Decolonising Social Studies: Teaching Gender and Caste in Global South Classrooms
This Special Issue aims to advance inclusive and justice-oriented Social Studies education by centring evidence-based classroom and policy-level research on gender and caste inequities in the Global South. It seeks to:
- Examine how gender and caste-based exclusions are reproduced in Social Studies classrooms and curricula.
- Share decolonial pedagogies that equip educators to challenge structural oppression. Showcase practitioner-led, classroom-tested models of teaching for equity.
- Critically analyse how policy frameworks in the Global South either enable or hinder inclusive Social Studies instruction.
Additionally this issue encourages contributions that demonstrate measurable classroom impact, employ robust qualitative or quantitative methodologies, and directly address educators, curriculum designers, and policymakers in Social Studies education. This issue will be particular interest in research articles, case studies, and lesson plans that showcase effective strategies for teaching about gender and caste in the Global South. While caste and gender inequity have been widely studied, they are underexplored within the pedagogical context of Social Studies education, especially regarding decolonial curriculum reform and classroom-based practice in the Global South. This issue fills that critical gap by:
- Focusing on actionable, evidence-based strategies to transform Social Studies teaching;
- Prioritising classroom-tested interventions rather than theoretical or opinion-based essays;
- Providing international perspectives from the Global South—such as India, Brazil, and South Africa—on integrating critical caste and gender pedagogy within Social Studies frameworks.
Unlike generic multicultural education research, this issue centres curriculum, teaching methods, and educational policy reform explicitly within Social Studies, making it highly relevant to educators and practitioners. The focus and interdisciplinary scope are aimed at promoting “innovative research and practice” in social studies, amplifying Global South knowledge, and inviting “meaningful debate about implementation.
List of Topic Areas
- Classroom Practices for Teaching Gender and Caste in Social Studies Evidence-based interventions and lesson plans are tested in real classrooms.
- Curriculum and Textbook Analysis from the Global South Critical analysis of how caste, gender, and power are represented—or excluded—in Social Studies materials.
- Teacher Training and Professional Development Models for preparing teachers to navigate sensitive histories and teach inclusive, justice-oriented content.
- Policy Analysis and Implementation Gaps What/How educational policies (e.g., NEP 2020, SDG frameworks) translate—or fail to translate—into Social Studies classroom realities.
- Student and Community Voices in Social Studies Reflexive, empirical research highlighting student agency, teacher activism, and community-engaged pedagogy.
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ssrp
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here: journal’s author guidelines hyperlink
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Deadlines
Submission Open: 1st Aug 2025
Submission Deadline: 21st Nov 2025
Guest Editors
Dr. Vikram Singh, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Regional Campus Manipur, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (A Central University), Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India vikramsingh.rcm@igntu.ac.in
For more details refer here
