The first way to promote social justice in the classroom is to create a community of conscience.
![social justice issues social justice issues](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/41/df/9c/41df9c6a874ed257291c912c70d57ef3.jpg)
Fostering a classroom community of conscience In order to foster classroom social justice, teachers must first build a safe, encouraging place where students can speak about their experiences and beliefs. However, classrooms can also shut down that conversation, whether it’s in order to prepare for standardized tests, through a lack of discussion time, or because a teacher simply doesn’t understand or value cultural competency. In “ Rethinking Our Classrooms ,” Wayne Au, Bill Bigelow and Stan Karp write that “classrooms can be places of hope, where students and teachers gain glimpses of the kind of society we could live in and where students learn the academic and critical skills needed to make it a reality.” Adding the philosophy of social justice to the classroom Through answering these questions, students can start to recognize injustice existing at the micro and macro levels. Why is a given practice fair or unfair?.Who makes decisions and who is left out?.To help students examine systemic inequality, teachers can have them consider questions such as: Social justice advocates hope to build a society in which individuals have equal access to resources and receive equitable treatment regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexuality, income level or disability.Įnabling conversations about these issues empowers students to voice their concern and question unjust situations in their lives or in the lives of those around them. Students studying this field use critical examination of themselves, others, institutions and events to find patterns of inequality, bigotry or discrimination, then explore possible solutions to the problems they’ve identified. Social justice doesn’t manifest in a singular fashion, nor is it achieved through a specific means of instruction.