Election Renews Controversy Over Social-Justice Teaching

The cost of maintaining a household and the inadequacy of the minimum wage provide grist for a middle school algebra lesson in Tumwater, Wash. In a class titled the Chemistry of Bling, students at a Chicago high school investigate the properties of precious metals while studying the political, economic, and social consequences of the diamond trade. Fifth graders in Milwaukee debate the Iraq War and examine anti-war movements of the 1960s and today.

Those topics offer just a few examples of the infusion of “social justice” concepts into the curriculum, a decades-old approach that has drawn in a new generation of educators, often those who teach large numbers of low-income and minority students.

The diffuse movement to address social issues, historical conflicts, and multicultural viewpoints that have not been part of the traditional curriculum has often attracted controversy and derision, however. And proponents of what is often called critical pedagogy are finding themselves on the defensive once again, amid a new round of attacks related...