Social Justice

The article that I found and chose to read is the NCTE's statement and stance on social justice.  Here is the link: http://www.ncte.org/cee/positions/socialjustice I decided to go with this article because it seemed like a practical place to start my understanding of what social justice is in the classroom and especially as an ELA teacher.  The layout of the article is smart as it goes through seven points and gives suggested application in the classroom and ideas for teacher's individual growth as well.  The main takeaway that I got from this article is that social justice doesn't have a cut and dry definition, but it is an ever-changing definition as our idea of social justice as a society develops. The focus of social justice in the classroom is on equal treatment of every student regardless of their background and giving each student the same opportunity for success and achievement.  The idea of diversity awareness is greeted with the idea of putting yourself in someone else's shoes, which applies to both students and teachers alike. One of the striking statements in this article is that,  "Research on student achievement confirms that classroom teachers are directly relational to the 'quality and equitable delivery of education and student academic achievement.'" The representation of social justice in the classroom starts with the teacher.

The second idea that runs throughout this article is the topic of discussion. The tools and questions that are listed are intended to spark a dialogue in the classroom about what kind of oppression students see around them and where power comes from.  The topics of discussion also include praxis and putting social justice into action.  It asks students what they can do to personally make a difference in the world around them and charges teachers with helping them find the tools to make change. One of the reasons the NCTE says it's so hard to define social justice is that every student's story is different; therefore, their version of social justice or, conversely, oppression is different. These are ideas that relate directly to the conversation we've been having this quarter about discussion and student voice as well as to Freire and the conversation of oppression. It also speaks to the use of popular culture in the classroom as we will need to be in touch with the lives of our students to have knowledge of and compassion for how they're interpreting the world around them.