Abstract of

Reading for a Better World: Teaching for Social Responsibility With Young Adult Literature

Steven Wolk

Teaching for social responsibility should be one of the vital aims of our schools. Young adult literature offers an authentic, meaningful, and critical way to teach for social responsibility. This article offers an overview of the different elements of social responsibility and some young adult novels and graphic novels that could be used to teach this content. The author advocates teaching these books through inquiry. A brief explanation of inquiry-based teaching is included, as well as an example of some specific inquiry teaching ideas, which highlights the young adult novel Black and White.

Abstract from Wolk, S. (2009, May). Reading for a Better World: Teaching for Social Responsibility With Young Adult Literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(8), 664–673. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.52.8.2