Title: Creating Classrooms for Social Justice | Edutopia
Headings: Creating Classrooms for Social Justice
Creating Classrooms for Social Justice
By Tabitha Dell'Angelo
September 29, 2014
Connecting to Students' Lives
Linking to Real-World Problems and Multiple Perspectives
Creating Classroom Community
Include Authentic Assessments

Content: Of course, this is not an opportunity for a teacher to impose his or her beliefs on the students. It is important to choose topics about which you feel you can be pedagogically neutral as you support students' own journey of learning how to be critical thinkers and forming their own opinions. Creating Classroom Community
Create opportunities for students' voices to be heard. They need to be taught how to participate in a discussion. As teachers, we can encourage both sharing one's own ideas and responding to the ideas of classmates. The teacher's role is to use questioning that can help students make connections between the big ideas that inform the lesson content. Classrooms can also provide time for collaboration toward a common goal. Teach students to be "academic siblings." We all know that sometimes siblings get on each other's nerves, but ultimately you know that you can count on your siblings to have your back, be honest with you, and support you. Also, teachers can take a critical look at the materials in the classroom.