Special Issue Introduction

Welcome to the Global and Local Perspectives on Social Justice in Education: History, Policy, and Praxis special issue of the journal Equity & Excellence in Education. My co-editor, Nikola Hobbel, and I were pleased to receive an abundance of interesting articles representing education research and practice, focused on social justice in education, both locally and across the globe. The term “global” applies to our desire to have international representation in this special issue. All contexts are indeed “local” to those who research and participate in them but “global” to those a continent removed. Therefore, our use of “global” and “local” in the title of the themed issue recognizes the diversity of geographical spaces where social justice in education takes place. For this issue, we specifically wanted to publish a variety of conceptual, historical, and empirical articles discussing the successful moments, challenges, positive outcomes, and sacrifices that occur when citizens, irrespective of location, act to increase equity and decrease injustice in their local schools and communities. Moreover, the authors for this special issue were called upon to explain how local educational context and action—broadly defined—have global implications for social justice in education. The term “social justice education,” frequently synonymous with the term “social justice pedagogy,” gained significant attention in the past decade of education research. The roots and wings of critical pedagogy, such as multicultural education, anti-oppressive education, intergroup education, and women’s and ethnic studies, represent some key educational paradigms that have informed the use of social justice as a pedagogical tool. In individual settings, socially just education often has taken the form of pedagogy—intimate classroom practices, educational performances, and ideological understandings conveyed to students. Social justice pedagogy helps students to become critical thinkers and actors in their own lives; hopefully, later these skills help students to influence change in their local communities. However, “social justice education” or “social justice pedagogy” differs from “social justice in education.” Social justice in education is the “umbrella” term used to discuss the range of actions taken by educators, families, and governments to create more equal and just educational spaces, to challenge discourses of power and privilege, and to foster critical consciousness and social engagement within and beyond their local communities. The articles in this special issue contribute to richer understandings of both social justice pedagogy and social justice in education by capturing and explaining the power of individual as well as collective action when seeking justice.