Title: How to Teach Social Justice in the Classroom | Resilient Educator
Headings: Teaching Social Justice in Theory and Practice
Teaching Social Justice in Theory and Practice
Goals of social justice
Adding the philosophy of social justice to the classroom
Fostering a classroom community of conscience
Helping students see each other as co-learners rather than adversaries
Including diverse experiences and backgrounds in classroom materials
Social justice in the real world: classroom discussions that help students critically engage with issues that affect them
Racism and social justice
Bullying, friendship and dating behavior
Turning social justice learning into community service and action
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Content: By creating this sort of classroom environment, teachers enable students to build each other up in conversation and action. Including diverse experiences and backgrounds in classroom materials
Teachers can also strengthen the classroom community through learning experiences that draw upon the diverse backgrounds of their students. New information that includes multiple perspectives will better resonate with students’ previous knowledge. Teachers must also be aware of the messages sent by the learning materials they use. To determine if texts are privileging certain narratives, teachers need to analyze whether they recount an event — the Civil War, for example — from multiple points of view or favor the dominant culture. When choosing class materials, teachers should employ books, articles and lesson plans that include diverse voices and cultures. Educators also may need to call upon colleagues or community members from specific backgrounds in order to better understand their cultures. Social justice in the real world: classroom discussions that help students critically engage with issues that affect them
Once teachers are able to foster a learning environment that enables thoughtful discussions with a variety of opinions and perspectives, they can facilitate conversations about real-world issues that affect students’ everyday lives. Students need to be able to recognize real-world problems and critically engage with these issues.