How do you implement social justice in the classroom?

Social justice is about reciprocity between the individual and society. Individuals owe the society in which they live, and the society owes individuals certain benefits.

It begs the question, how should opportunity be distributed among everyone?

That’s a topic ripe for exploration in classrooms.

By teaching social justice in your classroom, you afford your students the opportunity to engage in authentic examination of their world and make positive changes. Your classroom, regardless of the content you teach, can be an incubator for social justice discussions.

Classroom opportunities

Almost any controversial issue can be an opportunity to discuss and understand its implications through the lens of social justice. These issues could be localized, like which students should be selected for participation in the talent show, or they could have a broader scope and impact, like whether countries should control immigration.

Exploring events through social justice requires that your students apply critical thinking in authentic scenarios. Students make connections to real-world challenges using skills learned in class.

Some of the skills required include:

• Differentiating between fact and opinion to determine what is true.
• Examining diverse points of view to look at an issue from all sides.
• Developing a personal perspective based on accurate comprehension

Social justice activities

Children often have a keen sense of fairness. You can use social justice lessons to help them call out what’s fair and what’s not. Try lessons like these to get your students thinking about social justice:

• Outside-inside. Give pairs of students a piece of fruit. Ask them to describe the outside, including any distinguishing marks. Have them peel their fruit and toss it a large bowl with all the others from class. Encourage your students to find their fruit. The object of the lesson is to show that people are like the fruit. Our exteriors are different, but the insides are the same.
• Who’s job is it? Teach gender and racial stereotypes by talking about different careers. Who traditionally holds these jobs? Have students explore salary differences between genders and discuss whether the differences are warranted.
• Seeing both sides. Bring a current policy or law into the classroom for discussion. For example, have your students consider bicycle helmet laws, the dress code policy, or a contentious state law. Talk about the facts and opinions surrounding the law or policy. Consider all points of view as you have students look at multiple points of view. Ask your students to develop their own stance regarding the issue.

A caveat when teaching social justice

Remember that lessons on social justice are less about your opinions and more about helping your students uncover and express theirs. Because the topics you discuss may be controversial, include your campus administrator in what’s going on. They can help to identify possible challenges and work with concerned parents.

As you begin to incorporate social justice connections in your curriculum and lessons, you may begin to see the world with changed eyes. Teaching social justice in the classroom may change how you and your students perceive the world or even the slant in teaching materials.

One of the most exciting waves of change over the past few years has been around the topic of social justice. To some, it’s a term that still carries some judgement. However, its implementation in everyday life has been crucial to every minority or underrepresented group.

It is essential that education professionals understand what “social justice” means so they can be equipped to discuss it. Social justice is not about being forced to believe in something. It is about unpacking one’s own inherent biases, which is a difficult task of monumental importance.

The biggest challenge with biases is that we all carry them. Karen Doss Bowman from NAFSA notes that “[u]nconscious, or implicit, biases are the attitudes, preferences, and assumptions that any person holds toward another individual or group of people. These beliefs — centered around a wide range of characteristics, from race, ethnicity, and gender to religion, speaking accent, physical appearance, and physical abilities — are formed from birth, outside of a person’s awareness.”

In a classroom context, these biases can take many forms. For example, a teacher may assume that a student will excel in certain subjects according to images traditionally linked to their ethnicity. Or, they might expect an international student to have a certain migratory trajectory. Most of these assumptions are not made on purpose to hurt a student, but they may negatively impact the pupil’s performance.

Taking Action Towards Solutions

There’s no question of whether bias in education exists: nowadays, there’s a consensus that it is a problem that institutions must tackle head-on. The first step is admitting there’s an issue and understanding how, as an educator, you may contribute to the problem. Scholastic compiled a list of tips to “bias-proof your classroom,” and the first is to ask yourself questions such as: “Do I truly believe that all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic background, are capable of academic success?” or “Do I have beliefs about their home lives or community that prevent me from seeing their academic potential?” and “Do I treat students how I want my children to be treated by teachers?” The answers may make you uncomfortable, but that’s part of the process.

After this critical step of self-reflection and self-assessment comes action. Many students from a different race, gender or national origin may feel like the teacher does not like them. It’s important to check in with them and make sure that they know that you actively care. Sometimes, favoriting a student over another may cause this rift. Educator Gail Thompson for Scholastic suggests that teachers treat their problem kid as the star student and “for 21 consecutive school days, force yourself to view and treat this student as if he or she were the brightest student in your class.” Exercises like these shift the dynamics entirely within the class, exposing what was not working.

Educators can also use other strategies to create a more democratic environment when attending to various student voices. In this department, technology can be your friend: using Doodle or Google Docs can allow students to contribute equally, not being outshone by those who are the “teacher’s pet.”

These are minor steps to take as soon as possible. But of course, educators must show no tolerance for abusive and discriminatory behavior of any kind: perhaps the most crucial step of all in the fight for social justice is to call out injustice when you see it — whether it be among students, teachers or parents.

Learn more about Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Master of Science in Education in Curriculum and Instruction with Emphasis in Advanced Teaching Strategies online program

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