Learning from Literature and Legality: Supreme Court Cases and Young Adult Literature in a Social Foundations of Education Course

Authors

Cody Miller, SUNY BrockportFollow

Abstract

In this article, I detail how I revised a social foundations of education course to center major Supreme Court cases relating to K–12 public schools. Scholars in social foundations of education have articulated a vision for the field that fosters and promotes democracy and democratic dispositions. Focusing on the Supreme Court in a social foundations of education course is the result of two factors. First is the Supreme Court’s storied role in shaping K–12 public education. Second is the Supreme Court’s increasingly steep lurch toward antidemocratic jurisprudence, which many legal scholars and journalists covering the judicial branch are raising alarm over. Specifically, I paired 10 consequential Supreme Court cases relating to K–12 education identified by education lawyer Robert Kim with young adult literature. I demonstrate how and why I used young adult literature to illuminate how the law impacts the “lives of ordinary people,” especially people within schools.

Recommended Citation

Miller, C. (2023). Learning from Literature and Legality: Supreme Court Cases and Young Adult Literature in a Social Foundations of Education Course. Democracy and Education, 31 (1), Article 2.
Available at: https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol31/iss1/2