Mindful Social Studies situates the field of social studies education as uniquely poised to integrate anti-racist, equity, and asset-based pedagogies with contemplative, mindfulness-based strategies. Chapters explore ways of cultivating critical mindfulness and SEL to meet the needs of diverse students, families, educators, and communities.

Mindful Social Studies: Frameworks for Social Emotional Learning and Critically Engaged Citizens situates the field of social studies education as uniquely poised to integrate anti-racist, equity, and asset-based pedagogies with contemplative, mindfulness-based strategies to promote the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students need to be effective citizens. Students’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL) hinges upon their experience(s) engaging in authentic learning that strengthens cognitive skills, including critical thinking, self-awareness, reflection, compassion, empathy, and perspective taking. In this volume, the co-editors have curated reflective K-16 practitioner-style, research-focused, and theory-based chapters that explore social justice-orientated contemplative pedagogies, as well as mindfulness-related frameworks and strategies for teaching social studies and the social and behavioral sciences. In this book, chapter authors explore ways of cultivating specific mindfulness-related social studies dispositions and transformative rationales and approaches for critical mindfulness and SEL based on compelling arguments for meeting the needs of students, families, and educators in a dynamic and increasingly diverse society.

List of Figures and Tables

Part One: Critical Reflections: Centering Social Emotional Learning and Mindfulness in the Classroom Context

Introduction: Gazing Inward and Outward by Connecting SEL, Mindfulness, and Critical Pedagogies in the Social Studies Classroom

Natalie Keefer and Tori K. Flint

Chapter One: “Still Can’t Say Namaste?!”: Making Asians and Asian Americans Visible in the School-Based Mindfulness Movement

Mohit Mehta and Joanna Batt

Chapter Two: Teaching Critical Affective Civic Literacy through Social Studies Inquiry

Patrick Keegan

Chapter Three: Civic Mindfulness: Teaching About Racism with Courage and Compassion

Elizabeth Yeager Washington, Maria Cristina da Costa Leite, and Ana Puig

Chapter Four: From the Null to the Explicit: Building Antiracist Practices Into our Everyday Teaching of Social Studies

Brittany L. Jones and Melanie M. McCormick

Chapter Five: Giving Voice to the Struggle for Civil Rights: Utilizing Memorialism to Develop Students' Historical Empathy Skills

Nefertari Yancie and James D. Nunez

Chapter Six: Bringing in Our ‘Full Humanness’: Moving Toward Critical, Humanity-Focused, Assets-Based Pedagogy

Tori K. Flint and Natalie Keefer

Part Two: Contemplative Frameworks and Pedagogies

Chapter Seven: A Framework of Historical Empathy for Social and Emotional Learning:

A Perspective-Taking Praxis

Joseph I. Eisman and Timothy J. Patterson

Chapter Eight: Fostering Classroom Contemplation through Civic Reflection Discussions

Alexander Pope IV, Sarah M. Surak, and Matthew Bernor

Chapter Nine: Using Circles to Embed SEL and Mindfulness in the Social Studies Classroom

Michelle D. Cude and Dana L. Haraway

Chapter Ten: Gratitude Practice as Democratic Teacher Praxis: Building Agency and Belonging in Social Studies Classrooms

Elizabeth O. Crawford and Michael Fauteux

Chapter Eleven: Mindful Teaching in the Inclusive Social Studies Classroom: Helping Students with Dissimilar Learning Needs Engage with the Curriculum

Maria I. Bravo-Ruiz and Allison M. Bernard

Chapter Twelve: Civic Mindfulness in Social Studies: A Framework for Contemplative Citizenship

Kelsey Evans-Amalu, Eric Claravall, and Brian Furgione

Chapter Thirteen: “I am not a field hand:” Spirituality, Mindfulness, and Financial Literacy

Thomas A. Lucey and Kathleen Cooter

Chapter Fourteen: The Human Rights Portal to Teaching Mindfulness and Civic Engagement

Rosemary Ann Blanchard and Sandy Sohcot

Chapter Fifteen: Philosophy for Children as a Democratic Community of Inquiry

Shaofei Han and Heather N. Stone

Appendices

About the Contributors