Family engagement and conflict about teaching for social justice

Amidst the increased demand for social justice throughout the United States, Carolyn Stoughton, a teacher in a midwestern school district, developed and taught curriculum on gender stereotypes and racial injustice to 2nd-grade students. She received messages from families suggesting her curriculum was inappropriate, pushing an agenda, and indoctrinating children. Navigating the politicized terrain of teaching for social justice is complex, uncertain, and requires a commitment to equity and a just society. Carolyn, with her former student-teaching supervisors Megan Lynch and May Lee, reflects on how she engaged with unanticipated responses from families, the impact it had on her, and implications for learning how to communicate with families.