Social Justice in the Classroom

When thinking about social justice in the classroom, it’s easy to first think of these big, systemic, societal issues that discussions about social justice typically revolve around. And surely, if we aren’t thinking about societal issues of race, class, gender, economic status, and oppression, then we really aren’t thinking about social justice. But for this post, my thoughts drifted a little closer to home. My thoughts were mainly focused on the microcosm of my future classroom and the issue of social justice on that level. What happens in my classroom can’t be separated from those macro-level issues of social justice, but if I as a teacher am going to have an impact, it must first start with my students in my classroom, and with regard to that, these are the thoughts I had:

I think the first step in addressing social justice in my classroom starts with acknowledging my own biases. This doesn’t necessarily mean that my biases are wrong and it doesn’t mean that I need to shun or reject my biases, but I do need to recognize the personal lived experiences and perspectives that I bring to the classroom and be constantly and mindfully mitigating how I let that impact my instruction. I also want to be sure that my students are mindful of the biases they also bring into the classroom. It’s unreasonable to expect myself or my students to take on an entirely objective perspective when it comes to social justice, but we can all be mindful of our biases and I think this is a great first step to addressing these issues.  

In addition to acknowledging our biases, I don’t think I can overstate the importance of knowing my students. Knowing some of the status quos that my specific students are encountering can help me as an instructor to challenge that status quo. Knowing the ways in which my students might be encountering oppression (either as the oppressed or as an oppressor) can help me know how to engage these issues.

Teaching students to think critically is also hugely important when it comes to issues of social justice. In line with our previous reading and discussion from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, oppression is propagated and maintained by ignorance; the most effective way to combat oppression is to teach students to think critically.