The Article ' Leveraging Conflict For Social Justice Essay

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

How to minimize the hurts of non-white children once their belief on the theory of a society is fair and equality is completely collapsed when the reality is happening in the opposite. In the reading “Why the Myth of Meritocracy Hurts Kids of Color” Mildred Boveda, an assistant education professor at Arizona State University, said: “I will admit that it sometimes felt risky to tackle these difficult conversations, but this [research] underscores why we cannot equivocate when it comes to preparing our children to face injustices.” I agree with her opinion. Because finding the proper solutions to fully empower and equipping the best knowledge that can help children cope better is not easy, but it is the responsibility of the family, the school, and society. The three elements need to act and work together in an effort to dare to speak about the truths mentioned above.

Throughout all that I have learned. Chapter 13 pretty much started with the thoughts of Cornel West in that in order to have courageous conversations- we need to have courageous leaders who strive to achieve equity in schools. It began by stating that we need passionate, persistent leaders who practice doing whatever it takes to transform schools in a way that benefits all students at every level. Whether you are white or a teacher of color the text stressed the need for a balance conversation about educating those that matter (all students). This can only happen if each party involved understand and acknowledge their own feelings about race.

The author, Amanda Lewis, conducted a study in the 1990s to examine how race and racial inequality are reproduced on a day-to-day basis in schools. She argues that the curriculums, educators, and the children themselves create and reinforce racial lessons. She picked three elementary schools in Southern California: Foresthills, West City, and Metro2. The schools were selected based on their location and cultural composition. At each school she was paired with a teacher who would be the best help for the study. She observed the behaviors and interactions of students in fourth/fifth grade classes. Interviews were conducted with the students, teachers, members of the school community, and parents as well.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings was a great resource in thinking about how I would work toward influencing my staff, and the school community as a whole, to engage in discussions about equity. Most notably, she advises us to “acknowledge the race and culture of your students and try to weave it into your teachings” and to “foster a sense of community”. I am lucky to work in a school that was founded and lead by a woman of color for the last 6 years, so equity conversations are not as awkward as they may be in some other schools. In light of recent travesties of justice that have occurred in the US over the past year, these conversations have the potential to become more high-stakes

options in addressing conflict situations. The first part of the book helps the educator understand

The transcript of “Racial Segregation in American Schools” is one of the many things that continue to convey the theme through Pathos. When the principal of Central High School explains how it felt to be inside a mixed school, he included how it made him

Significance. Recent events in the U.S. society have made clear that issues of race remain a pertinent predicament that needs to be resolved. In fact, data collected from the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) on public and private school principals (NCES, 2016) revealed that 38% of the principals who took the survey reported racial tension between students taking place occasionally and another 2% reported that racial tension occurred frequently in their schools. In short, school leaders who continue to abide to colorblind ideology limit the potential for schools to become vehicles for the change our society needs.

Have you ever been called something horrible that was based on what race you were or something even worse than name calling? (Rhetorical Question) In the book, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, Enid Lee explains racism as the “use of individual and institutional power to deny or grant people and groups of the rights of people, respect, representation and resources based on the color of their skin”. (Logos) Such types of discrimination occur most often in schools and are expressed in many forms; in this case, students are the main targets of racism which affects not only how they interact but also how they learn in schools. Unfair situations, social problems, and negative behaviors are all the cause for a huge problem known as racism, which in today’s society is a huge problem that needs to be solved in schools everywhere. (Parallelism)(Thesis)

There’s a growing body of literature on race-conscious school leadership, colorblind ideology, and social justice practices that intersect to inform this study. Recent research can be found on school leadership theories for social justice (Blackmore, 2002; Brown, 2004; Donmoyer, 2014; Johnson & Campbell-Stephens, 2014; Khalifa, Dunbar, & Douglas, 2013; Madsen & Mabokela, 2002; Marshall, 2004; Riehl, 2000; Rusch & Douglass Horsford) and school leader preparation for more inclusive schools (Cambron-McCabe & McCarthy, 2005; Gooden & O’Doherty, 2014; Gooden & Dantley, 2012; Lopez, 2003). There remains a lack of actions and strategies school leadership preparation programs can use (Diem & Carpenter, 2012) to prepare the school leaders needed to push beyond

It has been proven that often, the fight for social justice and the common good comes at a great cost to those involved. Through writings such as Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and Sophocles’ “Antigone”, as well as, lectures such as Dr.Colbourn’s lecture “Confronting History and the Good Life: Life after Rosewood” it is demonstrated how life, freedom, and a normal everyday life suffer as a cost of fighting for social justice and the common good.

To begin, a white woman named Erin Gruwell decides to take up teaching at Woodrow Wilson High School two years following the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. She arrives on the first day to find out that her class is full of “at-risk” high school students— some of which are just out of juvenile hall and have very poor grades. These are kids who have segregated themselves into racial groups so badly that they can’t even sit near each other in the same classroom or walk by each other without getting into fights.

Over the years in our country’s history it has been apparent that the idea of same sex marriages is becoming much more popular, however in most states there is still one thing stopping them. That one thing stopping two people from the pursuit of happiness which they desire is a social injustice. Social injustices are situations where a person or group of people is treated unfairly due to certain factors for example discrimination, prejudice, racism, heterosexism, sexism, and so forth. In the case of same sex marriages, the factor playing a major role in this social injustice is where most people believe that opposite sexes attract, but in the case of a same sex couple wanting to be married, this brings about many topics to be discussed by

Once students and teachers are aware of cultural differences, they become aware of racism and can fight to eradiate it. Through their unbiased understanding of the differences between cultures and races, they are able to come to a point of acceptance of themselves and others. If you noticed in my previous paragraph, I mentioned the different types of diversity. Diversity emphasizes how different students and teachers are, but when explored in a classroom, can be used to reveal our similarities. Once students and teachers grasp the concept of diversity, displayed through everyday interactions with diverse groups of students and teachers, racism begins to disappear. In addition, positive sense of self can be developed once students and teachers have an understanding of their own uniqueness through experiences and understanding of diversity. Once teachers and students

The social conflict paradigm is a theory based on society being a complex system characterized by inequality and conflict that generate social change. Personal life experiences dictate me to believe this theory is true. Discussion of the theory in question and how it pertains to myself will be covered in the paper. Social conflict can be seen all over the world we live in: in sports, politics and normal social engagements. The main point I have experienced with this theory would be the fact that I don’t come from a rich, powerful, and prestigious family, which in turn limits my chances of being successful. Karl Marx studied social conflict His entire life and wanted to reduce social inequality. The social