Developing Critical Social Justice Literacy in an Online Seminar

The purpose of this article is to report on an effort to cultivate a critical social justice perspective and critical social justice praxis among educators enrolled in an online graduate program. Although the entire program was organized around themes of equity, collaboration, and leadership, this study focused on educators’ perspectives of the purposes, pedagogy, and outcomes of one course, Critical Pedagogy. Fourteen of the 19 students enrolled in the online course participated in one of six online focus groups following the conclusion of the course. Using constructivist grounded theory methods, the researchers identified the different ways in which students responded to the course, what they learned, and how they enacted their learning as well as the features of the course that the students believed contributed to their learning and practice. The study provides insight into features of online pedagogy that appear to facilitate transformative learning. It further provides insight into the kinds of content and assignments that may promote critical social justice praxis among educators