Social Justice in the Classroom

Social Justice: "Justice exercised within a society, particularly as it is applied to and among the various social classes of a society. A socially just society is one based upon the principles of equality and solidarity; which pedagogy also maintains that a socially just society both understands and values human rights, as well as recognizing the dignity of every human being." This is a definition of social justice that I found online.

Teachers should promote social justice in their classrooms to model to their students how to behave a treat people in society. In order to get the best results from students a teacher should make everyone in the classroom feel equally important. I think this question of social justice in the classroom goes along with the discussion we had in class about whether it is the teacher's responsibility to teach morals in the classroom. Promoting social justice in the classroom is a part of teaching morals to students. A teacher displaying to their students that everyone's input in the classroom is equally important can go along way with students, especially in a secondary classroom when students are adolescents. Adolescents are going through a lot of social problems in middle and high school so when a teacher displays to their students that everyone is treated equally, students will understand that is how you act in society.

I think most often throughout history teachers have failed to promote social justice in the classroom. Whether it was teaching only one certain way, presenting material to a class in only one form and not accommodating to different learning styles, or flat out favoring one student over another. Time and time again teachers have failed to promote social justice in the classroom. Now with more of an emphasis on differentiated instruction, promoting social justice in the classroom has become easier for teachers. Also, classrooms with more diversity can make it easier for teachers to promote social justice in the classroom.