Teaching for Social Justice

This past week, we (everyone in my program) went through a three-day workshop on Teaching for Social Justice. Now that we're almost two months into the semester, we've been using a lot of terms without really defining them, such as teaching for social justice, multicultural education, and culturally relevant teaching. I felt like I had a general gist of what these terms meant, but I was having a lot of trouble finding a specific definition that would be directly relevant to what I do as a teacher in the classroom. Fortunately, this three-day conference gave me a much better framework for what we mean by teaching for social justice.

We started off discussing some race and gender issues and how our biases come into play in daily circumstances. I thought a lot about how I act on the subway every day, especially at night. I often worry about how I should react to homeless people or people that appear either intellectually disabled or psychologically damaged. I know that most of these people are in these circumstances through no fault of their own, yet they are outcasts of society. We treat them as if they are not human. It's altogether too easy for us to forget how vulnerable we are, and it's even easier to ignore the people that don't seem to matter to us. On the other hand, sometimes I worry about my personal safety at night. I don't want to be a naive young woman who trusts everyone a little too much and ignores obvious warning signs simply for the sake of being more politically correct. I find it difficult to strike this balance sometimes, but regardless, it's important that we are aware of how we interact with people of different genders and races on a daily basis.

The second day we talked about the Holocaust. Sure, sometimes it felt more like a history lesson than useful information to bring into the classroom. However, I think it was a very important reflection for us in the end. We talked not just about all the people who didn't speak out against the Nazis, but we talked about the people who did. Honestly, I had no idea that there were people that publicly protested the Nazis. I thought everything was done underground. But this story about the non-Jewish women who protested when their Jewish husbands had been arrested blew my mind. The Nazis actually let their husbands free! I think it speaks to how we tend to stand up for people who are important to us. On one hand, it makes sense as part of human nature. I'm much more likely to stand up for my brother than for someone I met yesterday. However, as a teacher, I must be an advocate for every single student, no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or religious preference. I need to put all of that aside (or rather, use it to my advantage) and make sure I give every student the best education I can give them. It makes me reflect on my background and my identity, because I need to know how the components that make up my person affect the students that I work for.

The final day was when I finally really understood how this all comes together. We had two superintendents from different districts and one of the co-headmasters of the school where I'm interning come in and talk to us about what teaching for social justice means. I had been struggling to figure out how I could literally teach social justice in my math curriculum. However, it took me three days to figure out that that's not really what they mean. Teaching for social justice is how we can change the institutional problems within the school. One speaker used the example of making sure that we, as educators, know that the students are watching, and we cannot be silent when we see injustices in our school community. On a very small level, it's making sure we point out to a student that using the word "retarded" is inappropriate and offensive. They may not respond the first time you say it, but as long as you consistently respond, they will eventually get the message. This is one small example, but it helped me to see the amount of change you can effect as a teacher. The way we instill values in our students is just as important as the math I am teaching. So it's more about finding ways to teach those important lessons while I teach the students the math curriculum. I don't feel like I'm phrasing this terribly well, but I hope you can begin to understand the importance of social justice in the classroom.

We also spent a long time talking about the MCAS as a high-stakes test for a graduation requirement. I wish everyone could see the documentary we watched about it. The MCAS is really a way of denying a group of the population their high school diplomas. If you set a bar that people have to meet in order to receive a diploma, then some part of the population has to not meet it in order for it to be considered meeting high expectations. However, two-thirds of students denied their diplomas due to not passing the MCAS are students with disabilities, and another good chunk are English language learners. Let's talk about social justice now! We are just continuing the cycle of discrimination against students with disabilities and immigrants. Someone on the earlier panel said that often someone starts with an idea, then imposes rules and norms using that idea, and then does studies to gather data that reinforces the original idea. In other words, often data is a false representation of the truth based on previous biases. That's how people argued that women and blacks weren't as capable as white men for many years. We need to reconsider how we gather and use data to make arguments. Otherwise, we will never progress.

I think it is really important that I comment on how this teacher preparation program has been amazingly thought-provoking for me and for many other students in the program. A full-year internship is the best possible way to gain as much experience as possible before becoming a full-time teacher, and my classes are continually providing me with more and more insight as to how I can approach the profession so I can be the best teacher I can be. I want to be an effective math teacher for students in urban, public high schools who fights for social justice and equality. I know I'm a little idealistic, but if I'm not, then what sense do I have being in the business anyway, right?