21st Century Pedagogies and Citizenship Education: Enacting Elementary School Curriculum Using Critical Inquiry-Based Learning

Abstract

How elementary teachers address citizenship is important in 21st century teaching and learning. Situating citizenship education within the varied global contexts of schooling and connecting content to pedagogical approach is a complex task. Even so, citizenship education can be the philosophical underpinning, or vision, for a teaching pedagogy that engages students in active, creative, and critical ways. This chapter illustrates key features and priorities for citizenship education by exploring the concepts of perspective taking, inquiry pedagogy and critical pedagogy and how they work together using the example of elementary school Social Studies in a Canadian context. Using examples from previous studies and narratives from elementary school teachers, this chapter includes portraits of classroom teachers’ work using a critical inquiry-based approach. The chapter illustrates how resources can be used in teachers’ planning to design learning that is nestled in citizenship education. Government curriculum documents as well as scholarly literature and teaching resources can support critical-inquiry for citizenship education. This teaching can lead to active, engaged citizens. There are many approaches to citizenship education; drawing awareness to perspectives and pedagogical possibilities is essential in teacher development. Teacher education is the ideal place for introducing and connecting foundations of education to best practice.