Social Studies for a Better World: A Guide for Elementary Educators

Giving young people opportunities to grapple with injustices and complex social problems can inspire them to build a better world. In this bestselling book, two experienced social studies educators lay out their vision for an elementary social studies education that will help young people find value in learning about the world as they consider how to make their communities more just, equitable, and healthy.

Rodríguez and Swalwell unpack the problems that so often characterize the elementary curriculum—normalization, idealization, heroification, and dramatization—and show how common pitfalls can be replaced with creative solutions. This timely second edition discusses increasingly important topics like book bans and the rise of AI, provides updated research and resources, and includes strategies for teaching anti-oppressive social studies even when circumstances are less than ideal.

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, methods student, or curriculum coordinator, this is a book that can transform your understanding of the social studies disciplines and their power to disrupt the narratives that maintain current inequities.