Journal of International Social Studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 Corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 161 Book Review Maguth, B. M., & Wu, G. (Eds.). (2020). Inquiry-based global learning in the K-12 social studies classroom. Routledge. Christian D. Pirlet University of South Dakota Inquiry-Based Global Learning in the K-12 Social Studies Classroom provides detailed lesson plans for K-12 social studies teachers to expand global education in their curriculum. The editors compiled a wide breadth of source material including the Tanzanian education system, the Nanjing safety zone of World War II, the role of human rights in free market international trade, the global stance on gay rights, international differences in Cold War perspectives, and the ability to correct environmental harms. In addition to providing these diverse perspectives, the editors outlined each lesson using the National Council for the Social Studies’ (NCSS) College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. The depth of each lesson, when coupled with this inquiry-to-action model, can provide K-12 teachers with a multitude of approachable options to integrate research-based materials into their classrooms. Since its beginning in the 1970s, global education has gained renewed attention among teachers in the United States. However, most teachers are not prepared to teach social studies through a global lens (Merryfield, 2000; Zong, 2015). In response to this challenge, the editors of the book have provided teachers with “strong standards-based resources and materials to allow them to teach about the world, its people, and issues” (p. 13). The text consists of 19 chapters organized into two primary parts. In the first portion, the editors outline the importance of global education and the inquiry model through the C3 Framework. Maguth and Wu note that the Framework’s units “help in the formulation of compelling and supporting questions, build disciplinary knowledge, help students evaluate evidence, construct arguments, and take informed action” (p. 4). The second part explores 17 lessons from 31 contributors. This portion makes up the brunt of the text, categorizing it into four areas of analysis: investigating global and cross-cultural perspectives, understanding global issues and geographies, making local to global connections, and applying global learning to take informed mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ Journal of International Social Studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 Corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 162 action. Instead of reviewing chapter by chapter, this book review highlights three overarching themes from the book: the uniformed chapter, the abundance of teacher resources, and its overall contributions to current social studies curricula. Each chapter follows a similar and easy-to-use format. Contributing authors identify intended grade levels for each topic and guide readers through the C3 Framework’s inquiry design model. Although this format appears terse at times, all chapters guide the reader through a narrative explanation of the design model. For instance, in the chapter discussing the differences between dragon depictions in China and the West, the authors identify the purpose of the lesson as an inquiry that “leads students through an investigation of the different ways in which dragons are represented in the West and in Chinese history and culture” (p. 29). This text stands as an exemplar of clarity and organization. The text can provide teachers, many of whom lack expertise in each of these areas, with a clear explanation of how to incorporate each of these lessons to create rich learning opportunities. An example of this is each section’s rationale behind its prescribed performance tasks. In the chapter focused on the impact of the use of nuclear weapons during World War II, the authors discuss the desired student expectations, stipulating that “these sources require students to review the number of casualties caused by the bomb, images of Hiroshima immediately upon dropping the bomb, and an article about how people in Hiroshima decided to pursue peace” (p. 146). At face value, this text offers classroom teachers many features that make it a go-to resource. Lessons are aligned to several NCSS standards and represent many content fields. For instance, using a chapter focused on effective opportunities to protect bees and other pollinators, teachers enjoy the freedom to emphasize specific content. While one teacher might highlight the geographic and economic ramifications of not providing protections to pollinators, another teacher might focus on civics and the importance of taking civic action. The ability for teachers to find several vetted sources to use with each lesson makes this text easy to access. These sources range from the websites of national and supranational organizations to activity materials lists and multimedia resources (images, videos, etc.). It seems that, regardless of the specific chapter, users find diversified resources at their fingertips. This text fills several gaps in current social studies curricula. Its diverse scope proves especially useful to those in predominantly homogeneous environments, such as the rural United States. Teachers in those areas often experience easier access to local content such as family histories and regional economic activities. That said, they struggle to incorporate the diverse curriculum. The editors have identified this need and supplied teachers with a diverse array of topics found mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ Journal of International Social Studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 Corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 163 in global education. In addition to rural teachers, this text supplies content for a wide spectrum of grade levels. Many of the text’s topics, such as studying responses to refugees or the applicability of the U.S. Constitution around the globe, are serious in nature and, as a result, focused on secondary grade levels. Other chapters, however, concentrate on lighter topics including societal and cultural connections found within Iraqi cuisine and are intended for elementary grade levels. As with all books of this nature, the difficulty of integration is in the eyes of the reader. Just because the text outlines a topic for one age group, it does not mean that that lesson could not be realigned, or reimagined, to apply to another age group. Furthermore, this text acts as a window to greater opportunities in social education. To summarize, this text provides classroom teachers, pre-service teachers, curriculum specialists, and teacher educators a wide breadth of lessons to incorporate global education into a traditional K-12 environment. Maguth and Wu have created an exemplary guide to global education integration. With an easily adaptable template and a seemingly endless amount of source material, it would not be surprising for this text to be Volume One of many future works. If one is in search of rich and diverse material to enhance social learning, look no further than Inquiry-Based Global Learning in the K-12 Social Studies Classroom. mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/ Journal of International Social Studies, v. 10, n. 2, 2020, pp. 161-164 Corresponding author: christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu ©2012/2023 National Council for Social Studies International Assembly http://www.iajiss.org ISSN: 2327-3585 Page 164 References Maguth, B. M., & Wu, G. (Eds.). (2020). Inquiry-based global learning in the K-12 social studies classroom. Routledge. Merryfield, M. M. (2000). Using electronic technologies to promote equity and cultural diversity in social studies and global education. Theory and Research in Social Education, 28(4), 502-526. Zong, G. (2015). Globalization and teacher education: Teaching about globalization through community-based inquiry. In B. M. Maguth and J. Hilburn (Eds.), The state of global education: Learning with the world and its people (pp. 92-110). Routledge About the Author: Christian D. Pirlet is a doctoral student at the University of South Dakota and a social studies teacher at Aberdeen Central High School. His research interests include global education, gamification, and economics education. mailto:christian.pirlet@coyotes.usd.edu http://www.iajiss.org/