Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on social justice in education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays on social justice in education
Social justice is at the core of my desire to become an elementary teacher and attend the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education. More specifically, my main, overarching goal for graduate study is to learn the theory and practical skills necessary to create a system of equal opportunity for learning in my own classroom. I recognize the powerful role a teacher may play in a student’s life and am therefore driven to learning how I, a white middle class woman, can most effectively teach and create relationships with students that are unlike myself.
To that end, I have several areas of interest that I predict will inform my personal teaching style. I am interested in practices that are accessible and inclusive. I am interested in how information is transferred between a student and a teacher and how that information reinforces power structures in
…show more content…
I am interested in learning how to connect with students of different races, genders, and sexualities while, simultaneously, urging them to find positive role models more like themselves. I strongly believe in equity versus
Through the courses that I have taken thus far, I have learned about and experienced many rewards of teaching for social justice. However, I have also learned about the challenges of teaching for social justice, such as mismatches, racial stigmas, and avoiding oppressive teaching, to name a few. From course readings, the dispositions, and real-life situations, I have been able to grasp the understanding of being a teacher for social justice.
The task of identifying my social identity was easier said than done. I acknowledged the somewhat privilege I encounter along with the oppression I endure. In retrospect, my social identity unambiguously resembles a coin where on one side oppression lies with dirt rusting but on the flip side privilege stares right back at me, shining bright. I initially could not see the benefits since I’m a low income college student. I became too encompassed with one side of the coin. After we learned what the word, privilege, indeed meant, I realized the various facets of my life in which that word could apply. Self pity can greedily advance on you from out of nowhere thus averting you from flipping the coin. I familiarized with counting my struggles instead of my blessings. In accordance with my social identity I would say I’m privileged with the
Personal statement. In contrast with the formal writing sample, we use the personal statement to get to know you a little better. The personal statement should be a maximum of 1700 words. Please use the personal statement address the following three questions:
My focus during Greenfield Community College and the University of Mass Amherst has been based on social justice, and environmental protection. My goal to continue understanding in these areas of interests is the focus during the last year to complete my bachelor’s. I want to continue a master’s program in social sciences and policy implementation; continuing my work in the integration of law, the incorporation of Co-Ops and other non-profit organizations which address social inequalities, including poor housing, poor nutrition and other sub-par conditions found in impoverished communities. The papers I have composed, in environmental justice and law, examine the impacts of hazardous environments on developmental neurological weaknesses
They suggested that teachers needed to go beyond practicing multiculturalism in the classroom, they need to embrace it as a modicum of everyday life and find ways to get involved in organizations and events that encourage social justice. The techniques suggested by the authors were realistic and easy to implement in the classroom. The authors acknowledge that though white educators will experience some difficulties in teaching cross-cultural courses, these difficulties should not discourage them from teaching multicultural content. This article should be a required reading for all multicultural courses because it can provide a sense of enlightenment for all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds. It exposed some of the trials and tribulations that white professors’ experience, and even acknowledges some of the thoughts that I would have as a black student being taught by a white professor. I think having this article as a required reading will impact white students by making them consciously aware of their white privilege and will influence them to explore it and their racial identity. For students of other ethnic backgrounds, it will help us to better understand the perspective of white people, and teach us how to better communicate with them so that they too may understand our
A significant problem of practice in education is teacher bias. Teacher bias has implications around race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and socioeconomic status. Teachers must be willing to examine their beliefs, acknowledge and overcome their biases. Teachers need to evaluate their practices in relation to their ideals as well as recognize and assess the position of power they hold in their classrooms in order to be true Social Justice Educators (Cooper, 2003).
I have been voiceless and silenced for eighteen years of my life. My entire childhood consisted of me getting abused and not being able to speak up without getting shut down. I grew up making friends that suffered from addictions or got in trouble a lot, they were also voiceless. Watching my friends grow up and fall deeper into the grasp of their addiction was heartbreaking, no one would listen to them. No one would look past their actions to find out what was causing them to turn to drugs or alcohol, they were only the "problem kids." Ever since I have always been driven to help individuals acquire safety and advice. I am driven to be in a position that lets me help people who are in similar situations, which is why I want to go into the addictions
“Social Justice in Education” by R. W. Connell discusses the role of education in society and the implications that social justice issues have on education. Connell begins by establishing that education and social justice can be examined separately yet they are inescapably linked through the social medium of their implementation. “Education concerns schools, colleges and universities, whose business is to pass knowledge on to the next generation. Social justice is about income, employment, pensions or physical assets like housing.”(Connell, 1993) Three points validating the equal importance of social justice and the education system to people of all delineations are: 1.) in Western society public schools are key forums of social interaction and comprise some of the largest social institutions 2.) educational institutions are highly economic bodies and have become “major public assets” (Connell, 1993) 3.) teaching becomes a vehicle by which society is ultimately determined and has a great influence over society’s morality. Connell describes the meaning of justice in education as being “a question of fairness in distribution… equality.”(Connell, 1993) “Justice cannot be achieved by distributing the same… standard good to… all social classes.”(Connell, 1993) By stating this, Connell summarizes that in the attempt to achieve equality, unequal means must be employed.
By studying in Japan, I hope to expand my knowledge of a culture that personally interests me, but to which I have had extremely limited exposure. Additionally, I hope to serve as an ambassador for America’s diverse racial makeup.
I would like to begin by saying that every teacher has his or her own personality, and the incorporation of that could alter some of the specifics of each of my principles,
I want to be surrounded by like-minded individuals and engaging professors in order to help seek out the questions and answers to help solve these problems that have in part to do with social justice and education. I’m very keen on the social aspect of injustices in the sense that I often wonder how it’s gotten to be this way. A place where not everyone is safe, not all opportunities are created equal, and that it being born in a specific location can drastically your outcome. Don’t mistake my wonderment for ignorance or naïveté; I know this is the world we live in. Our experiences define us.
The origins of social work in the United States mirror an ongoing growth of ideas put together from many different cultures. While modern social work here in the states were built on Christian idea many of its concepts are in part due to the influence of the Koran and the mutual aid practices of Native Americans, the African-American community, and immigrants from all over the world.
Parker Palmer (1998) believes that teaching is a deeply personal activity. I started teaching without much personal consideration. However my dedication to teaching today has grown out of my personal interactions with students. As a result, teaching has become a significant part of my identity. I realize my role in a student’s life is one of a ment...
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.
Thought out our lives, we are faced with many different learning experiences. Some of these experiences have made a better impact than others. This can be attributed to everyone’s different multiple intelligences or learning styles. A persons learning style is the method though which they gain information about their environment. As a teacher, it is our responsibility to know these styles, so we can reach each of our students and use all of the necessary methods.