What is Social Justice?

Social Justice in the classroom is the equality of distribution of wealth, privilege, and opportunity. Making sure each student is viewed individual, but just at the same time. Social justice is so important in the classroom because it is crucial for students to feel equal to their peers, and that they are not being singled out according to the social or economic status. To create an environment where students want and can have their voices be heard, is an essential part of a healthy classroom that supports social justice. As teachers, we need to make it a point to get our students to engage in classroom discussion, and make it a place where they feel comfortable and open to sharing ideas. I think it is important that teachers do not discriminate against students who come from all different backgrounds, but that it is our job to bring these social issues to their attention and educate them that not everyone comes from the same socio-economic background, and that’s okay. It is okay to be different races, religions, sexual preferences and have different political views. That’s what makes this world so diverse and interesting. But social justice is the part where we don’t discriminate people who are just different than us. The article I read on social justice, Creating Social Justice in the Classroom, talked about making your curricular decisions based around prior knowledge your students bring to the classroom. Getting to know each student briefly and let them know that you value what they already bring to class, is an effective way to create social justice in the classroom. Connecting with them and acknowledging their interests can help make them feel important and significant. Also, making sure your texts don’t all focus on the same issue, but that there is a diverse selection of social issues that ties back to educating them on all the different possibilities of backgrounds that people come from. I believe that is the first step in not only recognizing but teaching social justice in the classroom.