant factor in whether the beginning teachers regularly implemented reform‐aligned science teaching. They provide evidence that beginning teachers often rapidly shift from more student-centered attitudes formed during preservice to traditional, teacher-centered approaches when confronted with the classroom's realities. However, SABES provided a supportive school structure for Ms. Santiago to maintain and enact student-centered, engaged teaching. Ms. Santiago, a newer teacher and supported by her local school culture, more fully-shifted her instruction to align to the tenets of the SABES project and to bell hook's conception of engaged teaching.

Our study also supports a key conclusion of Parker, Abel, and Denisova [ 30 ], that context is a significant factor in determining a teacher’s professional learning. Context is influenced by several factors, including their experience in science, their views of themselves as science teachers, the school policy and ethos, school curriculum and resources management, and collegial support.

11 Implications for teacher education and professional development

Our study has implications for teacher education and professional learning. The different experiences and enactment of instructional practices should encourage us to consider how teachers might enact a comprehensive and transformative STEM approach to create more equitable and inclusive classroom environments. We suggest a few ways to approach teacher-centered support of an equitable and inclusive classroom environment. The first step involves raising pre- and in-service teachers’ awareness of a STEM approach. For young students who have not been exposed to a justice-oriented STEM approach, how teachers enact STEM in the classroom becomes a critical access point for students to develop an affinity to STEM. Moreover, teachers and those engaged in teacher education must be mindful of impediments that enact a rich STEM classroom environment.

Data availability

Data for this study can be found on shared servers at the host university. The authors will share data for the study with any interested party.

Code availability

Data codes for this study can be found on shared servers at the host university. The authors will share the data codes for the study with any interested party.

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SABES was funded by the National Science Foundation DUE-1237992. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Parker, C.A., Lehn, N. An identity project: a case study of two inservice elementary stem teachers’ experiences with a comprehensive professional development. Discov Educ 3 , 63 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00139-1

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Personalized-Learning Case Studies: Lessons From 3 Schools

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Personalized learning is hard.

That much is clear, based on the lessons emerging from a wide variety of new models being tested in schools across the country.

But what specific hurdles do schools and educators encounter when they try to customize instruction for each student? How are leaders in the personalized-learning field responding? Is it working?

To help other K-12 educators and policymakers consider such questions, Education Week cast a spotlight on three schools, each affiliated with a prominent personalized-learning model, and each wrestling with a common implementation challenge.

Training Teachers for a Radical Change

Belmont-Cragin Elementary School | Chicago

In Chicago, the Belmont-Cragin Elementary School embraced an intensive approach to professional development, but teachers’ road to implementing an entirely new instructional model turned out to be rocky. At The Urban Assembly Maker Academy in New York City, the focus has been on getting students to take responsibility for making their own way through the curriculum, which has required more hands-on direction from adults than originally anticipated. And in Fresno, Calif., the challenge has been meeting students who are academically behind where they are, while still pushing them towards graduation.

To close big achievement gaps between its students, Belmont-Cragin Elementary School in Chicago partnered with nonprofit LEAP Innovations in 2016-17 to boost its personalized learning practices. Key to the model is a six-month professional development regimen to prepare teachers for the new approach. But even with such a prolonged, intensive, and intentional agenda, Belmont-Cragin found that training teachers to put in place personalized-learning models remained a big challenge.

The school, which serves 585 students in pre-K through 8th grade, had huge gaps between students who were mastering grade-level content and students who were not. In one classroom, the gap ranged from the 70th percentile to the 7th percentile.

As part of its involvement in the LEAP Pilot Network, which pairs cohorts of schools with ed-tech companies and coaches, Principal Stacy Stewart rolled out new routines, guidelines, and procedures across the school and built in common planning time. But still, teachers “would stay in our own classrooms and focus on our own kids,” said Jannette Moya, a 4th-grade teacher. “We would share what we were doing virtually, then it would stop there.”

Teachers felt they needed more time in the day and follow-up training to do what they had been taught—but they were nervous about asking for help. At the same time, they were struggling to adjust to a new way of thinking about collaboration.

Stewart began having some teachers observe others during instructional time, with step-in assistance from student-teachers, followed by a question-and-answer session and the sharing of resources. And she encouraged cross-talk at weekly data-analysis meetings, whichresulted in one of the most significant shifts in the way the school educates its students.

Now, if Moya reports that some of her students are able to understand a literacy block at grade level in Spanish, but not in English, the special-education teacher can take them to his classroom for literacy lessons—no special-education status required.

“It helps us to service the kids more where their gaps are,” Moya said.

Meanwhile, data from Lexia, an adaptive ed-tech tool that supports literacy instruction, showed that teachers needed more guidance in recording interventions for struggling students. From Stewart’s dashboard, it looked like only 20 percent of struggling students were receiving additional small-group lessons. Teachers were taught to better differentiate between what was standard teaching, and what was above and beyond and worthy of documentation.

Stewart also brought in coaches from LEAP and Lexia throughout the school year for extra counsel—support that continues when needed.

“All of it is non-evaluative, and that’s the most important part,” Stewart said, meaning it won’t count against teachers in their evaluations. “These teachers believe in the work, but it’s not easy for them.”

In 2017-18, collaboration has grown stronger. Teachers often gather in one classroom during common planning times to swap ideas, and they regularly observe each other, regardless of grade level.

“We have grown to where we feel comfortable enough to ask for what we need, and now we’re working on next steps,” said Moya. “We need to have an open mind, to have the mindset that there’s still room to improve.”

Self-Paced Learning Twists and Turns

The Urban Assembly Maker Academy | New York City

When The Urban Assembly Maker Academy in New York City, one of a network of 21 small public schools focused on cutting-edge career and technical education, opened its doors in 2014-15 to only 9th graders, it gave students more responsibility than typically needed for organizing their time. As a result, more than 70 percent regularly waited until the last minute to start work on a project—then never turned it in.

“Kids show up in 9th grade used to every adult telling them exactly what to do and when to do it,” said Luke Bauer, principal of the school, which added one grade each year and now has 410 students in grades 9-12. “It’s not their fault. Being able to manage their time, set goals for themselves, and know how and when to get support can be tricky.”

The school, a recipient of a Carnegie Corporation Opportunity by Design grant, isn’t the only competency-based model to struggle with teaching students to effectively pace themselves.

One of the RAND Corporation’s recent studies found students at schools receiving Next Generation Learning Challenges grants for personalized-learning initiatives also failed to complete work at an acceptable pace. The report found the grading systems used were difficult to explain to parents and community members.

Bauer recalled experiencing those issues initially, which he said was “a little morale-killing for a new school.”

Andrew Calkins, the director of the learning challenges program, said students may struggle with pacing because for the first time they’re being asked to manage their own learning. “These are exactly the skills that students need to be developing today,” he said.

These days, more than 70 percent of students at The Urban Assembly Maker turn in their work on time. The turnaround is due mainly to a strong advisory program. Weekly check-ins called “self-awareness days” pose multiple questions to students, such as “Have you come across any challenges in your projects?” and “What resources could you use to figure out those challenges?”

Students also are given a checklist with key benchmarks and dates—for planning purposes only—to meet project deadlines.

Because an inconsistent number of standards required for mastery in different subjects led to confusion when students transferred to other schools, the school ultimately simplified its grading process and converted an overall rubric score to a traditional 0-100 scale.

As for difficulty explaining competency-based grading systems to parents, Josh Lapidus, a 9th-grade social studies teacher, said the barrier has been language that leans too academic.

The school is using a new program in 2017-18 called JumpRope, an interactive, standards-based platform school leaders believe more clearly articulates aggregate data that sum up student performance.

Lapidus advises other schools interested in adopting a self-paced approach to accept the iterative nature of steady—and sustainable—change.

“It’s not going to be a perfectly smooth transition,” he said. “Time spent developing good standards and good rubrics is time well spent.”

When Students Are Below Grade Level

Aspen Valley Prep Academy | Fresno, Calif.

To give some of its students a slice of independence, Fresno’s Aspen Valley Prep Academy wanted to provide 6th through 8th grades some flexibility to work on material of their own choosing. So the preK-8 school, where more than 80 percent of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, began using Summit Learning’s personalized-learning software during the 2016-17 school year.

The platform, developed by California’s Summit Public Schools charter network, in partnership with engineers from social-networking giant Facebook, is one of the highest-profile personalized-learning technologies in the field.

But Aspen Valley Prep found that implementing the software wasn’t easy; with more than half of students who transfer into the school testing below grade level, there were roadblocks.

“The traditional system keeps pushing these kids through because of their age, yet they are never held accountable for learning what they haven’t learned,” said Hilary Witts, the director of Summit Learning at the Aspen Valley where she taught math and science to middle grades. “With so many gaps, they can’t access grade-level curriculum.”

Because the software platform is flexible, Witts inserted additional gap-filling learning resources so that students could go back several grade levels if necessary.

That had its challenges as well. English teacher Melani Harley recalled an 8th-grade student, frustrated and almost in tears, who loved to read but couldn’t pass a grade-level punctuation content assessment because he couldn’t distinguish between a noun and a verb. She gave him 6th- and 7th-grade content, but that wasn’t enough. She had to go back to a 4th-grade level—the grade, she eventually discovered, that he had failed despite being moved ahead with his class—to help him catch up.

Throughout the personalized-learning movement, there are signs that such pressures are getting in the way of giving students the types of choices Aspen Valley Prep aspires to. Recent studies by the RAND Corporation for example, have consistently found that students in personalized-learning schools report being given limited choice over the material they learn and the instructional approaches they receive. As part of the Summit Learning approach, Aspen Valley Prep assigns a mentor to each student. They meet one-on-one, at least once a week, to talk about assignments, goal setting and life skills.

“These meetings tend to become really personal,” said Harley.

As a result, staff said, the school has seen a cultural shift in the classroom in recent months.

“The students know where they’re at, they’re not embarrassed to know where they’re at, and they’re not embarrassed for other people to know where they’re at,” Witts said. “This program has totally revolutionalized their thought process.”

The hope is that will consistently lead to more students becoming more accountable for their own learning—while also getting more choice over what and how they learn.

Coverage of learning through integrated designs for school innovation is supported in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York at www.carnegie.org . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the November 08, 2017 edition of Education Week as Case Studies: Lessons From 3 Schools

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• Published: 14 December 2023

Preventing bullying of students with special educational needs through dialogic gatherings: a case study in elementary education

• Garazi Álvarez-Guerrero   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0632-4391 1   nAff5 ,
• Rocío García-Carrión   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5520-5105 2 ,
• Andrea Khalfaoui 3 ,
• Maite Santiago-Garabieta 3 &
• Ramón Flecha 4  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  956 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Scientific literature has clarified that bullying is a global challenge and students with special educational needs (SEN) are at a higher risk of experiencing it. Educational actions focused on dialogue and interaction as dialogic gatherings (DG) have been widely studied as a successful educational action (SEAs) rooted in egalitarian dialogue that promotes social cohesion. However, its potential to prevent bullying among students with SEN remains to be investigated. This qualitative case study explores the impact of implementing DG in two elementary classrooms and its potential to prevent school violence in a comprehensive school setting (43 students, 10–12 years old, from which 5 had SEN). Classroom observations of DGs and focus groups with teachers and students were conducted. Data analysis indicated that DG effectively contributed to students’ increased awareness regarding the distinction between violent and non-violent relationships, and influenced their personal preferences, guiding them towards non-violent behaviours. Implications for practice highlight the potential of DG to enhance non-violent behaviours among elementary students, which is particularly relevant to ensure students with SEN’s protection and inclusion.

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Introduction.

Violence in schools is a global challenge that affects one out of three students in the world (WHO, 2020 ). The devastating consequences of suffering bullying include low academic achievement, and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem (Solberg & Olweus, 2003 ). While this issue could affect all students, those with Special Educational Needs (hereinafter, SEN) are particularly vulnerable, as they are twice more often at risk of suffering school violence than their peers without SEN, according to studies conducted in Sweden (Annerbäck et al., 2014 ), Finland (Repo & Sajaniemi, 2014 ) and the U.S. with school-aged children (Sentenac et al., 2013 ). Perceived differences in terms of physical and verbal limitations between students with and without SEN might explain the higher risk of suffering school violence (Malecki et al., 2020 ). This type of bullying, specifically targeted to students with disabilities, whether in a regular classroom or online setting, is known as, ‘Disablist bullying’ (O’Moore & McGuire, 2021 ).

In addition, fewer opportunities to interact with peers appear to be related to a higher risk of suffering victimisation among students with SEN (Glumbic & Zunic-Pavlovic, 2010 ). These findings are reinforced by Bowker et al. ( 2006 ), who showed that when students with SEN do not have peer support in the classroom are more likely to be victimised. These results highlight the crucial role peer interactions and supportive classroom environments might play in preventing school violence for all students, which is particularly important for those with SEN.

Building on the potential of peer interactions and dialogue-based actions to prevent school violence (Ríos-González et al., 2019 ), some educational actions have put together those critical components such as family and community participation, to orchestrate a safe and supportive learning environment (Morlà-Folch et al., 2022 ). In this vein, one of the most studied interventions is dialogic gatherings (DG), which are a reading activity rooted in sharing meanings, interpretations and reflections around a particular text collectively agreed upon beforehand (Ruiz-Eugenio et al., 2023 ). This particular action is identified in scientific literature as a Successful Educational Action (hereinafter, SEAs), which are school-based interventions identified by the European Project INCLUD-ED: “Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education” (Flecha, 2015 ) that “can improve school success and contribute to social cohesion in every context where they are implemented” (Flecha, 2015 , p. 3). This is aligned with the theory of Dialogic Society (Flecha, 2022 ), which understands that citizens can participate and benefit from the cocreation of scientific knowledge, which can lead to achieve social impact, following the criteria of the Horizon Europe framework.

As of the present, a systematic review by Ruiz-Eugenio et al. ( 2023 ) has identified over 60 scientific articles that delve into the effects of Dialogic Gatherings (DG) across a broad spectrum of academic areas, including reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition, as well as their social implications. These studies have highlighted positive outcomes, encompassing enhanced social cohesion and improved classroom climates. Furthermore, when DG is implemented using evidence-based texts that factor in their social impact, as proposed by Soler-Gallart and Flecha ( 2022 ), the results have indicated significant benefits. For instance, Buslón et al. ( 2020 ) reported that DG has a positive impact on enhancing scientific literacy among adult participants. Additionally, Garcia-Carrión et al. ( 2020 ) found that DG fosters a secure and inclusive environment for children, where every contribution is recognised and respected. Numerous studies focusing on DG have shown that this intervention can effectively increase student’s awareness of violence when implemented in early adolescence (López de Aguileta et al., 2020 ), and with girls, some of them victims of violence against women and living out-of-home care (Salceda et al., 2020 ), and girls with disabilities (Rodrigues et al., 2021 ). However, the potential of DG to prevent and counteract violence when implemented in mainstream schools and exploring especially its potential benefits for children with SEN remains to be investigated.

School violence against students with SEN and inclusive learning environments

School violence, also known as bullying, refers to aggressive behaviour aimed at inflicting injury or discomfort on another individual, which involves continuous aggression, (whether physical, psychological, or social) and usually occurs in school settings such as classrooms, the playground, or school surroundings (Olweus, 1978 ; 1993 ). According to the results of a longitudinal study developed in the United Kingdom with over 13,000 pupils aged between 7 and 15, the percentage of children who had been excluded from school is 15%, as they suffered bullying daily (Anti-Bullying Alliance, 2016 ). These data show one of the most urgent challenges educational systems must address to guarantee the right to education in schools where children might be safe (Ríos-González et al., 2019 ), as a prerequisite to learn and thrive.

Indeed, offering a high-quality and inclusive education for all, as the sustainable development goal 4 establishes (United Nations, 2015 ), entails guaranteeing a safe school environment that includes all students. For this to happen, Iñiguez-Berrozpe and colleagues ( 2021 ) highlight the importance of creating collective norms in the school to overcome violence. This collective creation of rules and standards, that set the grounds for a safe and supportive daily life in schools, is more effective if it includes in its entire process the involvement of the families and the community (Iñiguez-Berrozpe et al., 2021 ). This is consistent with other research that has also evidenced that the participation of the entire school community seems to be fundamental in reducing school violence (Espelage et al., 2015 ). Thus, this factor seems particularly relevant for students with SEN, since they are highly vulnerable to violence in school (UNESCO, 2019 ).

Among the multiple variations in the terminology used to refer to students with SEN, a generic term widely used in the literature for decades, include “all children who have developmental difficulties that affect: their learning; their behavioural, emotional and social development; their communication; and their ability to care for themselves and gain independence” (Lindsay, 2007 , p. 3). Furthermore, students with SEN often experience more bullying, discrimination, and isolation than their peers without SEN (Turner et al., 2011 ). Indeed, they are also more likely to suffer incidents of physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse being highly vulnerable (Malecki et al., 2020 ; Reiter, Lapidot-Lefler ( 2007 )). In addition, this student body might have fewer opportunities to interact with their peers in a mainstream classroom, which also increases the likelihood of being victims of school violence (Bowker et al., 2006 ). Since the context matters to enable or hinder students’ opportunities to learn and feel supported, creating learning environments that generate opportunities for peer interactions seems particularly relevant for students with SEN.

In this regard, decades of research have been looking at what schools can do to foster violence-free inclusive learning environments, which are defined as natural and non-restrictive contexts, where all students are granted the opportunity to interact with each other in egalitarian conditions (Schoger, 2006 ). For instance, when Draper et al., ( 2019 ) explored effective strategies to support peer interactions for students with severe disabilities in music classes in the USA, they found that activities that allowed students to work together and help each other were significantly efficient to increase positive peer interactions. Indeed, inclusive learning environments prioritise dialogue-based practices to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to participate, and that the voices of all students are heard and considered (Donnelly et al., 2016 ). This happens to be crucial since a lack of peer interactions in the classroom has been pointed out as a risk factor linked to school violence (Glumbic & Zunic-Pavlovic, 2010 ). In this sense, The report “Achieving student well-being for all: educational contexts free of violence” contracted and funded by the EC to find the programmes that have succeeded in preventing violence against children found that a common element in all programmes that overcome violence against children is the involvement of the whole community, its scientific training and its union in the response to cases, always supporting the victims (Flecha, Puigvert & Racionero-Plaza 2023 ).

These dialogue-based interventions have been defined by the INCLUD-ED: “Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education” (Flecha, 2015 ) project as successful educational actions (SEAs hereinafter) (Flecha, 2015 ). Research has reported these SEAs promote social cohesion and foster academic success among students across the globe, including in special education settings (Navarro-Mateu et al., 2021 ; Álvarez-Guerrero et al., 2021 ). There are several benefits SEAs have achieved when implemented accurately; as research has shown students have improved their interpersonal relations (García-Carrión et al., 2020 ) and communicative competence (Fernández-Villardón et al., 2021 ), among others. Within the seven successful educational actions (Flecha, 2015 ) identified in the INCLUD-ED project, this article focuses on the Dialogic Gatherings (DG hereinafter), that have been applied in the frame of the Dialogic Model of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts, two specific successful educational actions aiming at preventing and reducing school violence.

Putting dialogic learning to work to prevent and reduce school violence

Educational research has provided relevant insights on how to prevent school violence using a dialogic approach (Padrós, 2014 ). Using a variety of texts such as literary or scientific works to open dialogues on bullying or child abuse has been a recurrent tool for deepening the understanding of bullying (Salceda et al., 2020 ; Williams, 2020 ). Moreover, it has been used to implement classroom strategies for overcoming bullying among students of different age groups (Aubert, 2015 ; Rosen et al., 2023 ).

In this framework, Dialogic Gatherings can be implemented in the classroom to engage students in a collective construction of knowledge and meaning when they discuss a previous reading of the same text (García-Carrión et al., 2020 ). In DGs, participants choose based on reasoning and validity arguments (Habermas, 1984 ) one of the greatest works in different cultural or scientific fields, such as literature, art, music, or science. Then, students read the text individually and select a piece or paragraph that appeals to them for any reason to be shared later in the DG where they engage in meaningful and critical dialogues around the previous reading. In addition to the positive effects documented in the utilisation of DG (Ruiz-Eugenio et al., 2023 ), as previously stated, there has been a paucity of research that has examined its specific potential in cultivating protective factors aimed at mitigating school violence, with a particular focus on children with SEN.

However, DGs can be implemented as a specific strategy within the Dialogic Model of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts, one of the successful educational actions addressed to reduce and prevent bullying. This dialogic model is characterised by using dialogue as the tool for fostering egalitarian relationships involving students, teachers, families and community members in creating rules and reaching agreements of school-wide standards for better coexistence through a dialogic process (Villarejo-Carballido et al., 2019 ). Particularly, the dialogic model promotes a bystander intervention among the students and the entire community to foster solidarity and protective networks in the school (Duque et al., 2021 ). Hence, spaces for dialogue are created with the aim of promoting a culture of protection and rejection of violence through interactions in which many diverse voices are included. Accordingly, the DGs are one of those spaces where egalitarian dialogues take place among the students, including everyone’s voice in a safe and supportive environment where every single child is included.

A case study (Yin, 2018 ) was carried out to achieve an in-depth understanding of how Dialogic Gatherings might have an impact, if any, in preventing bullying, and particularly against students with SEN, as they are more vulnerable to suffer bullying (Farmer et al., 2017 ). Thus, this research aims to answer the following research questions:

How can Dialogic Gatherings using research-informed texts contribute to improving peer relationships and create safe environments among students with and without SEN in an Elementary school?

To what extent, if any, this environment can protect from suffering bullying students with SEN?

The study was conducted between May and June 2022 in a school located in the Basque Country (Spain) in a low socioeconomic area. It serves students from 2 to 12 years. It is a culturally and linguistically diverse school, where over more than 39% of students are migrants and the rest come from migrant families from 28 different countries mainly from Northern and Occidental Africa, Occidental Asia, and South America.

Participants

A total of fifty-one participants, including students, school staff and parents, who volunteered in the school, were involved in the study. In the DG sessions, 43 students between 10 and 12 years old (see Table 1 for more details), three mothers and one father aged between 30 and 45 years old, and two female teachers participated. Then, in the focus groups, three more female school staff members participated: the School Principal, the Special Education Teacher, and the School Counsellor. Students and parents were the participants in the DG, they contributed with their ideas, sharing their arguments and commenting on each other’s opinions, prompted by the text previously read. The teachers acted as facilitators of the discussion, taking turns ensuring the dialogic principles underlying the activity (Flecha, 2000 ).

As the study has a special emphasis on students with SEN, more details about these participants are provided to frame their specific needs (see Table 2 ).

Data collection

Four classroom observations were conducted during the Dialogic Gatherings (two in each group) in which students discussed the previous reading of the research-informed texts. Following the guidelines of the dialogic gatherings, the participants sat in a circle and participated in the discussion. They were not asked to do anything beyond participating in the session. All sessions were video recorded for a later in-depth analysis to explore dialogues about key elements that help overcoming bullying at schools, and specifically against students with SEN.

After the implementation of the DGs, five focus groups of approximately 30 min each were conducted, and audio recorded between May and June 2022. Four with 5 students from each group -A and B-, and one with teachers and school staff: two teachers, the special education teacher, the school counsellor, and the principal. This technique enabled us to explore both individual and collective perspectives, leading to a more profound comprehension of the experience of bullying, the higher risk that students with SEN have and the factors that might protect them following the Communicative Methodology (Gómez et al., 2010 ). The techniques described in this section were carried out inside the school, and all the participants and they were asked to give their opinions about the intervention. They were also asked if there was something that particularly helped them in the dialogic gatherings to prevent violence. Table 3 summarises the data collection techniques and participants involved.

Procedure and materials

Prior to starting the school year, in June 2021 this school was contacted as it was interested in preventing bullying or any kind of school violence. After reaching a consensus with all members of the community (students, teachers, and families) the school agreed to implement the dialogic Model and the dialogic gatherings using research-informed texts. The study was conducted in the 2021–2022 academic year and two elementary education fourth-grade classrooms (Group A and Group B) implemented the DG. These groups were selected because (a) having a higher number of conflicts among the students and (b) having a higher number of students with SEN than in the rest of the classrooms.

Thus, from May to June 2022, a rigorous implementation of DG was ensured through a close collaboration between the teachers and the researchers. The DG lasted around one hour and a half. The texts used in DG were two scientific dissemination articles about bullying prevention, published in “Kaiera,” a free open-access online journal that publishes research-informed articles. The dissemination article read and discussed in the first session was based on the results of the study by Palikara et al. ( 2021 ) on the mediating role of school belonging in school-aged children, entitled “The relationship between school sense of belonging, emotional well-being and feeling of loneliness”. The second DG was an adaptation of the article ‘A Friend Is a Treasure and May Help You to Face Bullying’ (Navarro et al., 2018 ), which included examples of bullying situations.

During the gatherings, all the participants sat in a circle, so that everyone could see each other. The classroom teacher facilitated the gathering ensuring an equitable participation and a respectful environment, that values arguments and rejects power-based interventions. During the sessions, students share what appeals to them from the text and link it to their own daily experiences, engaging in meaningful dialogues that ultimately lead them to a deeper understanding of the given text.

Students with SEN participated in the DG sessions alongside their peers. In order to ensure their equitable participation, those students had the opportunity to prepare for the gathering beforehand by reading the text in advance with the support of the special education teacher. This was an initiative of the school to support the participation of these students in the DG because they present some level of difficulties in reading skills. The preparation consisted of 2 group sessions with these students, where the assistant teacher helped them to read, underline the information they wanted to share, and assist them in drafting what they wanted to talk about during the session.

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Deusto (ETK-45/21-22). Informed consent was ensured before the study started, which included the right to withdraw from the study at any time without consequences. Participants’ identity is protected by pseudonyms to ensure their anonymity. In terms of data protection, this study has securely stored data in an online cloud only accessible by the researchers. The data collected from the study is treated with strict confidentiality and used solely for the purposes of the study. This study is also part of the competitive project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain: “CHILDPRO: It is never too early to prevent gender-based violence: identification and overcoming of risk behaviours in childhood” (REF: PID2020-115581RB-I00).

Data analysis

All the data collected were transcribed verbatim and analysed. Thus, inductive thematic analysis was carried out which allowed us to determine themes found within our research data (Clarke, Braun ( 2017 )). A total of four main themes were identified: (1) Raising awareness of violent behaviours; (2) Importance of reading evidence-based texts about friendship; (3) Fostering safe inclusive learning environments; (4) Sustainability of the intervention over time.

After that, the data was categorised to explore the barriers and the opportunities of the dialogic gatherings based on the two components of the Communicative Methodology: exclusionary, and transformative dimensions (Gómez et al., 2010 ). The first one, the exclusionary dimension, identifies the obstacles to social transformation. The second one, the transformative dimension, includes the elements that overcome these barriers. Considering this transformative approach is particularly important when doing research with students with SEN, because of their vulnerability to being bullied and excluded.

A total of 863 utterances were analysed. From those, 90% emerged as transformative dimensions of the dialogic gatherings and 10% reported barriers or exclusionary dimensions. Accordingly, this section is structured within these two main dimensions that include the results of the thematic analysis illustrated through participants’ voices. All the participants were asked to fill out an informed consent. In the case of children, their parents signed it, and they were also asked to give their verbal consent. Their participation was voluntary and there were no economic or material compensations for participating in this research.

Transformative dimension

Raising awareness of violent behaviours and challenging them.

The dialogues shared in the gatherings helped students to reflect on their own behaviours and raised their awareness about violent behaviours, their consequences and the possibility to change them. In this regard, Brian, a student with ADHD and mild intellectual disability, usually misbehaved in the classroom and disturbed his peers. In the second DG, dialogues were shared about hypothetical situations when someone tries to force you to do something you do not want to do, and he raised his hand and asked the following question:

For example, someone is with me, tells me to do something I don’t want to do… What can I do? I think I did something wrong, and I regret it. I have also realised that I don’t like being told what to do… (Brian, DG 2, group B).

Later, in the focus group Brian shared he wanted to improve his own attitude, as he realised after the DG that his peers with violent attitudes were influencing and shaping his behaviour. Also, Brian’s mother expressed in one of the DG her concerns about children’s mental health when they misbehave, and she told the students they have to behave appropriately at school with their peers. The following dialogue illustrates how Brian reflected about his own attitude and the behaviours of colleagues from whom he was receiving pressure to do things he didn’t like. In this sense, his classmates Mike, and Ethan, encouraged him to change his attitude to release himself from such pressures.

Brian (student with SEN): Some of those who misbehave to be funny, they make other people follow them and for example. I have done it and I keep… Sometimes I misbehave and I follow them around, and I don’t know how not to follow them around because they only talk nonsense… And after the DG I want to improve my attitude, I want to change, I don’t want to keep misbehaving.

Mike: I can tell you that those who have driven you to misbehave, don’t listen to them, because they won’t help you to be better.

Ethan: Brian, you… Even if they made you misbehave, try not to have that attitude. I know you have got used to having that attitude but try to get rid of it. I know, it’s very difficult, when you get used to something it’s very difficult to change it… But at least try! And if you can’t… At least you have tried! (Students, group B).

After these dialogues, Brian stayed in silence for a few seconds and answered to Mike and Ethan saying he would change his attitude, respecting others and letting them participate in the sessions without interrupting them.

Well… I’m going to try it; Now I understand that I need to change my attitude and I will. If I don’t change it some people are going to get angry with me, and if I continue misbehaving, my classmates won’t be able to participate in the sessions. (Brian, student, group B).

Also, students reported that the DG has helped them to be more aware of who is their friend and who has violent behaviours towards them, so they do not consider this attitude as desirable when choosing with whom they want to establish their friendships.

Amber: I have friends, but they are not my friends, because they misbehave and have violent behaviours. That’s why I don’t want to be with them, I don’t like it. That’s why they are not my friends.

Sophia: I have good friends who help me in general, who help me to do my work… and when I’m sad they come to me and ask me if I’m fine.

Researcher: And who wouldn’t be your friend Sophia?

Sophia: Well, they wouldn’t be my friends if they hit me, if they treat me badly, if they behave badly… like… if they hurt me. (Students, group A).

The importance of reading research-informed texts about friendship

It was also identified that reading texts that reported scientific evidence about school violence during the DG sessions supported some students in improving their behaviour. In the case of Amber, a girl from group A, she mentions that it has been very significant to read this type of text, as it has helped her to better identify how aggressors behave and that she has perceived how some of her peers also started acting differently after participating in DG.

When we started to read Kaiera’s texts in the DG, some people started to behave better when they read them. Because I think, in my opinion, they saw the aggressor’s behaviour and they didn’t want to be like those aggressors. (Amber, group A)

During the DG students engaged in discussions about their daily experiences at school, particularly focusing on their own behaviours and attitudes. In this specific interaction, the researcher directs the students’ attention to an image showing a playground and a situation where a group of students is bullying another student. Anthony, one of the students, acknowledges that he has experienced a similar situation where a student was mocking another one, and he mentions that he has taken action to help. This illustrates how Dialogic Gatherings can help students reflect on their own experiences and actions, helping students to have a better understanding of bullying and friendship.

Researcher: Look, in this image you can see a playground and how someone is reporting when they see that a group is bullying someone ((points the picture)).

Anthony: I have seen myself in that situation ((referring to a scene in the illustration where a student is mocking another one)) and I have helped.

Researcher: That’s great, Martin has something to add.

Martin: That’s true, he has helped and comforted me. Now I know that to help a friend means to be a true friend. (DG 2, group A).

In that session, the teacher added that this idea seemed very important to her, and another student, Gemma, replied to her, that being a good friend meant being treated well and not letting others hurt you. Julia responded that the text highlights the importance of having good friends who help you getting over bullying.

Group A teacher: Yes, I have also seen that and think it is so important to give support.

Researcher: Definitely, Gemma.

Gemma: I also like it when they are with me and treat me well. A friend is someone who listens to you and doesn’t leave you alone when they pick on you.

Researcher: ((Assents)) Julia.

Julia: As the text says it’s super important to have good friends who help you end bullying. (DG 2, group A).

Finally, when students were asked in the focus group if anything had been done during the academic year had increased their sense of being safe in the school, two of the students, Amber and Sophia answered that the DG helped them to feel safer, highlighting that evidence-based text provided them with relevant information to better understand friendship.

Researcher: Is there anything that has made you feel safer in the school during this school year?

Amber and Sophia: The Dialogic Gatherings.

Researcher: And what do you think is the most remarkable about them?

Sophia: Well, the texts like the one about violent behaviour and the other one about friendship.

Amber: Now after reading the texts we know better who our friend is and who is not. (FG students, group A).

Fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment

Students underline that they have learned that friendship can prevent bullying by reading and sharing the article of Navarro et al. ( 2018 ) about friendship, which made them reconsider the definition of what it means to be a true friend. This also helped bullying prevention, as the text provides them with science-based actions that help to overcome violence in school. In this line, when the students of group A were asked during the focus group if they feel safer at the school after the DG, they answered that now they all feel safer because they know that their friends will protect them if something happens.

Researcher: So, after the DG do you feel safer at school?

Researcher: And why?

Amber: Because now after talking about this we know that when you have friends, they help you not to suffer aggression or abuse, because as it says in the text: “a friend is a treasure that helps you to prevent bullying” and we are better friends now. (Focus group students, group A).

This student, Amber, who is seated in class next to Noa, also underlined that after participating in DG, what they have learned is that being alone increases the risk of suffering bullying, and now they know that if they want to combat bullying, they need to address this issue. Having this in mind, Amber, Sophia, and Anthony, students without SEN who took part in the focus group, reported that after the DG sessions they and other peers began to play with Noa, a student with SEN that was excluded regularly before the implementation:

Amber: Noa (student with SEN) she was always alone, but then we started to understand that you have to play with everyone and not leave someone alone. So, some people started to play with her!

Sophia: I started to play with her too!

Anthony: Me too! (Focus group, students, group A).

In the case of Noa, she had previously reported that she did not have any friends at school, and after the DG sessions, other pupils noticed this and started interacting with her in class and in the playground. The teacher from group A shared in the focus group that the implementation of DG has helped to overcome isolation in the school context:

I think that to prevent violence it is important to say that what happens to you happens to everyone and that everyone is not an isolated individual, but that we are all one. We are group A, and that’s it! That was so important. (Classroom teacher, Group A).

Students were also more aware of the specific needs of other peers with SEN, such as the possible limitations in verbal or social skills. The teacher comments on the case of Martin, a pupil who had self-harming behaviours by hitting his head against the walls when he was alone in the playground. She says that when she told him to stop, he did not, but when his peers told him to go with them, he listened and immediately stopped hurting himself. Since Martin’s classmates knew about the importance of including everyone through the DG, this situation changed and now it does not happen because he is no longer alone.

At the beginning of the school year, Martin (student with SEN) usually was all alone during the playground and all the time was banging his head against the walls, and no matter how many times I told him to get off, he wouldn’t get off. Now he never does it because he is never alone. Sometimes, he tries to isolate himself, and when I try to speak, he doesn’t listen to me. But if someone else from the classroom goes, he immediately pays attention to them. (Classroom teacher, group A).

Rachel’s case is worth to mention, as an outstanding case of a student with SEN that showed that being involved in the dialogic gatherings helped her to enhance her sense of belonging and foster her participation in school. Rachel had communication difficulties that prevented her from participating in regular classroom activities but in the DG, she voluntarily raised her hand to read and comment on the paragraph she had selected, expressing her opinion on it. The special education teacher in that moment reported that was the first time she had participated in class. As we can see in the quote, Rachel’s intervention triggered further discussions because another student responded to her idea by agreeing with her statement:

Rachel: Bullying is a form of aggression, which means it’s behaviour that is used to hurt someone.” It’s a behaviour that is used to harm someone because I believe hurting someone is wrong, and bullying is also wrong because the victim suffers.

Laia: I have chosen the same paragraph because there are some who don’t realise that harm can be done just with words… and I also liked what Rachel said. (DG 2, group B).

Teacher from group B also reported that Rachel has improved in terms of socialisation after the DG as she has started to participate in the class. She explains how Rachel, through this text and the dialogues shared, learnt that the risk of suffering bullying increases with loneliness and this was a crucial realisation since she usually self-isolated. Participating in the DG opened her the door to participate and to feel more included, breaking the dangerous walls of solitude.

There is a student, Rachel (Student with SEN), who joined us last year and usually spent time with two students, but this year those students have left, and she doesn’t want to socialise anymore. It is true that in the last DG we did, when we read about “if you isolate yourself, you are more at risk of being bullied”, it made an impact on her, and she spent a couple of weeks talking more with everyone. In class I also started to notice that she was there, because she was always quiet, and then it was like “I’m listening to your voice! (Classroom teacher, group B).

Exclusionary dimension

Sustainability of the intervention over time.

Teachers reported the limitations they encounter to maintain the gains observed during the DGs over time. That is, some students benefitted from being involved in the gatherings, and that opened new possibilities for participation and socialisation, such as the case of Rachel, as reported by the special education teacher:

I think that for Rachel (Student with SEN), DG has opened a door for her to interact with other children. It took a while for her to understand the text, but when she read that if she isolated herself, she could be bullied, she was the one who wanted to socialise. (Special education teacher).

However, she also acknowledged that Rachel did not continue socialising after the gatherings were over.

But after two weeks she was isolating herself again. That’s why I think that if we had continued with the DG, these impacts would not have been lost. (Special education teacher).

Hence, the special education teacher suggests that extending the DG during the entire school year would enlarge its benefits and argues that if the intervention had continued, these benefits could have been maintained.

Results reveal that Dialogic Gatherings had a positive impact among students in different dimensions. Firstly, by promoting the creation of a safe and inclusive learning environment in which students can share their thoughts and feelings about issues related to school violence. Previous research shows how dialogic interventions for violence prevention can generate an adequate climate to improve social cohesion in schools (Oliver, 2014 ). Through DG, we have seen how students with and without SEN started to communicate effectively, creating new relationships with their peers, and taking care of the most vulnerable ones, which is essential for preventing violence in the school context (Dunn, 2004 ). Through dialogues shared in DG, students have also learned to respect and appreciate differences among their peers, which can lead to a more inclusive and comprehensive school environment (García-Carrión et al., 2018 ).

Secondly, there has been an improvement in reducing the attractiveness of violent behaviours. This, in turn, has increased the greater appreciation of positive behaviours, leading students to prefer or prioritise friendships free of violence. These results feed previous research about the effectiveness of Dialogic Gatherings in the prevention of gender violence among girls with intellectual disabilities (Rodrigues et al., 2021 ). Indeed, dialogues about the importance of not letting anyone behind and friendship were particularly relevant results of DG, as those make students be more aware of the key role everyone holds in ensuring an inclusive and violence-free environments at school. Also, sharing their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs on a particular reading under the dialogic conditions of the DG facilitates the participation of students with SEN, which bridges relationships with their peers without SEN. These kinds of relationships have proven to act as a protective factor to counteract school violence (Farmer et al., 2016 ).

Thirdly, DG has offered the participants the opportunity not only to read high-quality research-informed texts but also to make students reflect about their own daily experiences and relationships, leading them to choose non-violent friends. Through the dialogues developed during the Dialogic Gatherings and the focus groups, students with and without SEN have developed strategies to distinguish between those who are their friends and those who are not, by reflecting on how their peers treated them and vice versa. It also has helped students with SEN to reflect about their own behaviour, which opens new possibilities to prevent conflicts and to autoregulate themselves, which is essential for human development (Vallotton & Ayoub, 2011 ). This is consistent with the preventive socialisation theory that raises awareness about the link between violent actions and attractiveness, unveiling violent models in society and eliminating their appeal (Valls et al., 2008 ).

Limitations and future research

Although this is a highly relevant topic that has been little studied so far, the implementation of DG in mainstream elementary education has shown promising results in overcoming and preventing bullying. The study acknowledges some limitations: on the one hand, the number of participants and the sessions carried out were limited, and even if the results are promising, they cannot be generalised. It has also been noted that the positive impacts on students with SEN were sustained over the period during which the DG was carried out. Also, future research could include playground observations, in addition to DG observations, by a pre-post design to better inform the possible changes in students’ relationships. Also, it may be studied how the sustainability of this action over time would benefit students with and without SEN. Finally, it will also be valuable to explore the transferability of DG to other contexts and settings such as special education, and how it can be adapted to meet the needs of more diverse students.

The findings from this study suggest that dialogic gatherings (DG) have had a positive impact on students generating safe inclusive learning environments in a mainstream schools, and resulting in benefiting students with SEN. The DG, as a Successful Educational Action, created and structured an inclusive space where students shared their experiences and engaged in critical readings, reflections, and discussions on important issues in addressing bullying such as friendship as a protective factor and bullying. After the intervention, students have reported feeling safer and more supported in the school environment. Overall, DG fostered a greater sense of belonging to the school and redefined the concept of friendship to exclude all kinds of violence from it. In addition, this inclusive learning environment raised awareness of the situation of loneliness some students with SEN were experiencing and helped in self-harm prevention by generating support networks. Also, participants of this study understood the importance of standing up for those who are particularly vulnerable, such as students with SEN and fostered positive peer interactions towards students that were usually left apart. Furthermore, DG has opened the door to greater empathy towards students with SEN, so that they do not feel alone at school.

In summary, DG about friendship has had a positive impact on students with and without SEN, helping them to develop a greater understanding of what friendship means, reducing the appeal of violent behaviours, raising awareness about bullying, and advancing toward more inclusive school environments. These findings present promising results to enhance safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments in mainstream schools, and to ensure quality education for all.

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Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the Project “CHILDPRO: It is never too early to prevent gender-based violence: identification and overcoming of risk behaviours in childhood” (REF: PID2020-115581RB-I00) funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain.

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University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain

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University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain

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Álvarez-Guerrero, G., García-Carrión, R., Khalfaoui, A. et al. Preventing bullying of students with special educational needs through dialogic gatherings: a case study in elementary education. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 956 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02470-8

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Original research article, children’s learning for sustainability in social studies education: a case study from taiwanese elementary school.

• Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan

Introduction: The primary aim of social studies education is to convey knowledge about cultural and social systems while fostering inquiry, participation, practice, reflection, and innovation. Social studies education plays a pivotal role in raising awareness about various ethnic groups, societies, localities, countries, and the world at large. Furthermore, it instills in students a sense of responsibility, leading them to embrace diversity, value human rights, and promote global sustainability. The current elementary social studies curriculum in Taiwan strongly aligns with these principles and is a vehicle for sustainable development in society.

Methods: The researcher used qualitative research methods and adopted a case study design to review the pedagogical design of the elementary social studies curriculum in Taiwan as a means of sustainability education and enriching children’s cultural learning in the context of sustainability. Children’s learning related to sustainability in an elementary school was investigated, and a social studies teaching design was developed. Finally, the developed teaching approach was implemented in a classroom setting.

Results and discussion: The study yielded the following findings: (1) The social studies curriculum development in Taiwan is connected to the pulse of life, a sense of care for local communities, and cultivation of local thinking. (2) This social studies curriculum adopts a child-centered and problem-oriented approach and integrates students’ interests and the local environment into the learning process. (3) It effectively enhances students’ sustainability-related competencies and skills. These findings offer valuable insights for teachers and can enable them to shape the direction of their social studies courses and cultivate children’s concept of sustainable development for their living environment.

1 Introduction

In Taiwan, the Curriculum Guidelines of the 12-Year Basic Education introduced herein adopt the vision of developing talent in every student—nurture by nature, and promoting life-long learning. In addition, the guidelines cater to the specific needs of all individuals, take into account the diverse cultures and differences between ethnic groups, and pay attention to socially vulnerable groups. The goal is to provide adequate education that elicits students’ enjoyment and confidence in learning. This facilitates raising students’ thirst for learning and courage to innovate creation, prompting them to fulfill their civic responsibilities and develop the wisdom for symbioses, and helping them engage in lifelong learning and develop excellent social adaptability. Accordingly, the vision of a more prosperous society with higher quality of life among individuals can be achieved ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ; Wang and Shih, 2022 ).

Seeking the “common good” in curriculum development can improve quality of life by promoting harmony and wellbeing. A curriculum based on seeking the common good can encourage students to care for others, participate in activities, protect for the natural environment, self-reflect, and develop sustainable practices for the society ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ). The goal of social studies education is to transmit knowledge of cultural and social systems and cultivate inquiry, participation, practice, reflection, and innovation. Social studies education promotes seeking the common good and instills social practices in students. Social studies education raises awareness of ethnic groups, societies, localities, countries, and the world and imbues students with a sense of responsibility, enabling them to recognize diversity, value human rights, and promote global sustainability ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ). Taiwan’s current elementary social studies curriculum promotes these aforementioned principles, all of which relate to sustainable development for our society.

This study conducted a comprehensive review of the elementary social studies curriculum in Taiwan, focusing on its role as a platform for sustainability education and its fostering of children’s cultural learning related to sustainability. The design of a cultural course centered on the town of Beigang was employed as an example; the aim of such a course is to ensure that children are proactive, engage with their environment, and ultimately seek the common good in society in Taiwan.

2 Theoretical perspective: the Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education: general guidelines

Taiwan’s 12-Year Basic Education was first implemented in August 2014, and the Ministry of Education announced the Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education: general guidelines in November 2014. The New Curriculum reflects the idea that the 12-year basic education curriculum guidelines should be based on the principle of holistic education, incorporating the ideas of “taking initiative,” “engaging in interaction,” and “seeking the common good” ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ; Shih et al., 2020 ; Wang and Shih, 2022 ). The idea of Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education: general guidelines is illustrated in Figure 1 .

Figure 1. The idea of Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education: general guidelines (source: Ministry of Education, 2014 ).

The Curriculum Guidelines of the 12-Year Basic Education was developed based on the spirit of holistic education, adopting the concepts of taking initiative, engaging in interaction, and seeking the common good to encourage students to become spontaneous and motivated learners. The curriculum also urges that schools be active in encouraging students to become motivated and passionate learners, leading students to appropriately develop the ability to interact with themselves, others, society, and nature. Schools should assist students in applying their learned knowledge, experiencing the meaning of life, and developing the willingness to become engaged in sustainable development of society, nature, and culture, facilitating the attainment of reciprocity and the common good in their society.

The theoretical perspective of this study is based on the concept of the Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education: general guidelines, including the concepts of taking initiative, engaging in interaction, and seeking the common good. The concepts of taking initiative, engaging in interaction, and seeking the common good for philosophical foundation of the curriculum in Taiwan. Based on the above-mentioned educational concepts, the cultural curriculum of Beigang is designed. Children can proactively protect Taiwan’s cultural and natural heritage and the cultural landscape that embodies the collective memory and history of the people on the land in the future. Seeking the common good for people in Taiwan.

2.1 The practice of the new curriculum is based on “core competency”

The practice of the New Curriculum is based on “core competency” as its main axis and consists of three dimensions: “autonomous action,” “communication and interaction,” and “social participation” ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ). In August 2019, the New Curriculum was formally implemented in Taiwan’s education system.

To implement the ideas and goals of 12-Year Basic Education, core competencies are used as the basis of curriculum development to ensure continuity between educational stages, bridging between domains, and integration between subjects. Core competencies are primarily adopted in the general domains and subjects of elementary school ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ).

The Meaning of “core competency” in social studies refers to the knowledge, ability, and attitude that students should possess for everyday life and challenges. When students face uncertain or complex situations, they can apply their subject knowledge through thinking and exploration, situational analysis, and questions or hypotheses. Ultimately, students can apply comprehensive learning strategies that are suitable for solving problems in their everyday life ( Ministry of Education, 2014 , 2018 ).

2.2 The goals in social studies

The curriculum outline for social studies (hereinafter, “Social Studies Outline”) is rooted in “maximizing students’ talent” and developing lifelong learning, as described by the Curriculum Guidelines of 12-Year Basic Education. According to the general outline, humanities and social sciences are core subjects that should be taught step by step. The curriculum mainly focuses on interests and inquiry regarding the three subjects of history, geography, and civics and society. The curriculum has the following goals ( Ministry of Education, 2014 , 2018 ):

Consider the diverse backgrounds and life experiences of students (e.g., culture, ethnicity, physical location, gender, and physical and mental characteristics) and promote career exploration and development to establish an independent learning space ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Consider the regional, ethnic, and school characteristics for curriculum development ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Establish vertical and horizontal integration within the studies through the following strategies ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ):

Have studies/subjects at each educational stage be guided by civic literacy and the themes of exploration and practical activities that provide space for collaboration on various subjects and issues in the social studies ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Prioritize real-world experience, accounting for the development of knowledge, positive attitudes, and practical skills for subjects at each learning stage ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Divide the learning content in a meaningful way that avoids unnecessary repetition because of the sequential development of learning stages and the need for complementary cooperation among subjects in the social studies ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Strengthen the vertical connection among elementary schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools and account for the horizontal connections between the characteristics of senior high schools, in accordance with the common principles of basic education ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.3 Course objectives of social studies

To teach the civic literacy that students require for their future and careers in the social studies curriculum. The goals of the curriculum are as follows ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ):

Develop an understanding of each subject and the qualities of self-discipline, autonomy, self-improvement, and self- realization ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Improve the quality of independent thinking, value judgments, rational decision-making, and innovation ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Develop the civic practices required in a democratic society, such as communication and social interaction, teamwork, problem- solving, and social participation ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Enhance the exploration and knowledge of history, geography, and civics, and other social disciplines ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Develop the ability to perform interdisciplinary analysis, speculate, integrate concepts, evaluate problems, and provide constructive criticism ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

Cultivate awareness of ethnic groups, societies, localities, countries, and the world and instill a sense of responsibility that includes the recognition of diversity, value of human rights, and concern for global sustainability ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.4 Key learning connotation of social studies

The key learning connotations include learning performance and learning content, both of which provide a framework for curriculum design, teaching material development, textbook review, and learning assessment. Learning performance and learning content can have various correspondences. At this learning stage, these aspects can be flexibly combined according to the characteristics of the social studies ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.4.1 Learning performance

Learning performance in the social studies is based on cognitive processes, affective attitudes, and practical skills. Learning performance comprises a common framework of understanding and speculation, attitudes and values, and practice and participation, which can be adjusted according to the educational stage and subject ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.4.2 Learning content

Learning content emphasizes the knowledge connotations of the studies/subject. The social studies curriculum outlines the basic learning content for each stage and subject and prioritizes vertical coherence between stages to avoid unnecessary repetition. Teachers, schools, local governments, and publishing houses can make adjustments after integrating learning content and performance according to their needs to promote effective teaching and adaptive learning ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.5 Relationship between the general outline and the social studies outline

The relationship between the general outline and social studies outline is presented in Figure 2 .

Figure 2. The relationship between the general outline and social studies outline (source: Ministry of Education, 2014 , 2018 ; Chan, 2020 ).

The general outline shares three aspects with the social studies outline. First, key learning connotations include both learning performance and learning content. Second, learning performance is based on understanding and speculation, attitudes and values, and practice and participation. Finally, the learning content is aimed at teaching students about interaction and association; difference and diversity; change, cause, and effect; and choice and responsibility ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ).

2.6 Concrete connotations of core competencies in elementary social studies

The concept of core competencies in 12-Year Basic Education emphasizes lifelong learning. These competences are divided into three broad dimensions, namely, autonomous action, communication and interaction, and social participation. Each dimension involves three items. Specifically, spontaneity entails physical and mental wellness and self-advancement; logical thinking and problem solving; and planning, execution, innovation and adaptation. Communication and interaction entails semiotics and expression; information and technology literacy and media literacy; and artistic appreciation and aesthetic literacy. Finally, social participation entails moral praxis and citizenship; interpersonal relationships and teamwork; and cultural and global understanding ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ).

The concrete connotations of the core competencies in social studies listed in Table 1 .

Table 1. Concrete connotations of core competencies in social studies.

2.7 Considering this local study is of global importance–Sustainable Development Goals and teaching design for children’s cultural learning for sustainability

Sustainability is a much debated concept. Environmental sustainability refers to the responsible and balanced management of natural resources and ecosystems to ensure their long-term health and resilience while meeting the needs of current and future generations ( James, 2024 ; Malin et al., 2024 ).

In 1962, the American biologist Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring, which revealed the dangers of DDT pesticides in times of rapid industrial development. In 1970, the United States became the first country to establish laws regarding environmental education. Over the following 10 years, United Nations (UN) conferences focused on the environment and sustainability. The purpose of environmental education is not only to solve environmental problems but also to emphasize intergenerational justice as the core of sustainable development ( Yeh, 2017 ; Chen, 2023 ; Feng, 2023 ).

In 1987, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development published the Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common Future, which defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present generation without jeopardizing the ability of the next generation to meet their needs.” The Brundtland Report highlighted the necessity of sustainable development to balance the economy, society, and the environment and sparked many initiatives promoting education on sustainable development. For example, the UN’s decade of education for sustainable development (2005–2014) plan proposed taking action through education to instill skills of critical thinking, communication, coordination, and conflict resolution in students. Moreover, the plan emphasized the goal of educating global citizens who can respect the lives and cultures of others ( Yeh, 2017 ; Chen, 2023 ; Feng, 2023 ).

The term “sustainability” is known to be a solution to environmental and social problems. Sustainability is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It emphasizes “social, economic and environmental sustainability and the interaction of these three elements” ( Huang and Cheng, 2022 ). In education, education for sustainable development is a term used by the United Nations and is defined as education that encourages changes in knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to enable a more sustainable and just society for all ( Zhang et al., 2023 ).

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is UNESCO’s education sector response to the urgent and dramatic challenges the planet faces. In 2015, the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were passed by the UN Assembly, 195 nations agreed with the UN that they can change the world for the better. This will be accomplished by bringing together their respective governments, businesses, media, institutions of higher education, and local NGOs to improve the lives of the people in their country by the year 2030. The Global Challenge for Government Transparency: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda. Here’s the 2030 Agenda: (1) eliminate poverty; (2) erase hunger; (3) establish good health and wellbeing; (4) provide quality education; (5) enforce gender equality; (6) improve clean water and sanitation; (7) grow affordable and clean energy; (8) create decent work and economic growth; (9) increase industry, innovation, and infrastructure; (10) reduce inequality; (11) mobilize sustainable cities and communities; (12) influence responsible consumption and production; (13) organize climate action; (14) develop life below water; (15) advance life on land; (16) guarantee peace, justice, and strong institutions; (17) build partnerships for the goal ( Yeh, 2017 ; New Jersey Minority Educational Development, 2023 ; UNESCO, 2023 ).

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a widely accepted framework for promoting sustainable development. SDG4 goal 4.7 pursues the “sustainability” of education to promote sustainable development for country ( Sánchez-Carracedo et al., 2021 ). SDG11 pursues “sustainable cities and communities” in efforts to make them inclusive, safe, and resilient. SDG 11.4 protects countries’ cultural and natural heritage and the cultural landscape that embodies the collective memory and history of the people on the land.

This study designed teaching activities aimed at helping children to understand, visit, see, and care for Beigang; actively protect Taiwan’s culture and heritage; and respect the people’s collective memory and history. It is hoped that such teaching practice can inspire children to care about their living environment and promote the sustainable development of their living environment. This local study is of global importance. The discussion draws meaningful connections with other research studies ( Farhana et al., 2017 ; Huang and Cheng, 2022 ).

3 Proposed teaching design for children’s cultural learning for sustainability at elementary school in Taiwan

Beigang’s Township, formerly known as “Ponkan (笨港),” is in the southwest of Yunlin County, Taiwan. Beigang is a small town with a rich history; it is a center of Mazu belief, one of the three major towns in Yunlin, and the gateway to the Yunlin coast. Beigang is also the political and economic center of Yunlin and is a key town for transportation, sightseeing, culture, medical care, and education. The old street features several historic sites that have a long and prosperous history.

3.1 The proposed course design has the following goals

Strengthen children’s understanding and connection with Beigang’s history and culture.

Teach children about Beigang’s cultural characteristics.

Enable children to identify with their hometown-Beigang.

Assist children with applying knowledge in practical situations.

Children will be taught Beigang’s local characteristics through the proposed course design, which can promote the public welfare. The proposed course design also applies the concepts of “taking initiative,” “engaging in interaction,” and “seeking the common good” from the Curriculum Guidelines of 12-year Basic Education and develops courses that cultivate students’ educational competencies.

This course considered the regional, ethnic, and school characteristics for curriculum development, and prioritize real-world experience. This course improved the quality of independent thinking, value judgments, rational decision-making, innovation, and social participation ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ). Enhance the exploration and knowledge of history, and geography. Cultivate children’s awareness of ethnic groups, societies, localities, countries, and the world and instill a sense of responsibility that includes the recognition of diversity, value of human rights, and concern for global sustainability ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ; Shih, 2020 ).

3.2 Tips for designing teaching activities

Lesson plan structure: understand Beigang, visit Beigang, see Beigang, care Beigang.

Analysis on teacher preparation and materials: hold a meeting to discuss incorporating the key points into each subject.

Student preparation: help students develop the ability to discuss, think critically, and brainstorm ideas during the course.

3.3 Teaching process

Phase 1: Getting to understand Beigang.

Phase 2: Visiting Beigang. Combine off-campus teaching and tours of historical sites.

Phase 3: Seeing Beigang. Introduce the geography and natural scenery of Beigang.

Phase 4: Caring for Beigang. Introduce the beauty and future of Beigang.

3.4 Core competency questions, major domain, and subdomains

The researcher first considered questions on core competencies and then considered questions regarding the major domain and subdomains. The major domain was social studies, and the subdomains were integrative activities, language arts, and arts. The core competency questions were as follows:

(1) How much do you know Beigang?

(2) How has Beigang affected your life?

(3) What are the elements of an explanatory text?

(4) How can an attractive postcard from Beigang be designed?

(5) How can students contribute to Beigang’s public welfare?

The core competency questions, major domain, and subdomains are presented in Figure 3 .

Figure 3. The core competency questions, major domain, and subdomains (source: developed in this study).

4 Research method

4.1 documentary analysis method.

This study employed the documentary analysis method, which involves the use of documents as the primary data source. Documentary analysis is a qualitative research approach in which the researcher interprets documents to derive meaningful insights on a particular topic ( Wang and Shih, 2022 , 2023 ). In this study, the researcher applied the documentary analysis method to analyze issues related to social studies education in Taiwan’s elementary schools. Additionally, the principle of the curriculum outline for social studies was analyzed. Finally, the researcher used analytical and interpretive skills to establish connections with the objectives of the United Nations’ SDGs.

4.2 Case study

Qualitative case studies enable researchers to investigate complex phenomena by identifying relevant factors and observing their interaction. Case studies involve diverse methods of data collection—such as observation, interviews, surveys, and document analysis—along with comprehensive descriptions provided by the study participants ( Shih, 2022 ). In the present study, data were collected through semistructured interviews that followed a predefined outline. The interviewees were both teachers and students, and they shared their perspectives and insights regarding the social studies curriculum.

4.3 Elementary school selected for the case study

The elementary school featured in this case study is located in Yunlin County, Taiwan, and was established in 1927. The school is guided by a set of educational principles that revolve around a humanistic spirit, diverse and dynamic teaching management, the fostering of warm teacher–student friendships, and the promotion of a vibrant and wholesome childhood experience for its students.

4.4 Data collection

The primary data source in this study was interview transcripts, and the collected data were systematically coded using self-developed categories. The researcher visited the elementary school to conduct semistructured interviews with the teacher and students on 16 June 2023. All the interviewees had been actively involved in the planning and design of the social studies course. During the interviews, the interviewees freely expressed their opinions regarding the course. Prior to their participation, the interviewees were informed about the study’s objectives, and they provided their informed consent. Consent letters and interview outlines were shared with the interviewees, including the teachers and the students’ parents ( Shih, 2022 ). Each interview session lasted approximately 1 h. The demographic details of the interviewees are presented in Tables 2 – 4 outlines the interview coding method.

Table 2. Coordinator of the social studies curriculum.

Table 3. Participants of the social studies curriculum.

Table 4. Interview codes.

The codes correspond to the interviewees and dates. For example, “Coordinator interview, A20190612” corresponds to the interview with the elementary school teacher who serves as the coordinator of the social studies program; this interview was conducted on 16 June 2023. “Student interview 1, A20230616” corresponds to the interview with student 1, a participant, conducted on 16 June 2023.

4.5 Course design: Beigang

4.5.1 tiâu-thian kiong (朝天宮).

Tiângthian esign, which locals call má tsóo king (媽祖宮), is the most famous landmark in Beigang Township ( Figure 4 ). Established in 1694 AD during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty. Tiownship. Estab serves as the main temple for more than 300 Mazu temples across the country. The Tiemples across is dedicated to many gods, such as Mazu and Guanyin. The beam frames and wood carvings in the temple were all created by famous craftsmen. The stone statues of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas perched along the stone railings outside the temple exemplify the religious and artistic masterpieces of the temple. The Tie frames and welcomes worshippers throughout the year. The liveliest times to visit are during the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar and Mazu’s birthday on March 23. Mazu’s birthday, visitors come to Beigang from across the world, and the entire city is shrouded in a festive atmosphere.

Figure 4. Beigang Tiâu-thian Kiong.

4.5.2 Beigang Daughter Bridge (北港女兒橋)

The Beigang Daughter Bridge was constructed from Taiwan’s oldest iron bridge, the Beigang–Fuxing Iron Bridge ( Figure 5 ). The small train that once operated over the bridge is no longer in service; however, the dragon-shaped bridge has become a hotspot for photos and social media check-ins. In the evenings, people can enjoy the sunset while walking over the Beigang River Head.

Figure 5. Beigang Daughter Bridge.

4.5.3 Beigang Cultural Center (北港文化中心)

To learn more about Mazu rituals, a visit to the Beigang Cultural Center is a must. The center describes the process of circumambulation and the roles of participants in the ritual, such as the leader of the procession (bao ma zai) (報馬仔), costume makers (zhuang yi tuan) (莊儀團) and ritual band (kai lu gu) (開路鼓). The cultural center hosts many other temporary exhibitions.

4.5.4 Beigang Starbucks (北港星巴克)

The first Starbucks store in Beigang is on Huanan Road (Provincial Highway 19), the main road entering and leaving Beigang ( Figure 6 ). The architecture of the store reflects the religious characteristics of the town; religious imagery is present from the exterior and interior walls to the grille ceiling. Through the simple reddish-brown tones that resemble temple interiors, the pious, solemn architectural style exudes history and local sentiment.

Figure 6. Beigang Starbucks.

4.5.5 Beigang Old Street (北港老街)

Beigang Old Street, located south of Tiâu-thian Kiong, has local flair ( Figure 7 ). Baroque buildings line both sides of the street, and the shops sell local treats and produce that are popular among tourists. Pilgrimage groups from across Taiwan are a common sight. The street is lively, and the atmosphere is truly unique and worth experiencing.

Figure 7. Beigang Old Street.

4.6 Limitation

This research is a case study, and this curriculum is only implemented in one school in Taiwan, so the validity of extrapolation to other case schools will be limited.

5.1 Curriculum development connected to the pulse of life, a sense of care for local communities, and cultivation of local thinking

The social studies curriculum is intricately connected to the pulse of life, a sense of care for local communities, and cultivation of local thinking. The approach employed in the curriculum aims to enable children to not only connect with their own country and culture but also embrace the role of being a global citizen ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ). Student 2 stated the following:

Beigang Old Street (北港老街) is so vibrant and filled with people. I like Beigang Old Street. I see many ancient buildings on the street, and I feel a need to protect them (Student interview 2, C20230616).

Student 4 expressed the following:

I like Tiâu-thian Kiong (朝天宮). My grandma used to take me to worship there. She has passed away. Whenever I visit Tiâu-thian Kiong, I miss my grandma. For me, Tiâu-thian Kiong symbolizes my grandma (Student interview 4, D20230616).

5.2 Child-centered and problem-oriented curriculum that integrates students’ interests and the local environment into the learning process

This social studies curriculum is designed to be child-centered and problem-oriented and to integrate students’ interests and the local environment into the learning process. This approach equips students with the skills to observe, investigate, collect data, create diagrams and thematic maps, write reports, inquire, and acquire other practical competencies ( Ministry of Education, 2018 ). Therefore, teachers must adopt a competency-oriented curriculum design and teaching approach. To illustrate competency-oriented curriculum design and teaching, Fan (2016) introduced a concept map containing four interconnected circles ( Figure 3 ). Competency-oriented curricula and teaching seamlessly integrate knowledge, skills, and attitudes, emphasizing that learning should not be solely centered on knowledge acquisition. Additionally, learning should be situational and contextualized, and the learning content should include appropriate real-life experiences, events, situations, and contexts. Furthermore, curriculum planning and teaching must combine learning content with scientific inquiry, placing substantial emphasis on learning processes, strategies, and methods. This approach can help cultivate self-learning and life-long learning. Finally, classroom activities should give students opportunities to apply their knowledge and develop transferrable skills that can be effectively employed in real-world scenarios ( Fan, 2016 ). The concept map of competency-oriented curricula and teaching in social studies is displayed in Figure 8 .

Figure 8. The concept map of competency-oriented curricula and teaching in social studies (source: Fan, 2016 ).

The aim of the design of the course investigated in this study was to synthesize children’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes and to emphasize the importance of situational teaching, contextualized learning, and the practical application of knowledge. The cultural course enables students visiting Beigang to learn about the town’s cultural landscape, interact and communicate with people, and participate in sustainable development in their hometown. Through this educational experience, children can learn how to be sensitive, caring, introspective, and respectful toward their hometown and contribute to the creation of a better living environment. The course fosters children’s cultural learning to the benefit of the sustainability of their hometown.

The teacher asked the following questions:

Let’s review Beigang again.

Where are you from?

Do you love your hometown?

How can you contribute to the sustainable development of your hometown?

Student 5 stated the following:

I love my hometown, Beigang. I want to keep Beigang beautiful forever (Student interview 5, E20230616).

Student 6 expressed the following:

I love Beigang, my hometown. I’m going to the Beigang Sports Park to help plant trees so that there will be more and more trees. Then, the air in Beigang will get better and better, and the people living in Beigang will become healthier (Student interview 6, F20230616).

Student 7 stated the following:

I love my hometown, Beigang. I’m going to the Beigang Fruit and Vegetable Market to help remove trash. I want Beigang to become cleaner (Student interview 7, G20230616).

5.3 Improving students’ competencies and skills in the context of sustainability

The pursuit of sustainable development, in alignment with the United Nations’ SDGs, is a top priority in both the internal and external policies of the Union. As acknowledged by the UN 2030 Agenda, a commitment to sustainable development is reflected through the endorsement of 17 universal SDGs and related targets. These goals aim to strike a balance across all dimensions of sustainable growth, such as economic, environmental, and social considerations ( Fleaca et al., 2023 ).

Education on sustainability should be capable of cultivating the mindset and skills to meet the complex sustainability challenges faced in the 21st century. The critical roles of teachers in this context were thoroughly analyzed in this study, and the findings underscore the importance of teachers in cultivating students’ sustainability competencies and skills ( Chatpinyakoop et al., 2022 ; Fleaca et al., 2023 ). Therefore, the design of the social studies course aims to foster the development of students’ sustainability competencies and skills in the context of sustainability.

The teacher gave the following description:

“Course design: Beigang” increases the awareness of the changes in students’ social, natural, and human environments. Moreover, it equips students to be able to pay attention to everyday problems and the effects of these problems on their lives as well as to consider possible solutions. For example, the Beigang Daughter Bridge (北港女兒橋) was constructed from Taiwan’s oldest iron bridge, the Beigang–Fuxing Iron Bridge. The small train that once operated over the bridge is no longer in service; however, the dragon-shaped bridge has become a hotspot for photos and social media check-ins. The original old railway has been redesigned and become a new tourist attraction. The teacher described the transformation of the bridge, and the students experienced the renewal of the bridge and pledged to take good care of it (Coordinator interview, A20230616).

Student 1 stated the following:

I like Matsu. Matsu blesses those who live in Beigang. I want to protect Tiâu-thian Kiong (朝天宮). Mazu lives in Tiâu-thian Kiong, and if Tiâu-thian Kiong were to be destroyed, Matsu would have nowhere to live (Student interview 1, A20230616).

Student 3 expressed the following:

Beigang Old Street (北港老街) is so vibrant and filled with people. I like Beigang Old Street. I see many ancient buildings on the street, and I feel a need to protect them (Student interview 3, C20230616).

6 Discussion

6.1 a social studies curriculum should adapt to social problems and focus on students’ life experiences, and cultivate caring in students in curriculum.

Children are surrounded by many influential role models in society—for example, parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and TV characters—and their learning occurs through being explicitly taught by others, through direct observation, and through participation in activities. These are students’ life experiences ( Farhana et al., 2017 ; Ye and Shih, 2021 ). A social studies curriculum should adapt to social problems and focus on students’ life experiences, and cultivate caring in students in curriculum. After all, children learn to care for those around them through life experiences ( Hung et al., 2021 ; Shih et al., 2022 ; Shih, 2024 ).

6.2 This curriculum overcomes the shortcomings of knowledge-based learning

Teachers and students often spend excessive time mastering and memorizing content. Moreover, previous curricula were bloated and failed to instill in students the key skills and core literacies required to face a changing world. Therefore, the 12-Year Basic Education Curriculum focuses on literacy, is based on both learning content and learning performance, emphasizes active inquiry and practice, and hopes to prevent excessive memorization. Therefore, this curriculum overcomes the shortcomings of knowledge-based learning by providing a high-quality educational experience, and campus sustainability ( Ministry of Education, 2014 , 2018 , 2019 ; Hung et al., 2020 ; Washington-Ottombre, 2024 ).

6.3 Select appropriate themes, and at least one inquiry activity should be designed for each unit

In order to implement and link up the exploration and practice courses that are valued at the junior and senior high school stages, the key points of implementation in the new curriculum in the social studies are to standardize the “compilation and selection of textbooks for elementary schools or the compilation of textbooks for textbooks and the design of integrated curriculum in fields.” In addition to selecting appropriate themes to develop comprehensive teaching materials, at least “one inquiry activity should be designed for each unit, and each semester should integrate the content learned in the semester, and at least one theme inquiry and practice unit should be planned.” Therefore, at the elementary school site, different from traditional teaching methods and habits, guide students to explore and practice in the social field, and then cultivate children’s core literacy ( Ministry of Education, 2014 ; Yu, 2023 ).

7 Conclusion and implication

7.1 conclusion.

The findings of this study were as follows: (1) The social studies curriculum development in Taiwan is connected to the pulse of life, a sense of care for local communities, and cultivation of local thinking. (2) This social studies curriculum adopts a child-centered and problem-oriented approach and integrates students’ interests and the local environment into the learning process. (3) It effectively enhances students’ sustainability-related competencies and skills.

These findings offer valuable insights for teachers and can enable them to shape the direction of their social studies courses and cultivate children’s concept of sustainable development. In addition, the sustainability competences are systems thinking competence, futures thinking competence, values thinking competence, collaboration competence and action-oriented competence ( Marjo and Ratinen, 2024 ). In values thinking competence, this study effectively enhances students’ sustainability-related competencies and skills. The existing sustainability competencies’ frameworks are linked to social studies curriculum and the learning outcomes that were sought in this case study.

In the end, ensuring a fair and decent livelihood for all people, regenerating nature and enabling biodiversity to thrive, have never been more important for sustainable development ( Bianchi et al., 2022 ). In addition, hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at schools around the world over the past 2 decades. A prime question for employers, students, educators, and program administrators is what competencies these programs develop in students ( Brundiers et al., 2021 ). In this study, Taiwanese children can protect cultural and natural heritage and the cultural landscape that embodies the collective memory and history of the people on the land in the sustainable future.

7.2 Implication

In the 21st century, the world has become more globalized. Globalization has decreased distinctions between countries and has increased interdependency among countries ( Wang and Shih, 2023 ). However, one of the biggest challenges that globalization poses to blurr the unique local cultural characteristics. in recent years, awareness of local culture, which is based on cultural transmission with respect to language, history, geography, knowledge, customs, art, and an appreciation of the value of local identity and traditional culture, has become a priority. Local culture has become a crucial part of education in Taiwan, and they help children better appreciate the culture styles behind their everyday lives ( Shih, 2022 ). This local study is of global importance.

Finally, the growing international significance of education for sustainable development (ESD), and is a matter of global importance, the requirements and needs of people differ according to their regional circumstances ( de Haan, 2006 , 2010 ). To create a more sustainable world and to engage with issues related to sustainability as described in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), individuals must become sustainability change-makers. They require the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that empower them to contribute to sustainable development ( UNESCO, 2017 ).

The trend toward the standardization of education raises the question of why teachers should focus on local contexts ( Smith and Sobel, 2010 ). Historically, before the advent of common schools, education grounded in local concerns and experiences was the norm, playing a crucial role in transitioning from childhood to adulthood. However, in modern schooling, children often experience a growing disconnect between their community lives and classroom experiences ( Smith and Sobel, 2010 ). Hence, elementary teachers in Taiwan are recommended to focus on actively incorporating local cultural elements into the classroom. This approach aims to bridge the gap between children’s community experiences and their educational environment. This study is of local importance in Taiwan.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in this article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

Ethical approval was not required for this study involving human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s), and minor(s)’ legal guardians/next of kin, for participation in this study and for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author contributions

Y-HS: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

The author declares that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Ministry of Education (2019). 12-year Basic Education Curriculum Outline–National Primary and Secondary Schools and Senior High Schools-Social Studies (Course Manual). Taipei: Ministry of Education.

New Jersey Minority Educational Development (2023). The Global Challenge for Government Transparency: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 Agenda. Available Online at: https://worldtop20.org/global-movement/ (accessed December 2, 2023).

Sánchez-Carracedo, F., Moreno-Pino, F., Romero-Portillo, D., and Sureda, B. (2021). Education for sustainable development in Spanish university education degrees. Sustainability 13:1467. doi: 10.3390/su13031467

Shih, Y. H. (2020). Learning content of ‘multiculturalism’ for children in Taiwan’s elementary schools. Policy Futures Educ. 18, 1044–1057. doi: 10.1177/1478210320911251

Shih, Y. H. (2022). Designing culturally responsive education strategies to cultivate young children’s cultural identities: a case study of the development of a preschool local culture curriculum. Children 9:1789. doi: 10.3390/children9121789

Shih, Y. H. (2024). Case study of intergenerational learning courses implemented in a preschool: perceptions of young children and senior citizens. Educ. Gerontol. 50, 11–26. doi: 10.1080/03601277.2023.2216089

Shih, Y. H., Chen, S. F., and Ye, Y. H. (2020). Taiwan’s “white paper on teacher education”: vision and strategies. Universal J. Educ. Res. 8, 5257–5264.

Shih, Y. H., Wu, C. C., and Chung, C. F. (2022). Implementing intergenerational learning in a preschool: a case study from Taiwan. Educ. Gerontol. 48, 565–585. doi: 10.1080/03601277.2022.2053035

Smith, G. A., and Sobel, D. (2010). Place- and Community-Based Education in Schools. New York: Routledge.

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Wang, R. J., and Shih, Y. H. (2022). Improving the quality of teacher education for sustainable development of Taiwan’s education system: a systematic review on the research issues of teacher education after the implementation of 12-year national basic education. Front. Psychol. 13:921839. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.921839

Wang, R. J., and Shih, Y. H. (2023). What are universities pursuing? a review of the quacquarelli symonds world university rankings of Taiwanese universities (2021–2023). Front. Educ. 8:1185817. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1185817

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Keywords : children, social studies, sustainability, the curriculum outline for social studies, the Curriculum Guidelines of the 12-Year Basic Education

Citation: Shih Y-H (2024) Children’s learning for sustainability in social studies education: a case study from Taiwanese elementary school. Front. Educ. 9:1353420. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1353420

Received: 10 December 2023; Accepted: 29 February 2024; Published: 16 April 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Shih. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Yi-Huang Shih, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Building the Future of Education Together: Innovation, Complexity, Sustainability, Interdisciplinary Research and Open Science

Ethics in the Classroom

• Posted April 19, 2016
• By Leah Shafer

Ethical dilemmas abound in education. Should middle school teachers let a failing eighth-grade student graduate, knowing that if she’s held back, she’ll likely drop out? Should a private school principal condone inflated grades? Should an urban district pander to white, middle-class families — at the expense of poor, minority families — in order to boost the achievement of all schools?

Teachers, principals, superintendents, and education policymakers face questions such as these every day. And for many, amid the tangle of conflicting needs, disparate perspectives, and frustration over circumstances, lies the worry that discussing an ethical dilemma with colleagues will implicate you as not knowing how to make the right choice — or as already having made the wrong one.

Educational philosopher Meira Levinson and doctoral student Jacob Fay take up these challenges in the new book Dilemmas of Educational Ethics: Cases and Commentaries . In detailing the moral predicaments that arise in schools, the researchers also provide a framework for educators to discuss their own dilemmas with colleagues, opening the door to making these conversations more common.

The Case of the Failing Eighth Grader

The book presents six detailed case studies of common educational dilemmas, each accompanied by commentaries of varying viewpoints. Written by a range of practitioners — from classroom teachers to district leaders to African American Studies professors to philosophers — these commentaries each dissect the cases differently, introducing new solutions and new ways to consider what is “right.”

In the first case study, middle schools teachers debate whether to allow a failing eighth grade student to graduate, knowing that she’s both unprepared for ninth-grade coursework but also likely to drop out if she’s held back. Despite having lived in three different foster homes in the past year and having her brother die from a gunshot wound, the student, Ada, put forth enormous amounts of effort to raise her grades — until recently, when she grew discouraged. While the district provides an alternative school for struggling students, the teachers rule it out immediately; it’s known as a flat-out school-to-prison pipeline.

The commentaries on this case, and on the other five, range from providing concrete solutions to proposing total reconsiderations of the situation to suggesting that the whole system change. Classroom teacher Melissa Aguirre, for instance, says that the school should retain Ada in order to uphold its standards, but she also comments that this case shows why it’s necessary to make “competency-based” education, and not just “age-based,” a norm for all. Sigal Ben-Porath , an education and political science professor, notes that high-poverty schools are more likely to define students solely by academic standards, and disregarding noncognitive skills. She writes that Ada should be recognized as a complex person and consulted in the decision on whether she should matriculate to ninth grade.

Others provide more abstract interpretations. Willie "J.R." Fleming, a human rights advocate, explains that the circumstances Ada is living under could be defined as an armed conflict or a war zone. As a response to Ada’s dilemma, the writer imagines appropriate alternative schooling that will allow Ada to heal and thrive. Deputy superintendent Toby Romer, explains that the teachers in this case are focused on “worse-case scenarios”; by dismissing the alternative school as too dangerous, he explains, they have ruled-out any possibility of it working for diligent students like her. Ideally, he says, the teachers would make decisions on how the system is supposed to work, rather than on how it does.

A Powerful Problem-Solving Tool

Ada’s story does not lend itself to one solution; instead, it provokes a whirlwind of feelings and reactions. So how can this case, and the five others in the book, assist teachers in considering their own ethical dilemmas — and in reaching viable solutions?

Case studies offer a safe way for educators to begin recognizing and discussing ethical dilemmas they may face in their own work, since no real person is implicated. “We hope that by reading and talking about the cases and commentaries, professional communities can become more practiced and comfortable in having these sorts of discussions, so that when their own particular dilemmas arise, they have the cases and a language to be able to speak about what it is they’re struggling with in their own practice,” says Fay.

The cases also give educators a chance to consider diverse perspectives. “Right now, our conversation in the United States about education policy and practice is so polarized, and so dismissive of the other side,” explains Levinson. “Both wrap themselves up in the mantle of social justice, and they refuse to recognize that in fact, both sides may really care deeply about equity, opportunity, and social justice, and just have different ways to try to achieve those goals.” Because the cases, and especially the commentaries, delve into different viewpoints, they may allow educators to better understand where the other side is coming from — and how to work with them.

Along the same lines, says Levinson, “the commentaries also provide some guidance for how you can think through the cases. They model that you can have disparate views among people of good intent, and they model that that might happen because you are coming at it from a different experiential perspective.”

Eventually, Levinson envisions the discussion of ethical dilemmas as common professional development in schools. If teachers and principals have enough practice discussing case studies of morally unclear situations, they might become more prepared to discuss their own. “You can imagine that, over time, educators themselves being able to say to their colleagues, ‘Here’s my case, here’s my dilemma, I would really appreciate hearing you talk through it.’”

Additional Resources

• Read Dilemmas of Educational Ethics , edited by Meira Levinson and Jacob Fay.
• Read a short essay by Levinson on the intellectually challenging nature of education.

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Texas education leaders unveil Bible-infused elementary school curriculum

Elementary school curriculum proposed this week would infuse new state reading and language arts lessons with teachings on the Bible, marking the latest push by Texas Republicans to put more Christianity in public schools.

The Texas Education Agency released thousands of pages of educational materials this week. They have been made available for public viewing and feedback and, if approved by the State Board of Education in November, will be available for public schools to roll out in August of 2025. Districts will have the option of whether to use the materials but will be incentivized to do so with up to $60 per student in additional funding.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said the materials are based on extensive cognitive science research and will help improve students' reading and math scores. In 2019, less than half of students met grade-level standards for reading, and that percentage has declined since the pandemic , based on state standardized test scores.

The new materials have prompted criticism, though. The education news site, The 74 , first reported the redesign on Wednesday and included excerpts of lesson plans with biblical references. They also reported that a New York-based curriculum vendor, Amplify, opted out of bidding on a contract after the state sought to insert biblical materials, but not other religious texts, into the curriculum. The state education agency rejected those claims, saying multiple religions are included throughout the curriculum. Because of Texas' size, textbooks that are developed for its schools are often used in other states.

On Thursday, Morath told The Texas Tribune that religious materials are a "small piece of the content pie." His office could not quantify what percentage of each grade's textbook would be devoted to biblical references. The Tribune has not reviewed all materials, which include the state-designed textbooks as well as proposals from 25 different vendors.

But an initial review of the proposed state textbooks shows that religious materials feature prominently, with texts sourced from the Bible as the most heavily used.

"It's a tiny fraction of the overall fraction - it's just where it makes sense to do that," Morath said. "It's a very small but appropriate fraction."

The textbooks mark a shift toward a "classical, broad-based liberal arts education," from a more skills-based curriculum, Morath said.

"You're trying to build vocabulary, build background knowledge so that when kids are reading Steinbeck in high school, they get the references," Morath said.

The instructional materials were unveiled amid a broader movement by Republicans to further infuse conservative Christianity into public life. At last week's Texas GOP convention - which was replete with calls for "spiritual warfare" against their political opponents - delegates voted on a new platform that calls on lawmakers and the SBOE to "require instruction on the Bible, servant leadership and Christian self-governance."

Throughout the three-day convention, Republican leaders and attendees frequently claimed that Democrats sought to indoctrinate schoolchildren as part of a war on Christianity . SBOE Chair Aaron Kinsey, of Midland, echoed those claims in a speech to delegates, promising to use his position to advance Republican beliefs and oppose Critical Race Theory, "diversity, equity and inclusion" initiatives or "whatever acronym the left comes up with next."

"You have a chairman," Kinsey said, "who will fight for these three-letter words: G-O-D, G-O-P, and U-S-A."

Mark Chancey, a Southern Methodist University religious studies professor who focuses on movements to put the Bible in public schools, said there is "nothing inherently inappropriate" with teaching the Bible or other religious texts, so long as it's done neutrally. But he's concerned by some of the proposed curriculum, including lessons that he said seem to treat biblical stories as "straightforward historical accounts."

"It serves a civic good for students to be taught about religion," he said. "But that's different from giving students religious instruction. The question is going to be whether these materials teach about religion, or whether they cross the line into giving religious instruction."

For example: The curriculum promotes lessons on Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" alongside the Gospel of Matthew, which centers on Jesus' crucifixion and its atonement for human sin. "These are very strong, central claims of Christian theology," Chancey said. "And students will have questions about that. How are teachers supposed to respond to those questions?"

It's not unforeseeable, he said, for those conversations to lead to even thornier areas that are still divisive even among Christians.

If the state education board approves the materials in November, schools will not be required to use them. But a measure approved by lawmakers last year will offer more money to public school districts that do choose to adopt any of the materials.

Some of that content includes a first-grade lesson stating the Liberty Bell "reminded [ the Founding Fathers ] of how God helped free the Hebrew people in the Bible" as well as a fifth-grade poetry lesson on "A Psalm of David," described as "one of the most popular poems ever written."

Other religions are also included. A second-grade lesson highlights the Jewish celebration of Purim. A fourth-grade poetry unit includes Kshemendra, a poet from India who "studied Buddhism and Hinduism."

Some State Board of Education members told the Tribune they had not yet read through the materials and would decide whether or not to approve the content based on standards they've already established.

Keven Ellis , a Republican state school board member who lives in Lufkin, said the role of the board is to make sure the materials are appropriate for each grade level and that they align with the state's curriculum standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.

"My focus will remain on approving instructional materials that improve outcomes in phonics, language arts, and math," Ellis said.

State curriculum guidelines spell out that "the instructional material should recognize and not contradict that parents have the right to 'direct the moral and religious training' of their children and the duty to support their children's education.'" Ellis did not respond to inquiries about the religious material.

Staci Childs , a Houston Democrat who sits on the SBOE, said she believes it's okay to include Biblical references as long as other religions are also introduced to students.

"As a Christian, I think it is okay [ to teach the Bible ] as long as you're normalizing the introduction of all religions and all types of mythologies so students have a varied and robust and true depiction of the materials in the text of our past," Childs said. "To only infuse Bible verses and teachings of the Bible is completely insensitive to all the different types of students we have in Texas and a disrespect to the faiths they may acknowledge."

Last year, the state directed the TEA to create its own textbooks when the Legislature passed House Bill 1605 . Lawmakers said the purpose of the policy was to give teachers access to high-quality instructional materials.

A teacher vacancy task force that had convened in 2022 found that teachers spend significant time creating and looking for lesson plans. Lawmakers said the new state textbooks will save teachers time.

In an op-ed published in the Dallas Morning News this week, state Rep. Brad Buckley , R-Killeen, and state Sen. Brandon Creighton , R-Conroe, said the new materials "will provide much-needed relief to teachers by eliminating the need to spend dozens of hours outside of the classroom developing curriculum."

Morath said the materials are designed for Texas students, with references to the state's geography and industries, as well as Texas-based historical figures like Clara Driscoll, known for her historic preservation work rescuing the Alamo from destruction, decades after the pivotal battle at the former Catholic mission in San Antonio.

"We've tried to make it as tightly based on the needs of Texas students as possible," Morath said.

Soon after the materials were released on Wednesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement saying he supported the curriculum.

"The materials will also allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution," Abbott said in a statement.

When asked directly if Abbott had any role in developing the new content, Morath answered: "I'm not sure any. This was entirely a project of TEA." Morath added that the governor is keenly attentive to the subject of public education.

"The governor has been very interested in getting back to fundamentals of education for a long time," Morath said, "and so this is some of the lens that we think about, but he's not alone in that perspective."

Before HB 1605's passage, the Texas Education Agency was creating new instructional materials in order to help improve students' reading and math scores. Those materials were piloted in about 400 districts, a TEA spokesperson said. Some had full-scale, district-wide implementation while others tested the materials in a few grade levels.

Morath cited pilot studies in districts like Temple and Lubbock, where students' reading scores increased by as much as 16 points after adopting the newer reading and language arts program.

About 300 people, most of whom are educators, are reviewing all of the instructional materials and will present their feedback to the State Board of Education. TEA did not provide a list of the reviewers but said they were selected by the SBOE.

Members of the public can also weigh in and offer feedback on the materials until August 16 and from there, the materials will go before the state board in November for final approval. If approved, the materials will immediately be available for download.

Chancey, the Southern Methodist University religion professor, said teaching the Bible in any public setting immediately prompts a variety of complicated questions. First among them: Which of the many Bible translations should be used? "The choice of translation brought into the public school has at times proven controversial," he said.

Meanwhile, Chancey said, the proposed instructions on religious liberty in the original colonies seem to be a "tremendous oversimplification," failing to note the persecution faced by other religious groups, namely Quakers and early Baptists. Omitting that, he said, misses the real lesson to be learned from studying America's early settlers: "The dangers of religious favoritism."

The proposed state textbook calls for excerpts of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" to be paired with the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, whose defiance of the Babylonian leader Nebuchadnezzar is cited by King as an example of civil disobedience. And yet, the proposed curriculum does not appear to include any excerpts on the intended audience or a core theme of King's letter: White moderates and clergy, whom King chastised for critiquing his civil disobedience while remaining "silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows."

Morath said the excerpt chosen is the one that would be appropriate for a fifth grader, based on their vocabulary and knowledge level.

"We would expect students to return to it in deeper and deeper ways," Morath said. "You have to give him bits of knowledge that build on prior bits of knowledge, and you're steadily giving them more and more and more exposure."

This instructional redesign for public schools comes amid an ongoing embrace on the right of Christian nationalism, which claims that the United States founding was ordained by God, and that its laws and institutions should thus favor their conservative, Christian views. Recent polling from the Public Religion Research Institute found that more than half of Republicans adhere to or sympathize with pillars of Christian nationalism, including beliefs that the U.S. should be a strictly Christian nation. Of those respondents, PRRI found, roughly half supported having an authoritarian leader who maintains Christian dominance in society.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans - and engages with them - about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.

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