People around the world face grave crises of wars, climate change, genocides, rising sea levels, human rights violations, and inequitable distribution of natural resources. These problems are transcontinental, interconnected, and create immense human suffering, which require collective efforts toward just and sustainable global solutions. The United Nations resolved to address these concerns in adopting the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. These goals form a “plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity,” which “seeks to strengthen universal peace in greater freedom” (United Nations, 2015, para. 1). The social sciences are uniquely positioned to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by offering content and tools to pursue just and sustainable societies. The knowledge, skills, and values of social science education can empower global citizens to seek truth, to deliberate on the current problems, and to shape a just and equitable future for people and for our planet. In this volume, authors from around the world a) propose critical philosophical questions, b) describe current education problems, and c) explore educational possibilities for a just and sustainable world.
Sara B. Demoiny is an associate professor of elementary education at Auburn University.Adil Bentahar is an associate professor at the University of Delaware’s English Language Institute and School of Education.Alex E. Chisholm is an assistant professor of secondary social studies education at Clemson University.
Part 1. Philosophical Critical QuestioningChapter 1. What is Lost When Efficiency is Gained?: Examining the Tension Between Efficiency-Driven Logics and Just, Sustainable Futures; Joseph McAnulty and Elaine AlveyPart 2. Describing Current Educational ProblemsChapter 2. Challenges to Improving Human and Planetary Conditions: Analyzing Selective Cases of South Korean Social Studies Teacher Experiences; EunJung Kim and SeungHee ShimChapter 3. Privatization of Primary and Secondary Education in Morocco; Rim RoubiChapter 4. Student Support as the Weakest Link: School Dropout in Morocco; Ali Ait Si Mhamed, Rita Kasa, Rim Roubi, and Wiame ImrharnPart 3. Exploring Educational Possibilities for a Just and Sustainable WorldChapter 5. Exploring Civic Education for Social Justice Among Middle and High School Students in Morocco: A Qualitative Study Adil Bentahar; Mohammed Elmeski and Elarbi ImadChapter 6. Climate Change Education in China: Exploring the Effect of Chinese Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) on Students’ Perceived Efficacy Towards Combating Climate Change; Daniel Yonto and Bin FengChapter 7. Promoting International Student Civic Engagement in English Language Programs; Cheryl A. ErnstChapter 8. How to Confront Climate Crisis: Pointed Interventions in the Social Studies Classroom; Anne Marie KavanaghChapter 9. Using Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to Engage Youth in Working Towards the UN SDGs and Lasting Change in their Communities; Sabrina L. CaldwellChapter 10. “But now I see that there’s so much more to it”: Journaling, Primary Contradictions and Expanding Conceptions of Democracy and Citizenship; Dean P. VespermanChapter 11. The Potential of Project-based Learning for Preparing Students to Advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; Saviour Kitcher and Anne-Lise HalvorsenChapter 12. Unlearning to Relearn: A Self-study of Indigenous Sustainability Education; Kate Van HarenChapter 13. Teaching Sustainability Through Democratic Pedagogy in a Virtual Reality School; John L. Pecore and Chara Haeussler BohanChapter 14. Deliberative Simulations and Global Citizenship: Exploring High School Students’ Engagement with Climate Change and Human Rights Through Model United Nations Summer Camp; Matthew F. Summerlin, Jesús A. Tirado, and Megan E. Andrews