**2. Perspective taking for citizenship education**

Preparing teachers for the world of teaching (teacher education) is an ideal place to introduce the importance of perspective taking. Perspective taking is also described as rationale development or, developing a vision in teaching. Rationale development is defined as, "the intellectual, ethical, and potentially transformative process of personal reflection through which teachers formally articulate their purposes for teaching …" ([1], p. 417). Kosnik and Beck [2] found developing a vision for teaching is a priority in teacher education. According to Kosnik and Beck, having a "vision keeps us aware of the full range of goals and processes of teaching …helps us see how the various aspects of teaching fit together… [and] having an explicit vision is important so teachers can explain to student the purpose of schooling and particular classroom practices" ([2], pp. 153–154). "A vision is what a teacher hopes to instill in their students beyond curricular objectives" ([3], p. 526). Having a vision allows for coherent programming and teaching, and allows for more explicit teaching of social issues. Perspective taking, rational development, or developing a vision for teaching requires thoughtful reflection, understanding one's own practice, and broader pedagogical approaches and content. Understanding the purpose for teaching and unpacking *why* we teach what we do is essential for good teaching.

In my preservice classes, teacher candidates are asked, "what is your vision for teaching?" This question is often received with uncertainty as most candidates are not familiar with the notion of a vision for teaching. While several, if not all, teacher candidates have a perspective for teaching – for everyone is positioned with a stance - it is seldom articulated or unpacked in terms of a vision for teaching. It becomes worthwhile then to engage in opportunities for thinking about one's vision and the potential implications for teaching and learning. A clearly defined vision or perspective for teaching provides clarity in program planning. And, as we consider what it means to teach citizenship education in the 21st century, a vision for what that means needs to develop. Some 21st century perspectives for citizenship may

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the world.

*21st Century Pedagogies and Citizenship Education: Enacting Elementary School Curriculum…*

include international, global, critical, democratic to mention a few. This chapter focuses on developing a perspective for critical citizenship education at the elemen-

Citizenship education can be an approach to teaching. To teach through the frame of citizenship education however one must first determine their perspective or vision for teaching it. Hawley and Crowe studied how teacher candidates' rationale development for social studies teaching as being fundamental to citizenship changed during their teacher education training [1]. They found that when teacher candidates were tasked with developing a vision for teaching social studies, most were able to do so. Teacher candidates were able to develop a vision that combined their own values and the values and content they encountered in the program ([1], p. 424). How one's purpose evolves and develops depends on the unique combination of the teacher candidate's experiences and values and the program's teachings. The negotiation of identities, values, ideas, understandings between one's own experiences and understandings and that of the University and governing bodies that control the school curriculum can be a challenge when the views do not coincide. Time is required to explore, discuss, and understand how one's own understandings connect with the goals of citizenship education. In order to enact citizenship education, a perspective/vision/purpose needs to be developed. Hawley and Crowe suggest, that "[w]ithout an articulate sense of purpose for teaching social studies, an understanding of what purpose means for their practice, teachers may never move beyond a focus of content knowledge and engagement as guiding principles for pedagogical decision making, and social studies teaching may remain

In my work with teacher candidates, a critical stance to citizenship education is used to teach how to teach social studies. Social studies is one elementary school subject that lends itself well to citizenship education. A critical stance includes the attitude, knowledge, and dispositions essential to "way[s] of knowing and being in the world of educational practice that carries across educational contexts… that links individuals to larger groups and social movements intended to challenge the inequities perpetuated by the educational status quo" ([4], p. vii). Lewison, Leland and Harste identify four qualities of a critical stance: consciously engaging; entertaining alternative ways of being; taking responsibility to inquire; and, being reflexive [5]. These qualities are cyclical and interact with experience, and involve the processes of renaming [6] and reframing [7] what it means to be in the world. Having a critical stance is a "deliberate choice made by educators" ([8], p. 136) and is a "lifelong and constant pursuit"([4], p. 28) to becoming an active citizen. A critical stance is a perspective that encourages an active and engaged lens for citizenship education. Critical stance comes from the field of critical pedagogy and aims to position any subject or content area towards equity-based ways of viewing

Teachers engage in the thoughtful application of their vision/perspective into classroom practice. Schoolwide approaches, led by administrative teams, provide clear pathways for activating school wide visions for teaching. For example, as a 5th grade classroom teacher at Maple Public School many years ago I, like all teachers at the school, followed the school vision. The principal's motto "we're all on the same bus, headed in the same direction" provided the pathway for applying a

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96998*

the same for another 100 years' ([1], p. 441).

**2.2 Activating perspective taking in practice**

**2.1 Teaching perspective taking**

tary school level that engages an active and critical citizen.

include international, global, critical, democratic to mention a few. This chapter focuses on developing a perspective for critical citizenship education at the elementary school level that engages an active and critical citizen.
