Social Studies Pedagogy for Latino/a Newcomer Youth: Toward a Theory of Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Citizenship Education

• Published in: Theory and research in social education Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 147 - 183
• Main Author: Jaffee, Ashley Taylor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 02.04.2016
• Subjects: Case Studies; Citizen Participation; Citizenship Education; Culturally Relevant Education; culturally relevant pedagogy; Decision Making; Educational Principles; English (Second Language); High School Students; Hispanic American Students; History Instruction; Immigrants; Language Usage; Latino/a youth; Native Language; newcomer students; Qualitative Research; Second Language Learning; Secondary School Teachers; Semi Structured Interviews; Social Studies; Spanish; Teaching Methods; United States (Northeast); Urban Schools
• ISSN: 0093-3104; 2163-1654
• DOI: 10.1080/00933104.2016.1171184

This study examines how teachers in 4 urban newcomer high schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for Latino/a newcomer youth through an emerging framework of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. Through a multi-site, collective case study design, the perspectives and decision making of social studies teachers' enacted pedagogy for Latino/a newcomer students were examined. The cross-case analysis of the 4 teachers' social studies pedagogy elicited 5 principles of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. These principles include pedagogy of community; pedagogy of success; pedagogy of making cross-cultural connections; pedagogy of building a language of social studies; and pedagogy of community-based, participatory citizenship. Social studies educators should consider these principles when teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students.