Schools in the United States, according to James O. Fabionar, struggle to teach in a humanizing manner about the brutality experienced by indigenous people in North America and the Pacific. Many "white-wash" this history, downplaying unsavory aspects of colonization by painting the United States as a savior or liberator, or by…

In countries from which enslaved Africans were forcibly taken to the new world, critical discussion of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (TST) and its Diaspora remains elusive, especially in educational spaces. Ghana is one such country that is deeply connected to the TST and yet struggles to engage it in the social studies syllabus. This article…

How individuals interpret the justifications for historical war can have a large effect on how they see modern warfare. In the social studies classroom, particularly in the U.S. context, so much of what educators focus on in regard to war are the events of World War II. This focus on the Second World War is understandable. However, it could also…

In this article, the author describes three inquiry activities based on a children's book set in the Philippines during World War II. In many U.S. history and modern world history curricula and textbooks, events in the Philippines (and more generally in the Pacific theater) during World War II are not covered well. Because these events cannot be…

Background/Context: For educators committed to unraveling racism and colonial bias in world history courses, challenges persist--particularly with Indigenous peoples and knowledges. Typical history curriculum, standards, and instructional tools misrepresent Indigenous peoples and knowledges in damaging and inaccurate ways. In cities, where…

Recently, the Canadian government has initiated a wide range of actions and gestures aimed at reconciling historical injustices including the state's relationship with Indigenous peoples and nations. Reforming K-12 education to adequately teach Canada's difficult past has been a key priority in this movement, leading to curriculum change across…

While many U.S. residents like listening to African stories, hearing African stories is difficult because designing effective curricula and teaching about African contexts appear to be a major challenge in U.S. social studies education. Drawing on postcolonial theory, we analyzed the discourses of two contemporaneous historical documents to…

The primary goal of this article is to encourage active confrontation of the settler colonialism that permeates social studies education in a way that encourages a centering of Indigenous experiences, instead of merely de-centering settler experiences. Two questions frame this work: (1) How should social studies educators confront atrocities and…

This article explores the ways in which social studies classrooms can explore the history and status of U.S. territories as "unincorporated." We focus on the "Insular Cases" and in particular "Downes v. Bidwell" (1901), examine the construct of colonies as anathema to democracy, and explore the precedents court case…

In this article, the authors focus on ways to structure conversations about racism in world history classrooms through a case study of race and racism in Haiti at the turn of the 19th century. Drawing on the events of the Haitian Revolution, the authors describe how identifying patterns of racial hierarchy can provide a framework for talking about…

The American Revolution is central to the identity of citizens of the United States. It is, therefore, rarely critiqued in the U.S. social studies classroom. This article examines how teachers can discuss the American Revolution using both a critical historical approach and the ideas of peace education, particularly the strand that focuses on the…

The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) has become the basis for nearly every operation against international terrorism since its passage, in the days after the September 11th terrorist attacks. In particular, one 60-word passage has become foundational, both legally and philosophically, to America's "war on terror." An…

For many non-native people, Native Americans are one large homogenous group. A fairly simple "group" to understand. Indigenous people are commonly presented and understood through long-enduring imagery via movies, advertising, product naming, and mascots. Through these processes, indigenous peoples are labeled, named, and historically…

History education ordinarily faces a relativist slant, if not by the monotonous nature of the course. Hence, educators are continuously in pursuit for a better teaching strategy to keep the class interesting. The main goal of this study was to 'bring history to life' through a mobile application powered by augmented reality that can provide an…

Participation in a classroom-based study provided Grade 4 students with multiple opportunities to develop their visual meaning-making skills and competences, as well as their aesthetic understanding of and critical thinking about multimodal ensembles. Intentionally-designed instruction during the multifaceted research included a variety of…