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Most often, discussions focusing upon the importance of teaching social justice are steeped in abstract philosophical concepts that leave most practitioners uninspired and uninformed as to the best way to teach this topic to their students. What are required are articles limited in "academic jargon" and rich in classroom examples. I am not advocating for "goof proof" curriculum planning, but critical explorations in the best ways to encourage our students to ask the questions, "Why are some people advantaged and others disadvantaged, and how am I implicated in the existing social order?"
If our schools are to be places of hope and inspiration, teachers must address the paradox of helping children not only value themselves, but also transcend this self-acceptance and embrace those around them. This article makes no demands for curricular alchemists. Critical teaching practices which attempt to teach concepts like social justice are not grounded in magic, but qualities like empathy, courage, and activism. In creating a classroom committed to social justice the following ought to be considered.
The process of becoming literate is inseparable from living.
A classroom committed to teaching children about social responsibility must see student collaboration and participation as prerequisites for implementing a goal of teaching social justice. During my years as an elementary teacher serving a poor working-class community, I realized that the phrase "links to home" had to encompass more than letters about student misconduct and newsletters about upcoming bake sales. The phrase had to be broadened to encompass the reality that classroom communities cannot be established among learners unless the lives of students and their families are directly linked to the curriculum of the classroom. This goal is at times extremely difficult for the best of teachers to bridge, but one that must be attempted by all educators whose teaching goals emerge out of a deep respect for their students (Peterson, 1994).
During the first weeks of school, I would often focus activities on gathering as much information as I could on the families of my students. For example, I would provide each child with a large sheet of Bristol board cut in the shape of a puzzle piece. Having prepared the pieces, I ensured that each puzzle piece interlocked and fit with another Bristol...