**5. Portraits of elementary teachers work for citizenship education**

Teachers approach citizenship education in a number of ways. Even when using the same frameworks, practices may look different depending on the priorities and needs of the classroom and school communities. The following two portraits illustrate elementary teachers' work using critical inquiry-based pedagogy for citizenship education.

#### **5.1 Portrait one: 2nd grade class explores identity**

Beach and Cleovoulou' study of critical inquiry-based classrooms share the details of a second-grade urban classroom of students who were curious about race [33]. The teacher overheard the children chatting over several days about skin color and they began to express interest in their identities based on their skin. The teacher took notice of the conversations and took the opportunity to extend the discussions to anti-racism through an exploration of identity [33]. Using a picture book to start the discussion, students asked, "What is race?" What is racism?" "Who am I and what about it?". These lofty questions coming from seven-year old children framed the learning. For this type of learning, the teacher was clear about her vision for teaching:

"I love involving children in the stories and children being able to make a change or enacting a change…I find what I want children to do is have a deeper exploration and connection to themselves, to Canada, their culture, to their race and others, to biases that maybe they hear express or express themselves…so there are two parts to that—there's finding the beautiful books with the beautiful stories and what happens in those books we can look at critically." ([33], p. 169).

The children explored their identities and their thoughts about race, and with the support of their teacher, framed their work in affirmation and appreciation for identities ([33], pp. 161–162). At the end of the unit the class invited their families to the classroom to celebrate everyone's unique identity. A key learning in the process was that everyone's unique identity within the collective space of the classroom community was important. Each student was special and it was important to recognize and affirm each person as a unique part of the class. Cleovoulou and Beach's seven principles from critical inquiry-based pedagogy [31] were demonstrated in this approach to citizenship education.

A shared reading of Let us Talk about Race, a story by Julius Lester [38], explores ideas of race, self-respect and acceptance of others, launched a study of identity in the second-grade classroom. By selecting this text, the teacher set up the discourse of race and anti-racism in a way that she was able to probe and address the issues from several angles; through a narrator, a story with several entry points for explorations, and visual cues from the text. The text remained on the chalkboard ledge for the duration of the year for students and teacher to refer back when needing to highlight key learnings about identity and community. Encouraging student dialog through purposeful text selection led to the development of autobiographic work to explore citizenship.

The learning for responsible, active citizenship took shape around the development of an autobiographic book the teacher named a "Selfology". Throughout the unit, children engaged in a variety of experiences where they were encouraged to gather data about themselves and their family history and represent the information in creative ways. Each student created their own selfology text. To create the selfology, students connected the stories of unique identity in the Lester text to their lives through ongoing reflective practice ([33], p. 169). The opening lines of Lester's [38] book, "I am a story, so are you, so is everyone" gave students "in" to tell their own story in the form of an autobiography. Information was gathered and knowledge developed through texts, class and group discussions, interviews with family, and reflective practice.

Student voice was encouraged through the teacher's use of asking open ended questions as a means to develop deeper connection to identity and sense of belonging. ([33], p. 173). Open questions such as "so who can be in a family?" ([33], p. 172) invited students to bring multiple perspectives to the discussion and also allowed for misconceptions to be brought forward. The ongoing discussions that took place in knowledge building circles ([33], p. 173) (forums of discussion where children are seated in a circle and ideas are shared with children responding and building, analyzing, refuting them) allowed for misconceptions to be guided along and reconsidered.

The unit emphasized empowering student voice both in the public sharing of information and the personal reflective practice and artwork that made their final product (see **Figure 5**).

Pages of each student's Selfology were compiled and the end product was an appreciation and celebration for each student's identity and place in the community. Pages included a "family flower" was created that placed the child at the centre of the image and layers of petals included photos of people who contributed and were important people in the child's life (blood relative and otherwise) were glued to the petals. The teacher noted that creating a family history with the child at the centre, "allowed child to determine who was significant in their life, who played a role in their life." ([33], p. 178). This re-design of the traditional family tree offers

**207**

**Figure 6.**

*The self-portrait page of the Selfology ([33], p. 173).*

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

an explicit critical re-reading of who is in a family. Other pages in the Selfology included an interview with a relative, a timeline highlighting significant life events,

The purpose of the self-portrait was to build affirmation of identity in young children; to have children recognize that each person is different and unique and that everyone is special. Furthermore, students were guided to discuss that in Canada all people, unless they are First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, come from another country. A sense of the self and the Other was central to the learning and to the process of developing an understanding of identity central the development of responsible, active citizenship. Ultimately, the six-week unit of study brought forward a high degree of

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

and a self-portrait (see **Figure 6**).

*A Selfology cover ([33], p. 171).*

**Figure 5.**

*21st Century Pedagogies and Citizenship Education: Enacting Elementary School Curriculum… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96998*

**Figure 5.** *A Selfology cover ([33], p. 171).*

*Teacher Education in the 21st Century - Emerging Skills for a Changing World*

happens in those books we can look at critically." ([33], p. 169).

this approach to citizenship education.

"I love involving children in the stories and children being able to make a change or enacting a change…I find what I want children to do is have a deeper exploration and connection to themselves, to Canada, their culture, to their race and others, to biases that maybe they hear express or express themselves…so there are two parts to that—there's finding the beautiful books with the beautiful stories and what

The children explored their identities and their thoughts about race, and with the support of their teacher, framed their work in affirmation and appreciation for identities ([33], pp. 161–162). At the end of the unit the class invited their families to the classroom to celebrate everyone's unique identity. A key learning in the process was that everyone's unique identity within the collective space of the classroom community was important. Each student was special and it was important to recognize and affirm each person as a unique part of the class. Cleovoulou and Beach's seven principles from critical inquiry-based pedagogy [31] were demonstrated in

A shared reading of Let us Talk about Race, a story by Julius Lester [38], explores ideas of race, self-respect and acceptance of others, launched a study of identity in the second-grade classroom. By selecting this text, the teacher set up the discourse of race and anti-racism in a way that she was able to probe and address the issues from several angles; through a narrator, a story with several entry points for explorations, and visual cues from the text. The text remained on the chalkboard ledge for the duration of the year for students and teacher to refer back when needing to highlight key learnings about identity and community. Encouraging student dialog through purposeful text selection led to the development of autobiographic work to explore citizenship. The learning for responsible, active citizenship took shape around the development

of an autobiographic book the teacher named a "Selfology". Throughout the unit, children engaged in a variety of experiences where they were encouraged to gather data about themselves and their family history and represent the information in creative ways. Each student created their own selfology text. To create the selfology, students connected the stories of unique identity in the Lester text to their lives through ongoing reflective practice ([33], p. 169). The opening lines of Lester's [38] book, "I am a story, so are you, so is everyone" gave students "in" to tell their own story in the form of an autobiography. Information was gathered and knowledge developed through texts,

class and group discussions, interviews with family, and reflective practice.

Student voice was encouraged through the teacher's use of asking open ended questions as a means to develop deeper connection to identity and sense of belonging. ([33], p. 173). Open questions such as "so who can be in a family?" ([33], p. 172) invited students to bring multiple perspectives to the discussion and also allowed for misconceptions to be brought forward. The ongoing discussions that took place in knowledge building circles ([33], p. 173) (forums of discussion where children are seated in a circle and ideas are shared with children responding and building, analyzing, refuting them) allowed for misconceptions to be guided along and reconsidered. The unit emphasized empowering student voice both in the public sharing of information and the personal reflective practice and artwork that made their final

Pages of each student's Selfology were compiled and the end product was an appreciation and celebration for each student's identity and place in the community. Pages included a "family flower" was created that placed the child at the centre of the image and layers of petals included photos of people who contributed and were important people in the child's life (blood relative and otherwise) were glued to the petals. The teacher noted that creating a family history with the child at the centre, "allowed child to determine who was significant in their life, who played a role in their life." ([33], p. 178). This re-design of the traditional family tree offers

**206**

product (see **Figure 5**).

an explicit critical re-reading of who is in a family. Other pages in the Selfology included an interview with a relative, a timeline highlighting significant life events, and a self-portrait (see **Figure 6**).

The purpose of the self-portrait was to build affirmation of identity in young children; to have children recognize that each person is different and unique and that everyone is special. Furthermore, students were guided to discuss that in Canada all people, unless they are First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, come from another country. A sense of the self and the Other was central to the learning and to the process of developing an understanding of identity central the development of responsible, active citizenship. Ultimately, the six-week unit of study brought forward a high degree of

**Figure 6.** *The self-portrait page of the Selfology ([33], p. 173).*

affirmation and recognition of the value of identity and created a sense of belonging for children within their classroom community. This unit of study was, as most inquiry-based learning, takes on an integrated approach and combined language, literacy, visual arts, and social studies. The Grade 2 Social Studies topic, Changing Family and Community Traditions (see **Figure 3**) is highlighted here.

#### **5.2 Portrait two: 6th grade class explores their relationship to nature**

Natural Curiosity [18] is a teacher resource that looks at critical inquiry-based pedagogy through the lens of environmental reciprocity. Environmental reciprocity, the connection and responsible care for the environment, is an act of responsible, active citizenship. Natural Curiosity shares stories of teachers' work; one story in particular illustrates 6th graders' transformation to responsible, active citizenship using an integrated approach to curriculum. The teacher introduced the topic of climate change. Discussions, idea sharing, questioning, and outdoor exploration ensue and activism emerged from the students themselves ([18], p. 263).

Students participated in knowledge building, a process where they not only share their own ideas but students build on each other's ideas and theories using a computer database ([33], pp. 264–265). It was only by immersion, gathering and organizing information, and time to process that students began to invest in the ideas related to climate change. Eventually, students asked the question, "Shouldn't we be trying to do something about this?" ([18], p. 265) and from there activism set in. Critical pedagogy, the desire to take action towards justice, is integral to authentic responsible, active citizenship. The teacher reflected on the process and explained, "by giving them time to understand the mission, letting them pursue their own areas of inquiry, the "action" part came naturally from them and it was much more impactful" ([18], p. 265).

The next step involved brainstorming ideas for different types of actions. Knowledge building circles continued the inquiry where students brainstormed and collaborated to come up with viable ideas for change. Through student-led discussions, where student voice was prioritized, the idea of bringing a guest speaker to class arose. The teacher's willingness to pause and follow the students' lead led to student investment. The teacher's role was to support student ideas and bring the suggested guest to the classroom. The teacher reflects on the learning, "I really believe that [the guest speaker] was the moment the class moved away from being engaged to being empowered. It left the students with a sense that anything was possible". Through critical inquiry, the students were experiencing active citizenship.

Active citizenship then led to a sense of responsibility. Empowered with knowledge and a feeling that they could induce change, students chose to write to their members government. A member of parliament came to visit and the class also received a letter acknowledging their good work. The teacher confirmed, the responses from the government were "such a validating experience for the students, who strongly believed they were tackling a 'real' issue and were being taken seriously" ([18], p. 267).

Field trips and ongoing critical inquiry-based pedagogy ensued. The students spent a lot of time outdoors, planted trees around their school and to culminate the unit, students held a "Climate Expo" for their school mates. This event gave students a forum to share their work and actions for addressing climate change. In the end, the critical inquiry-based pedagogy that began as an exploration of their relationship to nature yielded the following outcomes from their responsible, active citizenship:

**209**

**6. Conclusion**

sible, active citizenship is fostered.

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

3.Our custodian has made it a priority for the school to switch to energy

6.We share our mission with thousands of people on social media

7.We inspired other teachers to try a different pedagogical approach ([18],

"Realizing the freedom [the students] had during this inquiry, the students became much more engaged in the process. They eagerly sought answers to their questions, and felt free to ask more. It also became very apparent to the students that with freedom comes responsibility, and they took on this responsibility by being accountable to each other and to the inquiry process. They realized how important their mission was, and with that realization, our classroom environment changed: it looked, felt, and sounded different as we made the shift from engagement to empowerment…They knew and talked about the importance of this empowerment and its impact on their ability to make decisions in the future. If students feel like they are in control of their lives, even at a young age, it will grow with them. I believe that a student who has a sense of empowerment will be unstoppable" ([18], pp. 269–270). This unit of study took an integrated approach and explored areas of science, language, and social studies. The Grade 6 Social Studies topic Canada's Interactions

What we see in the two portraits are elements of critical inquiry-based pedagogy

This chapter explores citizenship education as the philosophical underpinning or vision for teaching in the elementary school classroom. Beginning in preservice teacher education, citizenship education may be developed as a perspective and

for citizenship education that aim for responsible, active citizenship. In portrait one, second graders explore issues of race, racism, and diversity through a reflexive inquiry; that is, students engaged in artful and thoughtful autobiographic work of their own identities and celebrated with their class as part of building an inclusive community. In portrait two, sixth graders explore issues of climate change and active citizenship whereby students learned about climate change and then participated in advocacy by writing to their government and sharing information with their school community. Both portraits have dimensions of critical pedagogy including examining sociopolitical issues and advocacy. Both portraits use an inquiry-based pedagogy with students' questions guiding the learning process (see **Figure 2**). It is through the pedagogical approach of critical inquiry that respon-

with the Global Community (see **Figure 3**) is highlighted here.

Ultimately, this unit of study emphasized several elements of both critical pedagogy and inquiry-based learning. Among them, questioning, collaborating, data gathering and organizing, communicating, were prominent. From the high degree of student-driven learning, which led to an investment in the learning, students developed a sense of responsibility which sparked activism. The teacher reflected

4.We are going to try and implement "lightless" lunches where each class turns

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

off their lights during the lunch hour

5.We are going to monitor our waste

efficient lights

p. 270).

on the experience:


*21st Century Pedagogies and Citizenship Education: Enacting Elementary School Curriculum… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96998*


*Teacher Education in the 21st Century - Emerging Skills for a Changing World*

Family and Community Traditions (see **Figure 3**) is highlighted here.

**5.2 Portrait two: 6th grade class explores their relationship to nature**

ensue and activism emerged from the students themselves ([18], p. 263).

much more impactful" ([18], p. 265).

Students participated in knowledge building, a process where they not only share their own ideas but students build on each other's ideas and theories using a computer database ([33], pp. 264–265). It was only by immersion, gathering and organizing information, and time to process that students began to invest in the ideas related to climate change. Eventually, students asked the question, "Shouldn't we be trying to do something about this?" ([18], p. 265) and from there activism set in. Critical pedagogy, the desire to take action towards justice, is integral to authentic responsible, active citizenship. The teacher reflected on the process and explained, "by giving them time to understand the mission, letting them pursue their own areas of inquiry, the "action" part came naturally from them and it was

The next step involved brainstorming ideas for different types of actions. Knowledge building circles continued the inquiry where students brainstormed and collaborated to come up with viable ideas for change. Through student-led discussions, where student voice was prioritized, the idea of bringing a guest speaker to class arose. The teacher's willingness to pause and follow the students' lead led to student investment. The teacher's role was to support student ideas and bring the suggested guest to the classroom. The teacher reflects on the learning, "I really believe that [the guest speaker] was the moment the class moved away from being engaged to being empowered. It left the students with a sense that anything was possible". Through critical inquiry, the students were experiencing active citizenship. Active citizenship then led to a sense of responsibility. Empowered with knowledge and a feeling that they could induce change, students chose to write to their members government. A member of parliament came to visit and the class also received a letter acknowledging their good work. The teacher confirmed, the responses from the government were "such a validating experience for the students, who strongly believed

they were tackling a 'real' issue and were being taken seriously" ([18], p. 267).

yielded the following outcomes from their responsible, active citizenship:

2.We inspired other classes to explore the problem of climate change

1.The school made a commitment to becoming an Eco School

a lot of time outdoors, planted trees around their school and to culminate the unit, students held a "Climate Expo" for their school mates. This event gave students a forum to share their work and actions for addressing climate change. In the end, the critical inquiry-based pedagogy that began as an exploration of their relationship to nature

Field trips and ongoing critical inquiry-based pedagogy ensued. The students spent

affirmation and recognition of the value of identity and created a sense of belonging for children within their classroom community. This unit of study was, as most inquiry-based learning, takes on an integrated approach and combined language, literacy, visual arts, and social studies. The Grade 2 Social Studies topic, Changing

Natural Curiosity [18] is a teacher resource that looks at critical inquiry-based pedagogy through the lens of environmental reciprocity. Environmental reciprocity, the connection and responsible care for the environment, is an act of responsible, active citizenship. Natural Curiosity shares stories of teachers' work; one story in particular illustrates 6th graders' transformation to responsible, active citizenship using an integrated approach to curriculum. The teacher introduced the topic of climate change. Discussions, idea sharing, questioning, and outdoor exploration

**208**


Ultimately, this unit of study emphasized several elements of both critical pedagogy and inquiry-based learning. Among them, questioning, collaborating, data gathering and organizing, communicating, were prominent. From the high degree of student-driven learning, which led to an investment in the learning, students developed a sense of responsibility which sparked activism. The teacher reflected on the experience:

"Realizing the freedom [the students] had during this inquiry, the students became much more engaged in the process. They eagerly sought answers to their questions, and felt free to ask more. It also became very apparent to the students that with freedom comes responsibility, and they took on this responsibility by being accountable to each other and to the inquiry process. They realized how important their mission was, and with that realization, our classroom environment changed: it looked, felt, and sounded different as we made the shift from engagement to empowerment…They knew and talked about the importance of this empowerment and its impact on their ability to make decisions in the future. If students feel like they are in control of their lives, even at a young age, it will grow with them. I believe that a student who has a sense of empowerment will be unstoppable" ([18], pp. 269–270).

This unit of study took an integrated approach and explored areas of science, language, and social studies. The Grade 6 Social Studies topic Canada's Interactions with the Global Community (see **Figure 3**) is highlighted here.

What we see in the two portraits are elements of critical inquiry-based pedagogy for citizenship education that aim for responsible, active citizenship. In portrait one, second graders explore issues of race, racism, and diversity through a reflexive inquiry; that is, students engaged in artful and thoughtful autobiographic work of their own identities and celebrated with their class as part of building an inclusive community. In portrait two, sixth graders explore issues of climate change and active citizenship whereby students learned about climate change and then participated in advocacy by writing to their government and sharing information with their school community. Both portraits have dimensions of critical pedagogy including examining sociopolitical issues and advocacy. Both portraits use an inquiry-based pedagogy with students' questions guiding the learning process (see **Figure 2**). It is through the pedagogical approach of critical inquiry that responsible, active citizenship is fostered.

#### **6. Conclusion**

This chapter explores citizenship education as the philosophical underpinning or vision for teaching in the elementary school classroom. Beginning in preservice teacher education, citizenship education may be developed as a perspective and

pedagogical approach to teaching by emphasizing the importance of developing a vision for teaching that is critical and inquiry-based in nature. By developing a vision or perspective for citizenship education that includes critical inquiry-based pedagogy, teachers can incorporate contemporary teaching and learning to all subject areas. Social Studies is the subject area that was used in this chapter to demonstrate how content and pedagogy can be used to activate strong understanding and engagement with responsible, active citizenship.

Government documents that reflect 21st century pedagogies for curriculum provide beginning teachers, as well as seasoned teachers, with helpful resources and guidance as they adapt mandated requirements to their school and classroom context and communities. By offering resources that are in keeping with contemporary modes of thinking and practice, teachers have opportunities to plan and teach in ways that are consistent with school districts across regions while addressing the needs of their students. Scholarly resources and teacher resources that provide examples of enactments of teaching for responsible, active citizenship are also helpful for illustrating the varied ways in which teachers can engage with elementary school curriculum using 21st century pedagogies.
