BY SARAH BURNS GILCHRIST

ABC-CLIO has shown interest in my proposal for a collaborative publication focused on teaching Social Justice in the classroom. They would like to have a list of interested co-authors (in the form of a Table of Contents) before they grant a contract.

The deadline for manuscript submission will be April 10th, 2018.

If you are interested in submitting a chapter focused on how you incorporate social justice concepts into your teaching, please respond to me before you leave campus for the semester. I’m looking for chapters written with discipline-specific content (i.e. Social Justice in Art History or Teaching Social Justice in the k-12 Classroom) that offer immediate, short-term, and long-term strategies for teaching.

I’m including my descriptions of the purpose, scope, and objectives of this work below. I will respond to your inquiries and let you know when the proposal has been accepted.
Please respond to sbg@umail.iu.edu with your interest.

I look forward to hearing back from you about this project. We can help others begin to incorporate these concepts into their instruction and create an extended network of social-justice-minded colleagues. Have an excellent summer!

Guest blogger Sarah Burns Gilchrist is Research and Instruction Librarian for Visual Arts and Education at Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library

Purpose Statement: Social Justice efforts on college campuses are not new. Discussions about how to incorporate diverse perspectives into our teaching are ongoing. Librarians and professors benefit from sharing best practices; this monograph will highlight the ways that social justice concepts can be implemented immediately in the classroom, in the short-term while planning semester modules, and when planning long-term instruction scenarios and curriculum.

Chapters derived from expertise and experience in various academic disciplines and departments will discuss the importance of social justice within the context of the discipline; share immediate, short-term, and long-term scenarios for instruction; and offer suggestions for further research, adaptation, and understanding. Although written for an academic audience, librarians engaged in instruction and teachers at any level will benefit from the concise, flexible, scenarios included in this book.

New librarians and professors are often skilled in disciplinary knowledge, passionate about their subject matter, and are less experienced in teaching methods. By harnessing the reflections and practices of seasoned librarians, professors, and administrative staff (and compiling their knowledge into one volume), readers will be able to access a wealth of information and immediately apply that knowledge to their daily interactions within and outside of the classroom. Librarians and professors with many years of experience will use this volume to refresh instruction practices.

Sarah Burns Gilchrist taught children with autism in a Montessori environment, co-taught art history in a summer art outreach program, and teaches information literacy instruction at the college level. These teaching experiences, participation in a two-year Universal Design for Learning (UDL) faculty focus group, selection for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Immersion Instruction program, and life-long involvement with social justice issues make Ms. Gilchrist a notable resource.

Social Justice issues shift into and out of focus continuously. Because of this variation and fluctuation, information about current topics will need to be supplemented with current research. The lessons in this book may be easily adapted to fit new content. Librarians stand at the connection point for research, instruction, and faculty liaison. A book discussing best practices with directions for how to adapt and update content will be a continuous resource for years to come.

Scope Statements:

• Introduction to Social Justice concepts and terms
• Practical application for typical librarian instruction (one to three sessions)
• Suggestions for long-term engagement within and outside of the classroom
• Discipline-specific information and instruction scenarios from experts
• Immediate application of concepts and scenarios
• Long-term planning and instruction goals
• Flexible lesson plans easily adapt to new content

Objectives:
• Readers will be able to apply social justice teaching methods to their lesson plans immediately, to re-assess and revise those methods, and to reach for long-term goals related to cultural competency.
• Readers will learn strategies from faculty and librarians with many disciplinary backgrounds in order to experiment with a variety of teaching styles and to prepare for subject-specific instruction.
• Readers will prepare themselves for teaching by assessing their own biases in the context of cultural competency.
• Readers will learn ways to engage with students in order to increase connection, draw focus, and to enhance learning.