Social Justice

The term "social justice" is thrown around often in conversations and media, and admittedly I think that has made me forget what the term really means (as opposed to it conjuring up general feelings or attitudes). For my reading this week, I chose to review the National Education Association's (NEA) description of it in the "Teaching Strategies" section of their website. The article in question is titled "Diversity Toolkit: Social Justice." The article is rather short, but its concise and to the point, which I appreciated.

In the very first paragraph or two, the NEA article summarizes what social justice means to them: it "refers to a concept in which equity or justice is achieved in every aspect of society rather than in only some aspects or for some people." Essentially what they are saying is that regardless of class, or race, or sex, etc., everyone should have an equal and proportionate amount of the advantages within a society and, according to them, the disadvantages as well. Everyone should feel empowered and "have a sense of their own agency," while also practicing social responsibility. In the next paragraph of the article, the NEA author goes on to talk about the main issues within social justice, and expands more on the ideas previously mentioned.

The final section of the article focuses on strategies (this is part of a "teaching strategies" section, after all) that aim to support social justice in the classroom. The first one is a big one, and one that I think is perhaps the most basic and easiest to practice: "focus on diversity." We've discussed in class the fact that no student of ours will be a like - every student has their own background, interests, etc. But if we only acknowledge this fact and don't take the time to educate ourselves regarding the composition of the community we teach in, we're not going to go far. We have to do more than recognize that these differences exist; we have to act, and make ourselves aware. The article goes on to make a few different points relating specifically to oppression: we have to address the consequences of oppression, resist hierarchies of oppression, and understand the mechanics of oppression that allow for it to continue. 

The article concludes with its final point, which is that we should aim (as a strategy) to look at social justice on three levels: the level of self, the level of the institution (your school), and the level of the community. Social justice is meant to apply to entire societies (communities), down to the person (the self). This goes for our classrooms as well. Social justice is important to our classrooms because our classrooms should serve as that safe space where no one is oppressed, where everyone is given the same advantages and disadvantages as his or her neighbor. If we can bring social justice into our classrooms then hopefully, ideally, our students can help to bring it to the rest of the world too as they move on and become adult citizens.

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