Journal of International Social Studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 1-2 Corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 1 From the Editor: Congratulations to Frans H. Doppen and Laura F. Wentworth from Ohio University who won the NCSS International Assembly Best Paper Award. Their paper The Belize Project: A Host School Perspective will be published in in the next issue of Journal of International Social Studies. This volume includes articles and an essay that will be interesting to scholars and social studies teachers. Developing Globally Competent Teacher Candidates Through Cross-Cultural Experiential Learning is a study by Michael A. Kopish, Bahman Shahri, and Mohamed Amira from Ohio University. The authors analyzed data from Asia Society’s Global Competencies survey, critical reflection journals, course assignments, and field notes of 124 undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in two teacher preparation courses. This study explores whether teacher candidates develop global competencies as a result of participation in courses that employ the GCE framework to engage candidates in multiple cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities. Findings demonstrate the efficacy of collaborative efforts to create transformative global experiences toward the development of global competencies among teacher candidates. Powerful social studies teaching and learning incorporate lessons that teach students to consider moral dimensions of controversial social issues. Teachers should move beyond lower-order questions, and pay more attention to normative and evaluative elements. The article Exploring Controversial Issues in Elementary Social Studies presented in this issue by Danielle Linowes from Fairfield Central Elementary School, Thomas Misco from Miami University, Li-Ching Ho from University of Wisconsin, and Megan Stahlsmith from InterExchange explores the underlying elements of justice within controversial issue. Using an example of a third-grade classroom, the authors demonstrate the way in which teachers might explore procedural justice within an elementary classroom. Despite a number of obstacles, the authors conclude, the justice approach to the teaching of controversial issues in elementary schools, provides a useful tool to foster informed and reasoned decision making in students. The article includes a lesson plan and examples of hand-outs. Teaching controversial issues is also explored in the article entitled Teacher as Stranger: “Releasing” Imagination for Teaching Controversial Public Issues by Yu-Han Hung from University of Houston Downtown. The study investigates how six social studies teachers in Taiwan make curricular decisions about teaching controversial issues and create possibilities for their students to imaginatively engage with such issues. The author uses Maxine Green’s concept mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ Journal of International Social Studies, v. 9, n. 2, 2019, pp. 1-2 Corresponding author: rapoport@purdue.edu ©2012/2018 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 2 “teacher as stranger” to demonstrate how teachers can create alternative views of controversial public issues and release the possibility of imaginative engagement. Autonomy and individual freedom are the key values in a liberal democracy. In diverse societies, however, these principles may lead social or ethnic groups to social and physical segregation and fewer connections and relations between them. Using Canada as a case study, Catherine Broom from the University of British Columbia reviews some issues associated with increasing social and ethnic diversity. In her article Rethinking Belonging in Western Nations: Theorizing the Public Commons as a Shared Pluralistic Community, the author addresses the concept of public commons and argues that we need to rethink how we understand diversity within a communitarian conception of community. The questions of multiculturalism and citizenship education is also raised in the article Multicultural Education Based in the Local Wisdom of Indonesia for Elementary Schools in the 21st Century by Ady Ferdian Noor and Sugito from Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia. The authors argue that multicultural education based on local knowledge and wisdom can serve as a viable option for citizenship education in communities and nations suffering from internal ethnic, cultural, or social conflicts. Local wisdom is a part of human capital and should be integrated in curricula to educate tolerant citizens of the 21st century. Immigration has become one of the most contentious and divisive issues in the United States and around the world. Considering current political environment, it is not surprising why social studies teachers are looking for advice how to teach about immigration. The essay Reframing Immigration as an Issue of Freedom Within the U.S. Classroom by William McCorkle from College of Charleston provides an new look at one of the dimensions of immigration arguing that the idea of freedom is the most transformative framework for a more inclusive immigration system. The author explores the theoretical basis for reframing immigration as an issue of freedom and provides suggestions for how teachers can introduce this perspective to their students. I would like to thank all authors and reviewers who contributed to this issue of JISS and wish all our readers happy holidays and successful new semester. Anatoli Rapoport Editor mailto:rapoport@purdue.edu http://www.iajiss.org/