We are living in deeply troubling times. The problems confronting our nation and the world can seem overwhelming. Half of the people on this planet lives on two dollars a day. Each day 30,000 children die—largely from poverty—and thousands of acres of rainforests are destroyed. And in the United States nearly 50 million people have no health insurance, the United States ranks 28th in infant mortality, and a report on the happiness and well-being of children in wealthy nations lists the United States as 20th— second to last (Unicef, 2007). The time is urgent for all schools and teachers to awaken their students’ consciousness to the world and help them develop the knowledge and inspiration to make a better world, from local to global.
"Reading for a Better World: Teaching for Social Responsibility With Young Adult Literature"
May 2009
Volume 52, Issue 8
Pages 653–739
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
This is why I have chosen to become a teacher