Elementary school children’s perspectives on distributive justice in trade

Abstract

Although issues of global justice are increasingly considered an important topic to include in elementary school curricula, little is known about children’s perspectives on complex distributive justice issues. This exploratory study investigated children’s understanding of a fair economic distribution between the workers involved in international trade. As part of a classroom project, in mixed-aged groups, 57 elementary school children were invited to discuss how they would fairly divide 30 coins among five workers involved in the banana trade. Results showed that half of the groups decided for equal distributions, based on arguments of strict equality, equal work, equal value, or interdependence. The other half of the groups decided for unequal distributions, based on the different contributions, and costs and profits. In each group, children generally agreed or accepted others’ ideas. Findings provide preliminary insights on how elementary school children collectively reason about distributive justice concerning a complex global issue.