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Social Reconstruction And Education : A Philosophy Focused On Achieving Social Change

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Social Reconstruction & Education
Social reconstruction is a philosophy focused on achieving social change. As a practice, it strives to achieve social justice and equity by altering the various social systems upon which society rests. It is based upon two major understandings; first, that society tends to develop systems that marginalize and oppress others and thus need to change, and second, that achieving this change requires both creating a system that serves as a change agent and is open to changing it’s own purposes and structures as the social contexts in which it exists naturally evolve.
Since we live in a world of seemingly endless and diverse challenges, and since educational systems and schools are one of the primary means by which we develop understanding and skills related to functioning in society, social reconstruction requires that social reform serve as the primary goal of every student’s education. As an educational philosophy, educational institutions at all levels are viewed as the main means by which students are prepared to reconstruct the systems through which inequality and the oppression and marginalization of other people occur. Educational reconstruction purposefully and explicitly requires that our schools function as change agents, empowering students to question the very systems in which they live and work, and to create a society that is more equitable and just.
As an “educational social movement” guided by critical pedagogy, social

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