1 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 ISSN #2331-6845 Girls and boys for others: Creating relevance and critical inquiry for English learners By Dr. Annmarie Patricia Jackson Department of Elementary and Special Education University of North Georgia annmarie.jackson@ung.edu The paper describes a critical multiculturalist approach the author used while working as a reading support teacher in a third-grade classroom of English language learners. The author shares a step-by-step timeline she used to adopt a social justice agenda in the classroom, while teaching a unit. Through integration of reading and social studies content objectives, the author was able to meet students' reading needs, as well as foster critical thinking through questioning, through art, through discussion, and through writing about matters that were relevant to the students' own lives, their families' lives and the community, while teaching the social studies content. Students were able to identify important problems, determine relevant themes within and across texts, as well as decide on potential solutions. Ultimately, the critical approach helped students learn that they can be agents of change in their own communities, in and out of school. Keywords: critical multicultural education, English language learners, social justice education, integrated literacy, cultural relevant teaching The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which was adopted in the state of Georgia in 2010, still generate apprehension and a great deal of tension for some educators. Therefore, the goal of this article is two-fold: (1) to provide meaningful lessons and strategies for literacy instruction integrated with social studies and a social mailto:annmarie.jackson@ung.edu 2 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 justice emphasis to support K-5 English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers or teachers working with English learners (ELs); and (2) to serve as an example for teacher educators in preparing their teacher learners to develop literacy- based curricula, through the integration of social justice in the social studies content area. The first part of the article addresses social justice education and some of the challenges teachers face in this era of mandatory high stakes tests. The remaining sections illustrate integrated literacy and social studies episodes and activities from lessons with a social justice theme in a grade three ESOL class. In my lessons, I also discuss backward design and identify specific strategies which may be used to incorporate social justice in the curriculum. The final section addresses what teacher educators can do to bring a social justice platform to life in their classrooms. Today, many teachers are still heavily utilizing the model of 19th century transmission style teacher centered, whole class teaching (Mehan, 1979; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988: Wells and Arauz, 2006). This enduring way of teaching serves to minimize students’ expression and dialogic engagement in the classroom and ultimately “keep kids under control” both physically and mentally. Moreover, teacher-centered teaching styles are increasingly found in low income, historically marginalized and minority students’ classrooms, where teaching to the test prevails and critical thinking is undermined and underdeveloped. For example, Latino and other minority students are often given work sheets and not challenged with higher level thinking activities. Students’ linguistic and cultural resources are underutilized or simply not valued in the K-12 classroom (Gonzalez, Moll and Amanti, 2005; Mantegna, 2013). Against this 3 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 backdrop, there is an urgent need for 21st century educators to be critical multiculturalists, who generate analytic thinking in the classroom. The development of critical multiculturalist educators must begin in the teacher education classroom with an integrated approach to social justice and focused inquiry into the prevailing inequities that exist in our schools and communities (Gay, ND; Sleeter & Soriano, 2012). Multiculturalism is often oversimplified by educators (Banks 1993, Nieto, 1994). For some, multiculturalism is superficial and consists of merely incorporating the heritage of minority students in school celebrations. However, Nieto (1994) challenges teachers to move away from mere tolerance of students’ cultures and be more accepting and respecting of them. Nieto (1994) also recommends that students work together, even amidst conflicts, to achieve solidarity and learn from each other’s cultures. While multiculturalism aims to empower students, critical multiculturalism goes beyond this and requires deeper commitments. Nieto (1999) argues that though multiculturalism is inclusive of students’ culture in instruction, it does not equate to shaping analytic thinkers. Critical multiculturalism is a transformative approach, which develops students’ interests and challenges hegemonic knowledge (Nieto, 1999) so that people may be empowered to become agents of change for their own lives. In other words, critical multiculturalism offers new directions in multicultural education (Ladson- Billings, 2003). Furthermore, it poses alternative perspectives of the reality in people’s lives and allows for schools to provide opportunities for highlighting social injustices (Ladson-Billings, 1995). 4 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Esposito and Swain (2009) suggest that teaching for social justice includes building critical thinking skills, thereby empowering students not just for academic success, but helping them see how they are situated in society relative to others. Commitment to social justice also entails commitment to others. Arrupe (1973) coined the phrase, “men and women for others”, as a way of encouraging people to commit to serving others, thus becoming agents of change. To that end, teaching for justice constitutes educating for change (Arrupe, 1973). With that mindset, I extend that phrase to “girls and boys for others” and not just the spiritual dimension of this, but also the directive to “take action” for others for the good of humankind. Social justice education helps to shape students to be mindful of sociopolitical forces, to develop a sense of agency, and ultimately to become socially and culturally responsible citizens (Gutstein, 2003). I argue that social justice education extends beyond gathering of knowledge to include lessons that are relevant to students’ lives. Furthermore, it comprises teachers having the courage to teach outside the box, beyond the mandated curriculum in an effort to prepare citizens with agency (Freire, 1970). Social justice education ensures that students have a voice and the classroom structures, topics, and themes that teachers enact will enable those voices to be heard. As such, critical multiculturalist educators must be prepared to teach students to question why things are the way they are and to begin posing their own solutions (Gutstein, 2003). In so doing, students become agents of change and are inspired to “take action.” Needless to say, with all the state testing mandates, even the most devoted and committed teachers are often overwhelmed and feel challenged with finding ways to prepare all students to be critical multiculturalists. For many teachers, there is added 5 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 pressure to decipher the correct balance between test prep and content instruction (Migliacci & Stoops Verplaetse, 2008). The Common Core State Standards have added increased challenges at our school. For one, some of the teachers believe that the standards do not provide much flexibility or room for creativity in lesson planning. There is ambiguity in how to design lessons that will accomplish the objectives of the standards. Teachers also feel that the standards lack clear outlines and sufficient ideas on how to accommodate ELs. For teachers wanting to provide a critical lens and build inquiry within the classroom, they face limits in choosing between teaching for the test or in helping to develop analytic thinkers. Moreover, building critical thinkers includes directing students’ attention to issues of inequities within society, in their communities, and in their families, thereby incorporating an understanding of social justice. However, building critical thinkers who are socially responsible takes time (Esposito & Swain, 2009). Dover (2013) alludes to the lack of time and room to integrate a social justice platform within the classroom, while up against a mandated curriculum. In the paragraphs below, I introduce the school context, followed by strategies and approaches that I used to accomplish the integration of social justice in my social studies lessons. The setting of the school described here is a public elementary school in a suburban county in the Greater Atlanta area with 90% of the students being English learners. The students were born in America to immigrant parents, mostly from Vietnam and South America. English is not the primary language spoken at home. A small percentage of the ELs are new arrivals, who have immigrated to the U.S. within the last one to three years. Another five percent of the students are African American students. 6 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Up to 90% of the students receive free or reduced lunch. English learner students, as well as mainstream English-speaking students are taught together in an immersion setting. That is, ELs receive general instruction within mainstream classrooms. Students typically receive instruction in reading, language arts, writing, social studies, math, and science. Most ELs receive daily instructional help from ESOL teachers. The instructional framework is primarily a push-in model, where ESOL teachers work with students in small groups within their mainstream classrooms. Typically, ESOL teachers provide one to two periods of instructional support for EL students depending on their level of English proficiency and need for vocabulary and language support. Students sometimes receive reading support from reading specialists to further accelerate their reading levels. Students are placed in classes with their age appropriate peers regardless of their academic abilities. Students are required to take all state standardized assessments if they have been in the country for at least ten months (Migliacci & Stoops Verplaetse, 2008). All students are expected to meet the grade level curricular requirements as laid out by the county and state for promotion to the next grade level. In an effort to prepare students for the state assessments, the county administers a benchmark assessment every quarter or nine weeks throughout the school year. All students, including ELs, are expected to complete these assessments. The exemplars discussed in this article were written by nine third-grade students, all Latino/a, except for one African American. The Latino/a students all received at least one period of ESOL service daily. Two of the Latino/a students also received daily special education service in speech and language. The students’ reading levels ranged from beginning of first to second grade level at the start of the school year. During the 7 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 literacy block, the students received small group guided reading instruction. The social studies unit, entitled People who Made a Difference, was integrated with a literacy standard unit goal. I served as the instructor for this class between 2013 and 2014. To demonstrate the integration of social justice in the curriculum for teaching ELs, I suggest the following lesson planning ideas below. As each of these ideas are developed, exemplars from the social studies unit are cited to corroborate them, with a play by play timeline: • Utilize a backward design model for unit and lesson planning • Introduce students to critical thinking through questioning and art integration • Teach students how to think critically about things in their own lives, by making content relevant to their families and society at large • Encourage students to be agents of change. • Teacher education: Prepare teachers to be social justice educators Utilize a Backward Design Model for Unit and Lesson Planning McTighe and Wiggins (2004), in explaining how to move from the standards to the desired curricular outcomes, describe the backward design process. Backward design is an approach that starts with identifying the end curricular goal in mind, before starting a unit. Teachers consider the final assessments of students’ understanding of a unit and identify the appropriate lesson pace to achieve the goals before commencement of a unit. To implement the backward design, I recommend that teachers examine the standards and identify the essential objectives or goals students 8 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 should know by the completion of the unit. The following is a description of this first step implemented in an integrated literacy and social studies instructional unit with a focus on social justice. In the unit entitled, People Who Made a Difference, I first identified the goal in the social studies state standards, which was to determine who key people were at specific times in history, and to tell how they made a difference in the U.S. Second, to fulfill the literacy goals, students needed to identify common themes that connected the lives of the key people. Last, in an effort to link new learning to students’ lives, as well as to relate to larger social issues in society, the students were challenged to brainstorm potential solutions for unfair practices they identified within their families or in society. In considering the evidence for students’ understandings, several performance assessments were built in place, before the start of the unit. For instance, to meet the literacy standard, (a) the students were required to identify potential themes and cite evidences from their texts using graphic organizers. Stoops Verplaetse (2008) discusses the importance of providing ample opportunities for ELs to interact orally and in writing to foster language acquisition and academic achievement. Students (b) responded to critical questions by elaborating and citing reasons during discussions and writing. As students gave their opinions and reasons, it was necessary to look closely at their language to see the kinds of connections they were making between and across texts, as well as to determine the language patterns they were using to support their answers. Sentence starters on the graphic organizers were instrumental in scaffolding the ELs’ writing by providing the necessary language to help students frame their thoughts. (c) Students also compared key historical people by citing similarities and 9 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 differences in the problems occurring during particular historical time periods. Students created illustrations and drawings to reflect their understanding about the content as they compared features. (d) Students established how each historical figure set out to solve problems by filling out a Compare/Contrast organizer. Graphic organizers are critical tools for helping ELs negotiate difficult academic content (Diaz-Rico, 2008), as well as for helping them to convey their understanding of text (Stoops Verplaetse, 2008). The variety of ways to present information in graphic organizers builds interest in learning (Graves & Fitzgerald, 2003). In closing out the unit, the (e) Hands project was used as a tool to assess the critical thinking students used to identify a social issue in their family or community through discussions, drawing, and writing. Further details follow below. Teaching and planning for social justice requires time (Gutstein, 2003). Teachers are not only planning for the essential and mandatory curriculum, but also are providing opportunities for students to think critically beyond the texts. Therefore, I suggest combining the literacy and social studies standards and objectives to create an integrated unit. For instance, the Standard 9 for reading and writing in the CCSS requires that students: “Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the author takes” (CCSS.ELA-Literacy R.9). The 2014 Georgia third grade social studies standard SS3H2, stated that ‘the student will discuss the lives of Americans who expanded people’s rights and freedoms in a democracy’. As a result, the goal for this unit was for students to compare the themes or common topics across texts of important American figures who made a difference in people’s lives. The rationale to integrate the content 10 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 areas was multifaceted. For one, it accommodated the challenge of meeting the content area standards, as well as the literacy goals (Holloway, 2002). Further, by integrating content area subjects with reading, it fostered stronger readers with expanded content knowledge (Holloway, 2002). Therefore, it was necessary to identify essential questions that served the social studies goals, as well as met the literacy standards for the People Who Made a Difference unit. Here are some of the essential questions for social studies that were integrated with the literacy standards: Who was Susan B. Anthony? How did she make a difference? What were her character traits? What obstacles did Susan B. Anthony face? How are Susan B. Anthony and Cesar Chavez alike? How did those traits help her make a difference in the U.S.? During the first nine weeks or quarter of the school year, I began teaching students specific reading skills, during the literacy block. For example, I taught students the reading skill of identifying and determining themes. To start, I introduced what the concept was, cited examples, showed students examples and had them identify themes within short stories or passages. Next, I taught students how to compare and contrast objects, settings, ideas, concepts and people. Then, I ensured students understood what it means to compare and contrast, to specify key words authors use, and helped them identify possible graphic organizers that are useful for comparing and contrasting. I realized it was important to teach students how to determine the character traits of individuals based on evidence. It was equally essential to teach them how to express their opinions with supporting evidences. Throughout the unit, I modeled each expectation for students. 11 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 It was vital for me to be intentional about the integration of the social studies and literacy objectives. Therefore, in mapping out the framework for the People Who Made a Difference unit, I incorporated essential questions that served dual purposes. One goal was to gain facts about who the historical people were, including Susan B. Anthony, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, Fredrick Douglas, and Mary Bethune, as laid out by the 3rd grade social studies standards, at the time. For the second nine weeks or quarter, students were retaught the reading skills using leveled books or online texts on the historical figures, during small group guided reading block. During week one of the second quarter, I began teaching students how to identify character traits for historical people by using character maps. In week two, I taught students possible themes or messages within each text, based on the historical people’s lives and their causes. For instance, after reading a Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) text, I modeled how to cite evidences and page numbers based on his actions. Also, I discussed with students how to describe Franklin Roosevelt’s character, based on the evidences I had collected. I shared why I gave those descriptions, page numbers, and supporting evidences. In the People Who Made a Difference unit, the students concluded FDR was a caring person. Thus, the theme of caring was elicited. As students were strengthening their reading abilities by learning specific reading skills and the theme of caring, they were also learning the social studies content (Holloway, 2002). During week three, students compared two of the historical figures, Susan B. Anthony and Franklin D. Roosevelt, to determine commonalities and differences, as well as to identify important causes. Students provided facts about each of the two historical figures. See graphic 12 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 organizer, Comparing historical people below in Figure 1 and Appendix. The sample shown here is of a student, named Luis. It is evident, Luis was able to identify who the key people were, where they were located, and also find the existing problems and solutions across two texts. Figure 1. Comparing historical people, in texts (graphic organizer) Introduce Students to Critical Thinking Through Art Integration and Questioning In an effort to provide differentiation, I invited the ELs who were just learning the vocabulary or who had language challenges, to draw pictures or comic strips to illustrate 13 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 their understanding of the social context during the time of history. Migliacci and Stoops Verplaetse (2008) recommend finding varied and creative ways for ELs to demonstrate their knowledge base of content standards. Drawing and illustrations are language mediums that can be used as scaffold or support for English learners’ language acquisition. For example, while working with the third graders on the unit, Luis used a graphic organizer to draw how life was before things changed, then drew pictures of difficulties the people faced, followed by things the people wanted to change, then outlined the outcome (See Figure. 2). Figure 2. Students’ art work of Then and Now 14 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Other students included captions and speech bubbles to further express their ideas and learning. During discussions, students explained their rationale behind the images and shared their work with the group. I was purposeful about incorporating strategies that fostered deep and analytic thinking. Questioning is one approach that I used to prompt and generate students’ critical thinking skills. Questioning is a beneficial tool which can bridge communication for English learners (Brown, 2007). By using simple how and why questions during reading, students can become more analytic readers. Hedgcock and Ferris (2009) suggest students engage in a dialogue with the author, by asking questions about the text during reading. They also recommend students respond by agreeing or disagreeing to ideas, based on personal experiences or their own views. During the fourth week, the goal for building critical thinking was gradually developed in the unit. For example, before the actual reading of the Susan B. Anthony text during the guided reading block, it was necessary to check students’ background knowledge to ascertain what students knew about how different racial groups and genders lived during that time. It was also essential to elicit responses about why things were the way they were, and how people’s lives were impacted by inequities. Midway through the week, students read a Mary McLeod biography as part of the unit. I asked students thought provoking questions, about what life was like during McLeod’s time. Luis offered the first response, followed by other students: 15 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 T: Who had the better school? Why? Luis: Whites. They had desks, Blacks didn’t have anything. They used other things to write. Whites have a lot of things in school, but not blacks. T: What would life be like for blacks, if Mary McLeod did not make a school? S2: They wouldn’t have nothing to learn about. They wouldn’t have good jobs, houses, and money. S3: If she didn’t build school, and people didn’t change their minds, then they wouldn’t have school for Black children. S4: It wouldn’t be fair for Blacks. She treated them good. T: Do you think all people are treated fairly? All students said no. By the end of the week, students were engaged in discussions and were providing answers about critical issues relating to equity during the historical time. It was necessary to have students talk about what they were noticing, using the sentence starters they were taught earlier in the quarter. By way of formative assessment, it was important to listen closely to students’ responses during the discussions. This provided the opportunity to assess student learning and clear up any misunderstandings students had at the time. In an effort to create critical thinkers, it was also important to engage students in thought provoking questions about issues of equity (Gutstein, 2003). During week five, the issues of equity arising from the social studies texts were used to stimulate critical 16 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 questions and discussion. For instance, students were asked to offer their opinions about students being forced to speak only English in school (See Figure 3). They first had to discuss in a small group and then write their views on sticky notes, stating whether they agreed or not and explaining why. The rationale for including oral and written discourse was to provide different modes of learning, which is important for ELs. Figure 3. Students’ opinions about speaking only English in school 17 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 In week six, after learning about Susan B. Anthony and Cesar Chavez, and how they fought for people’s rights and convinced people to vote, students, wrote their thoughts about the question below. See Figure 4 for sample student responses. Do you think everyone should be allowed to vote? Why or why not? Figure 4. Several students’ opinions about voting Students were immensely opinionated and passionate about their views. Luis wrote that “yes, I think everyone should be allowed to vote. I think so because everyone should have the right to vote…” Another student wrote, “Yes, I think everyone should be allowed to vote. I think so because we would not have a leader, if we did not vote. Also, if we did not vote, we would not have laws”. Students were taught from the beginning of the year to use words from the question, to frame their answers. They were also instructed how to use the sentence starter, “I think so because”, to frame their opinions 18 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 on what they think about a topic. Providing ELs with scaffolds in writing builds confidence until they are able to write independently. Scaffolding their language also helps in their language development. Make Content Relevant to Students’ Families and Community Delpit (2006) proposes that while it is critical to teach academic skills, educators need to do more than just that. To further develop students’ critical abilities, it is important to invite them to make connection of learning to their own lives. Researchers (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Murray, 2010) suggest that teachers should be respecting of students’ culture and be intentional in incorporating students’ culture in their instruction. To that end, student diversity can be a vital resource for language development, as well as a means for providing cultural learning in the classroom (Murphy & Byrd, 2001). However, creating relevance in the curriculum goes beyond merely providing resources and textbooks and tolerating students’ culture (Nieto, 1994). It includes showing students how to identify issues of disparity within their families’ lives or in their communities. As such, talking to students about things they perceive to be unfair in their families’ lives, in their communities, or with what they see on T.V. is very important. For instance, ask, are there any unfair things happening with your family members? Is there anything being done about the issue? How does your family member feel about the unfair issues? What would they want change? Have you seen anything unfair in the news? It is important to pay close attention to the types of responses students are giving and be intentional about stimulating more critical thinking. The third graders in this class each shared in discussion and in writing about issues of inequities. For example, Luis wrote how unfair it was that children were faced 19 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 with other people’s cigarette smoke and how harmful it is. As a follow up, I asked Luis how he felt about the smoking that was going on around him. He discussed how smoking could make people sick. Another student wrote how her aunt was often owed money by her boss, despite already receiving very low pay. Probably one of the most surprising responses was from a student who wrote about how some big countries enter other countries, create wars, and then force people in those countries to obey them or face being killed. See Figure 5. Giving ELs the opportunity to talk first and then write strengthens their vocabulary and listening skills, builds awareness about issues around them, and creates critical writers. Students are also able to extend their learning, in this case, about issues of fairness from the social studies unit and connect their learning to issues in their own lives and in society. Figure 5. Social problems 20 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Encourage Students to be Agents of Change It is important to prompt students to brainstorm solutions for inequities. By encouraging students to share what and how they think things could be changed, can help create agents of change. Delpit (2006) points out that children are rarely given the opportunity to tackle serious moral issues in society or seldom trained to think of themselves as agents of change. She praised the awesome responsibility teachers hold in shaping students to become agents of change. However, creating agents of change does not happen overnight, but takes time. Therefore, teachers need to be intentional and purposeful in directing students to consider issues that are unfair and that serve to exploit groups of people. As a culminating activity and whole class assessment for the unit, students were required to offer their own solutions to the social problems they cited in their families’ lives or in society. The third grade students drew their hands as a symbol of what they would do to deal with the inequities they described. They then wrote a few sentences explaining how things could be changed. For instance, Luis wrote: “I think that the people have to stop the smoking because we will get sick and die. I think the governor should make a law. The law should say, people should not smoke around children. Also, if we see people smoke tell them to stop. Friend should tell friends to stop smoking”. Students shared their hand project with the rest of the group by stating how they proposed to deal with the inequities. See Figures 6. and Figure 7. 21 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Figure 6. Drawing hands as change agents 22 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Figure 7. Student’s solution for drugs in the world Teacher Education: Preparing Teachers for Social Justice Education When we consider the integration of social justice in our classes with a goal of “girls and boys for others” we need to bear in mind that we are talking about the context of 21st century knowledge-based economies and the real need for nontraditional models of education (Livingston, 2012). The content area of Social Studies is rich with possibilities of what non-traditional and integrated social justice classrooms and syllabi could accomplish. In the earlier sections, I enumerate how one teacher set out to achieve this goal. This article can serve as one example as we forge ahead, committed to critical multiculturalism and envisioning a future bright with possibilities. The continuing education of pre-service and in-service teacher learners must be grounded in critical creative curricula development. This means that teacher learners need to be equipped to develop long term (at least a half to a full semester) theme- based lessons that integrate literature, literacy, and social studies while incorporating 23 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 social justice perspectives and habits. I used a theme of People Who Made a Difference, based on the teaching topic of civil rights and equality. My children participated in a Hands Project, citing what they would do to improve life in the family, the community, and in the world, which is the action element of critical multiculturalism. In teaching their classes, teacher educators need to model backward design with teacher learners. Teacher learners can work together in grade level groups to put all the components of social justice, literacy, language, literature, and social studies content, goals and objectives together into a coherent syllabus. Starting with the end in mind, teachers can then adopt a theme, select a major culminating task or event, and then work backwards to plan the content, language, skills and strategies they will use to reach the end standards, objectives, and goals. All of this must be set in a critical curricula context, where historical representations of knowledge are interrogated from the sociocultural perspectives of race, class, gender, abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Boyd et al., 2006; Luke, Woods and Weir, 2013). Critical pedagogy and multiculturalists are about social justice in action. Critical pedagogues critique and contest the social forces that serve to replicate and reproduce social structures in society for the maintenance of the status quo. Many of these reproduction forces and structures are inherent in our curriculum and accomplish the continuing marginalization of various groups (King, 2005). Therefore, teacher educators need to ensure that they are modelling critical pedagogy in action and explicitly teaching about the need for critical approaches to teaching (Books, 2006; Wink, 2010). Furthermore, teacher educators need to engage in enquiry oriented ethnographic approaches to teaching, where teacher learners study others’ knowledge systems and 24 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 cultural resources in sites outside of the university classroom and in traditional PK-12 classroom settings. Such sites may include, but are not limited to, living in other countries, study abroad programs, apartment complexes, community centers, churches and the homes of refugee and immigrant families (Gonzalez, Moll and Amanti, 2005; Tinker Sachs et al., 2008). Integrating social justice into 21st century teaching with multimodalities and multi- literacies approaches really requires a commitment to energy in teaching. This energy is enhanced and sustained when like-minded teachers and teacher educators work together in collaborative planning for curriculum development, research, and professional development. Integrated approaches are challenging to enact and only through working together can action take place. Teacher educators who work together with one another in the academy and with teachers in K-12 schools, through their research and professional development activities, help to promote sustained action for social justice. Multiculturalism and internationalism are necessary perspectives and dispositions for today’s educators. Again, teacher educators need to be living and enacting these behaviors and attitudes in their classrooms by the design of their teaching activities and assignments and by the amount of attention they devote to these orientations. Paying lip service and listing these as goals are inadequate without action. Conclusion In this article, I have sought to empower our ELs with voice and action in the classroom through the integration of social justice, language, and literacy within the content area of social studies. I believe that empowering ELs is challenging work that 25 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 requires collaborative commitment, passion, and energy from both university teacher educators and K-12 teachers. We must break the barriers that divide us and together create the kind of educational spaces that we require in today’s world. 26 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 References Arrupe, P. Fr. (1973). Men and women for others. Speech given to Jesuit high school alumni. Downloaded 8/16/2014: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/68311/men- for-others--the-40th-year-of-a-speech-that-challenged-jesuits-and-the-world Banks, J. A. (1993). Multicultural education: Development, dimensions and challenges. The Phi Delta Kappan, 75(1), 22- 28. Books, S. (Ed.). (3rd ed. 2006). 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Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. 31 GATESOL in Action, Fall 2018 Appendix Name: _____________________ Date: ____________ Texts Comparison: Nonfiction (Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic). Title of Text/ Who (names) Where/When (setting) What were the problem during this time? How did people try to solve the problem? What was the outcome? What changed? How are the texts alike? How are the texts different? Explain. Remember: Talk about the details in the texts. Details include names, dates, places, events, text features, word choice, and author’s style. o They are alike because ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ o They are different because ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Jackson, A. P. (2014). Comparing historical people in texts, (graphic organizer). Girls and boys for others: Creating relevance and critical inquiry for English learners By Dr. Annmarie Patricia Jackson Department of Elementary and Special Education University of North Georgia annmarie.jackson@ung.edu