What Does Teaching For Social Justice Mean For Teacher Candidates? Essay

Race and ethnicity is relevant in the classroom because, not only does it affect the preconceived notions from teachers, but it also affects the response of the students to certain teaching styles and/or information (Hawley 66). Many teachers with racist or stereotypical beliefs will be more prone to using non-productive behaviors and teaching styles as mentioned above. The people that argue against an achievement gap simply are not looking hard enough. It has been found that the development of this gap occurs with the development of a child. Angela McGlynn mentions, in the February 2014 edition of The Education Digest, that, according to an article in The New York Times, by the age of one year old, a poor child is falling behind her middle-class counterpart in the fields of talking, comprehension, and learning (McGlynn 55).

Culturally Responsive Teaching is an emerging field that focuses on student cultural backgrounds and experiences in the development of pedagogy. According to Kea (2013) cultural difference is the single largest difference in U.S. schools and also the most neglected. The goal of Culturally Responsive Teaching is to provide an equal opportunity for all students to learn in school, regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics (Banks 2005). Ladson-Billings (1994) suggest that the historic failings of educators in educating non-white students is that educators attempt to insert culture into education rather than insert education into the culture. In other words, educators are not providing an equal multi-culturally relevant education by bringing tokens of culture such as food, national flags, or maps from around the world into the classroom alone. Although these actions promote a sense of multiculturalism, an education that is relative to a diversity of cultures is not necessarily being provided. Culturally Responsive Teaching attempts to bring the various experiences of the student’s cultural home life into the classroom. Schmidt (2005) identifies seven characteristics that must be incorporated into curriculum in order to provide culturally responsive instruction. These characteristics are high expectations,

When I was six years old I accepted Christ. I grew up in a Christian home and was given a Christian education. My faith has been a big part of my life. It has gotten me through the good, the bad and the ugly. There have been dry seasons in my faith, but even in those times God has remained faithful. Each day God is teaching me something new about who He is. He is continually growing me to be more like Him.

Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). This approach to teaching encompasses how knowledge is both communicated and perceived by the students. The teacher must have a good relationship with the parents, have high expectations, learn about their students culture, have culturally mediated student-centered instruction, willing to reshape the curriculum, and be a facilitator in order to accomplish this method of teaching. These are key points a teacher must be willing to do if they intend to be an effective teacher especially in a highly culturally diverse area like central

After reading Geneva Gay’s article Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching I realized my pedagogy is culturally responsive in many ways. For one, I always

Sensoy and DiAngelo point out that social justice education often only includes celebrating diversity rather than focusing on antiracist education. What would antiracist education look like in an elementary classroom? I recognize that diversity needs to be celebrated and acknowledged in the classroom, but I also want to be able to include antiracist education. These authors also note social justice education is something “extra,” rather than something that is included in the curriculum of schools. How can teachers specifically incorporate it into the curriculum regularly while still making sure students succeed on testing? The education system promotes mainstream behaviors from all students, which is the cause of cultural discontinuity. I will

Social justice education involves aspects of democratic education, critical pedagogy, critical multicultural education, and culturally responsive education, alongside with elements of social, cognitive, and systems theory. Theorists’ idea of social justice education emphasis on curricular content relevant to social identity and injustice, oppression theory, intersectionality (e.g., the analysis of various forms of oppression), and reflexive teaching practice is distributed by many social justice educators. Social justice education emphasizes critical multicultural education's emphasis on linking social justice theory and critical pedagogy, and progress in reaction to approaches to multicultural education that promotes cultural diversity than

Reading this article five essential components for social justice education it is about how to teach successfully from a strong social justice viewpoint. This article shed light on problems by demonstrating how educators can develop a social justice pedagogical lens to treat their content in ways that meet their promise to inspiring education. This article clarifies what social justice education is by introducing the five key components that is useful in teaching from a social justice prospective. It also examines and defines the term and its issues for teacher’s who wants help with achieving an inclusive education classroom.

In the website Teaching for Change, it is apparent that the central idea behind the site is teaching social justice within the classroom. From the homepage of this site, it 's evident that the mission is to promote the teaching of social justice in classrooms, as this is the starting point. Innovation starts in the classroom. Social justice revolves around benevolence and if children are taught to embrace social justice and work against injustice in the classroom, chances are that they 'll actually practice what they are taught in the real world. The website 's principal goal seems to be to encourage schools to provide students with knowledge and cultivate habits that will ultimately produce good citizens. The site 's mission is true to its title – Teaching for Change.

When discussing my future, it is important to understand that I am passionate about achieving social justice through education. I feel that too often the United States illustrates moral superiority in their domestic and global actions. Many citizens claim to support the ideals of liberty and justice, yet fail to realize the hypocrisy of their nation’s blatant violations of these same principles. Domestically, the United States has denied citizens equal, moral treatment: such was the case with African Americans, immigrants, LGBT members, and Japanese persons in internment camps. Internationally, American intervention throughout Latin America forced the continent into a spiral characterized by decades of disorder and dictatorial leadership, demonstrating the fact that the United States has often failed to uphold its own value system. Educating our youth on these social injustices will help shape a more diverse and accepting American in which future injustices cease to exist.

Teachers are the ones to inspire children to learn, they provide guidance and acceptance to all children. As a future teacher, social justice in the classroom means that all children are given the same opportunity to learn. Not one child is put before the other and no child is to be left out. By insuring that each child is taught equally more children are willing to engage in the classroom. If social justice is not practiced in the classroom, the child who is behind in the classroom is more likely to fail.

A culturally responsive environment in the classroom is essential in building the bridge between home culture and a school culture. Also it is vital to ensure that all students are able to succeed by incorporating and understanding students cultural beliefs and practices. As becoming a culturally responsive teacher means being able to appreciate, understand, and work with children and families from different cultures. ( Coleman, p.177). Developing a positive mind set and the reality check #2: Teachers need not give up on their own family values in order to resect the family values of others.( Coleman, p28). It is important to be open minded to other people different family structures and beliefs.

In the video “Bridging the Achievement Gap,” we learned of an achievement gap that occurs between the wealthier students and those few within the lower class. This is because the teachers are not as prepared, and the schools are not centered on the students (University, 2012). With students not being given the attention and focus they deserve, it is unlikely for them to be as successful as those who are. For example, in a diverse classroom where some of the students may not speak English, this type of achievement gap is incredibly likely. While the teacher may be experienced, he or she may be unfamiliar with the language of his or her non-English speakers. As a result, the teacher is ill prepared on how to teach to these students, and because these students are probably a minority within the classroom, said teacher would likely focus on the majority instead.

The first step for me to become a culturally responsive teacher is to learn not to judge others. Working with students from diverse backgrounds requires us to question our reactions to families and students. We need to stop judging different as “abnormal” and embrace what the differences can teach us (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011). Embracing the differences

It is important for educators to explore the relationships between teaching diversity and equitable classrooms versus teacher activism. In this paper, I will be reflecting upon my experiences teaching, learning and unlearning as a teacher candidate. Throughout this course, I learned that educators should engage in critical social action, and these actions can come in many different forms. The school is a place where students can share experiences and knowledge differences. Educators can start by create a classroom environment where these conversations can occur and bring then these conversations outside of the classroom. There are several key concepts that resonated with me through my journey in this course. These course concepts were culturally relevant pedagogy, queer pedagogy, multicultural and anti-oppressive education, and decolonization of schools.