Implementing New Technologies to Support Social Justice Pedagogy

Abstract

Our research and development work in classrooms, and with teachers in professional development settings, has convinced us that the use of new technologies can promote critical inquiry and reflective discourse in the classroom in support of social justice pedagogies. In this chapter, we present a set of frames that articulate high-impact practices and instructional moves for facilitating critical inquiry and reflective discourse in secondary classrooms in support of social justice pedagogies. Classroom vignettes demonstrate specific ways that a variety of technologies can be implemented to support enactment of these practices. The following questions guide the organization of this chapter: (1) What is the research base for using new technologies to facilitate critical inquiry and reflective discourse in support of social justice pedagogies? (2) What are some high-impact instructional practices for using new technologies to facilitate critical inquiry and reflective discourse in support of social justice pedagogies? (3) How can teachers use new technologies to enact high-impact practices in support of social justice pedagogies? (4) What are the implications of this work for teacher professional development and instructional capacity building?