http://plpnetwork.com/2011/05/23/the-power-of-the-connected-classroom-why-and-how-im-teaching-social-justice/
"I think empathy is one of the most important attributes for young people to develop. We need to cultivate in our students from a young age the gift of empathy; the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person’s feelings. And we need to act. In some way, every one of us on the globe does."
Growing up I never really thought I had a voice, social injustice issues felt too far out of reach. I also thought it was someone else's problem and when I actually wanted to do something I thought it was pointless to do because it was coming from me. Yet I have a voice, a quiet voice, but a voice and I should use it. I read an article about how so many people who are attacked end up dying, not because the emergency team responded too slow, but because the public always expected someone else to act. There is a mentality in the world that I don't have to call, say, or do something because someone else will.
That is why it is important to immerse our students in countries and situations that they have never experienced before and ask our kids, "What is justice? What does that word mean? And for whom? And is our definition somehow skewed as North Americans who have more than our fair share of the resources?"
I know I am stealing a lot of quotes from this article, but they are really good and got me thinking, "When I mentioned to my class that we’d be studying Merchant and Mockingbird together, one of my students looked at me and asked, “What do those two have in common?” My reply: “You figure it out.”
When it comes down to it, I think we should empower our kids. Make sure they feel like their thoughts, opinions, curiosities, and voices matter. Because it is suffocating just to follow the norm, it is suffocating to feel trapped in a society that doesn't include you, and it is suffocating abide by rules that don't make sense to you. In order to tackle this feeling of suffocation, we should be honest with our students and tell them why we are doing what we are doing, why they are learning what they are learning, and give them the freedom they need to explore in a safe, positive, and encouraging environment.
"I think empathy is one of the most important attributes for young people to develop. We need to cultivate in our students from a young age the gift of empathy; the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person’s feelings. And we need to act. In some way, every one of us on the globe does."
Growing up I never really thought I had a voice, social injustice issues felt too far out of reach. I also thought it was someone else's problem and when I actually wanted to do something I thought it was pointless to do because it was coming from me. Yet I have a voice, a quiet voice, but a voice and I should use it. I read an article about how so many people who are attacked end up dying, not because the emergency team responded too slow, but because the public always expected someone else to act. There is a mentality in the world that I don't have to call, say, or do something because someone else will.
That is why it is important to immerse our students in countries and situations that they have never experienced before and ask our kids, "What is justice? What does that word mean? And for whom? And is our definition somehow skewed as North Americans who have more than our fair share of the resources?"
I know I am stealing a lot of quotes from this article, but they are really good and got me thinking, "When I mentioned to my class that we’d be studying Merchant and Mockingbird together, one of my students looked at me and asked, “What do those two have in common?” My reply: “You figure it out.”
When it comes down to it, I think we should empower our kids. Make sure they feel like their thoughts, opinions, curiosities, and voices matter. Because it is suffocating just to follow the norm, it is suffocating to feel trapped in a society that doesn't include you, and it is suffocating abide by rules that don't make sense to you. In order to tackle this feeling of suffocation, we should be honest with our students and tell them why we are doing what we are doing, why they are learning what they are learning, and give them the freedom they need to explore in a safe, positive, and encouraging environment.
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