Social Justice in the Classroom

The article I read through was “Creating Classrooms for Social Justice” by Tabitha Dell'Angelo (available on Edutopia, link at the bottom). The main idea behind this article is that the classroom should be a place that encourages students to make a positive change in the world. This is done through the discussion of real-world issues and looking at multiple perspectives. The article says that educators need to “make what you are teaching relevant to what is going on in the world”. It goes on to say that the classroom door should not be a magical barrier to the world outside. You should try to link relevant content to what is going on outside your classroom in order to get the students to care about the content. It also allows students to practice high-level thinking skills like discerning fact from fiction, deciding the point of view, and interpreting information and deciding their own “truth”. 

This shouldn’t be a time for teachers to impose their own beliefs upon their students but just to show them alternative opinions that they can judge for themselves.

Creating a social justice orientation in the classroom is also a time for students for students to voice their opinions. In order to do this, you must create a classroom community that values different opinions. Dell’Angelo believes that students should be taught to view each other as “academic siblings”. Siblings will argue from time to time, but your students should always feel that they can trust their siblings to have their back, be honest, and support them, even if they have a difference in opinion. 

Article Link: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-classrooms-for-social-justice-tabitha-dellangelo