Social Justice within Education is not something that magically happens. A teacher won’t wake up one day and their classroom will magically be filled with equality and the teacher themselves won’t be biased. The teacher is the main contributor to having that equality. Social justice starts somewhere, and it starts with them. In a passage I read called “Creating Classrooms for Equity and Social Justice,” it pointed out many things that can help with making a classroom equal. Having the social justice curriculum. One of the statements listed were letting the students have say in their lessons. It lets them be involved in the classroom. This way, it helps with their decision making in the near and/or far future. In my perspective, without letting …show more content…
Charles Cassar tells Pondiscio and Paul Pastorek a story about how he was teaching world history and going over a review on Renaissance. Cassar says, “One of my kids puts his hand up and says, ‘Mr. Cassar, I don’t get it. Does God not make Michaelangelos or Leonardo DaVincis anymore?’” Cassar then has a moment and asks himself what they, as teachers, can do to develop the education and knowledge of students like the one in the story. Robert Pondiscio then has a moment of realization and says “…. I realized I didn’t know if that student was black or white. It hadn’t occurred to me to ask.” And to me, it just shows that being a persons knowledge should not be based on what ethnicity they …show more content…
And that is trust. Trust is a big thing in a classroom when it comes to building equality or social justice. The passage states that if the student doesn’t feel safe in any form, they won’t make connections to their personal feelings and experiences pertaining to the lesson or discussion. They will just come up with answers that they aren’t even sure about. As a teacher, you should be able to build that trust between you and the student as well as the trust between the students themselves. In conclusion, equality in a classroom doesn’t really start until the teacher addresses it. It’s really important that they do so. By doing so, students will be able to treat each other equally. They will also be able to trust and respect not only each other, but the teacher as well. It’s like the golden rule: Treat others how you want to be
Matthew Lynch is the author of “4 Reasons Why Classrooms Need Diversity Education”, his article addresses four key reasons that children need to be a part of a diverse classroom. Lynch states that to insure that all students get equal treatment by giving them equal chances to
With more events disputing over a child’s enrolment in taking social justice positions learned in school, it is hard for society to decide whether social justice should be apart of the curriculum. Cynthia Reynolds, author of Maclean’s article Why are schools brain washing our children, explores the topic of social justice in our education system.
The educational system has been around for thousands of years, and throughout time, there have always existed equality issues. From girls not being able to attend school as far as the boys, to children being separated into different schools because of the color of their skin, equality in education is an issue that has plagued humanity for far too long. Throughout the years, there have been some important decisions made in an effort to afford equality in education. Perhaps, as we move forward in our thinking and beliefs, we may find a way to make education a right that everyone who has the desire to grow through knowledge should be afforded, regardless of circumstance.
“Not just safe in terms of physical and emotional safety, but also in terms of students feeling safe enough to take intellectual risks.”
The first article I read was titled “What Does Teaching for Social Justice Mean to Teacher Candidates?” I learned that its not the gap between age of the student and teacher, but the main problem is the teachers entering the field have limited to no experience or understanding of different races, backgrounds, culture, and class. Because of this, teachers are having a harder time working with diverse learners, and its common to see teachers holding grudges on these students or having poor attitudes towards this population. In this same article, they talk about this gap a little bit more in depth by saying “The academic achievement gap among different racial, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic status groups of students is exacerbated by inequitable educational opportunities and resources, access to highly qualified teachers, and access to proper pedagogy and pedagogical resources.” From this reading, I have learned its very important to know my students and get to know a little about bout where they come from and their backgrounds to better be able to
Markedly, there is a huge difference between a want and a need; therefore, teachers the distinctive concept of equality and fairness is not synonymous. For instance, if a student needs to put on glasses when in class to see the board clearly, equality would suggest that all student in the classroom are given glasses, on the other hand, fairness would be to ensure that the child is in a position to where his or her glasses. In essence, teachers must foster and create an opening and nurturing classroom environment for their students in order for them to successfully distinguish the teacher’s definition of fairness and the child’s definition of fairness. Arguably, this is one of the biggest challenges faced by teachers in ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for children who are culturally diverse. In conclusion, a teacher cannot effectively teach students to his or her fullest potential without having a fundamental understanding of a child’s disability or ethnic and cultural background. Therefore, it should be every teacher’s goal for all students in his or her class to exceed
The facts are real and obvious that teachers and students are equal and are the same person no higher the creator of our beings gave us rights and made us equal there's no right for us as humans to take something away they didn't create. To obtain these rights teachers must allow students to be respected but also be treated as teachers are treated no different. When teachers act like they have more power than u as a person even tho god made us equal it makes the students feel like kids so we act like kids. It's now time for the kids
In the United States, there is a long history of unequal treatment among ethnic minority groups, particularly for African Americans. Unfortunately, this injustice also appears in education. Sociologists have affirmed the importance of education in shaping the economic and social prospects of individuals. As all communities in the United States have been diversified, it becomes crucial to recognize and properly deal with diversity within the classroom. All students should be guaranteed to have equal opportunities for quality education at school. However, racism is still prevalent in many schools today (Beswick, 4, 1990, Pennino, 2007). Racism now has different forms, like the individual instructions student can get from their teachers, and the acceptance of students among their classmates. These can have negative and lasting effects on students even when they leave school. Students must not experience any type of stereotyping, ethnic prejudice or racial violence in schools. Asante (2003) said: "Racism in education can not be overcome by the expression of goodwill, it must be constantly confronted in all conscious ways" (p.223).
The term social justice is normally used when referring to the ideas of equality and providing equal opportunities to pupils within school, regardless of their background, history or circumstances. Views of social justice can change depending on who is discussing the topic.
The educator who tells a student ‘If I let you do that, I will have to let everyone else do it,’ may be denying that student an equal opportunity to learn, if in fact that student needs special assistance in order to find success in school. Equality does not mean treating every student the same. It means educators will respond to students’ individual needs so each will have an opportunity to succeed.
In this case study, a third year first-grade teacher was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to talk to the principal about her concerns. One of her concerns was that two of the other first – grade teachers (who were very good friends with the principal) were always getting the high achieving students that came from wealthy backgrounds in their classroom. Her other concern was that these two teachers always had higher test scores because of the high achieving students that were placed in their classroom. This made her scores look bad because she always received the students that struggled to perform. The third year first- grade didn’t mind teaching the struggling learners but she did feel that ALL students would benefit from mixed classrooms. Therefore, she was faced with the following questions: Should I talk to the principal or not? Should I talk to the other first grade teachers? Should I talk to someone else? Or, should I just ignore the situation to keep things from getting worse?
Over the last eight weeks, we have visited and deeply discussed many topics that surround social justice in the classroom. These topics have ranged from social justice in the world to how to create a socially just classroom and everything in between. In class, there has been a few times where it has been uncomfortable because the topics can bring out many opinions in the room. Many people in the room shared their opinions, including me, which brought up many other discussions. In this essay, I will be discussing our navigations through the social justice issues that classrooms face by talking about the key points of our class throughout the last eight weeks.
The overall functioning of a classroom is impacted by trust, safety, and consistency. When a student does not feel safe he or she will reflect this through his or her behavior. Trust is important for students to take risks and allow learning to occur in the classroom. Trust, safety, and consistency are beneficial in the learning environment. A classroom where students feel safe, realize the teacher is consistent, and trust is developed, will allow students to grow and change socially, emotionally, and academically. This will offer a positive learning environment.
According to Nielsen (2013), in the United States, the government has been working hard in the due process of providing education to the children in the country. Despite the efforts that have been initiated by the United States education department, there is a problem of equity in education access around the nation. There are a good number of students who do not have the same opportunities as others when it comes to the education sector. For instance, in most cases, the quality of education that a student will get depends with their social class in the community. Those with a weak living condition are less likely to have the same quality of education as those who belong to the wealthy families. Therefore, the importance of equity, issues with sameness and the strategies suggested by Natalie (2013) and the report by the equity and excellence commission will form the basis of discussion for this paper.
Teaching can be a challenge, you never know what to expect and each classroom will be unique. However, you will always have to be prepare for teaching in a situation you may not be comfertable with. Educating students and practicing proper knowledge on subjects such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability are vital in creating a safe and respectful classroom for all. School is often looked upon as a place of security for students and it is our job as teachers to help maintain that status.