Social justice in public high schools: a literature analysis and field insights from two Canadian high schools

Purpose This pilot study explores social justice education in the context of two schools in the interior of British Columbia that self-identify as advocates and promoters of social justice. Design/methodology/approach First, I identify key trends in recent (2014–24) literature on social justice education in high schools, noting the prevalence of three key themes: social justice programming, curriculum activities and teacher and leadership development. Then, drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young (1990) and Lee Ann Bell (2016), I analyze findings from my pilot study of four administrators, six teachers and four staff members from my two selected school sites. Findings While these early findings show some overlap with the findings of existing research, importantly, they also gesture at potentially substantial gaps in our critical conception of how social justice education is understood and practices, notably in rural Canadian schools. Originality/value Without studying diverse contexts within the landscape of Canadian high schools, this paper suggests, education researchers may be inadequately preparing teacher education programs and their teacher candidates for work in rural schools and may be missing the chance to broaden and diversify interventions in urban schools.