How can you engage students in social justice issues?

Social justice can be defined as a concept that emphasizes the full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is collaboratively shaped to meet their needs. It involves the equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges within a society, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances, have access to basic human needs, such as housing, education, and healthcare. Social justice is deeply connected to the notions of fairness and equality, and it seeks to address and rectify inequalities that arise from differences in race, ethnicity, class, gender, and other social categories.

#ChangeTheNow offers students, staff, faculty and industry/community partners to engage in projects and experiential learning opportunities related to the 17 United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and offers participants a practicum experience in social innovation learning using tools and resources related to foresight, systems thinking, human centred design thinking through empathy, leadership and collaboration. Essentially, we aim to inspire participants to look at social issues through a new and innovative lens and to see themselves as changemakers or agents of change and how one person can make a difference in the world. The outcomes or solutions of the projects are not the focus, but the learning process we offer.

Context is everything here. In the field of higher education, even a topic like "action-oriented learning" can be an act of social justice when considering that much of our history has been a banking model / lecture format. I would also suggest framing social justice as a way to address systems, policies,, and practices that marginalize people based on social identities. It can be a tool to help create a community where stakeholders are included and empowered to advocate for social change.

Provide a scenario or two and ask students to work collaboratively for 10-15 minutes. Students could develop some questions based on these and ask them how the scenario would relate to equity and fairness and ask critical thinking questions as to what they would do in a similar situation. This would enable research based learning if we allow them to use their devices and they would come up with a more detailed evaluation of the given scenario.

Students are the most sensitive group of people in a society. They do release the message and understand the feelings if inculcated with their positive role in the society. In my experience I have seen my students working more dedicatedly to save the people, their animals and other belongings during floods in Pakistan. After the flood in 2022 we had an outbreak of a fetal livestock disease. We were in need of thousands of skilled workers for vaccination but could not find the required personnel. We gathered our DVM students and got them released the importance of vaccination for the animals of poor farmers. Interestingly we were able to vaccinate half million cattle in a week at far flung areas with least finances.

I would also recommend using a mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors approach to share diverse perspectives with students here. Beyond issues of representation, social justice is best employed when helping students tackles issues of the present and the world they will inherit in the future.

No contexto atual da educa??o, e em especial da brasileira com a Lei 13.005, a extens?o é uma oportunidade ímpar para ensinar e aplicar conhecimentos e práticas envolvendo justi?a social. Extens?o pressup?e uma intera??o dialógica da academia com a sociedade (sejam comunidades, empresas, ONGs, governos, etc.), por meio da qual estudantes exploram e buscam solu??es para problemas reais. Embora a lei acima envolva extens?o universitária, o conceito é útil a qualquer nível formativo e mesmo fora do Brasil. Oportunidades de aplica??o n?o faltam e tais praticas ajudam também para uma na forma??o além da técnica, mas também comportamental, humana e cidad?, inclusive aproximando alunos e professores das problemáticas reais e entre si.

As a 2nd step, I would provide Organizational overview, e.g. moodle materials for self-studies tasks, including theoretical and analysis backgrounds. Teaching activities would provide an overview of communication channels and self-study tasks, terminologymotivation and documents for self-study (to be completed for next meeting)

Imaginemos o seguinte cenário, e vos antecipo que eu já presenciei essa cena. Onde um homem rico dirigindo um carro que custa mais de 500 mil reais, em uma rodovia, acima do limite de velocidade permitido. Contudo, um carro velho, ao sair para fazer uma ultrapassagem indo à pista da esquerda sofre uma colis?o na traseira e é responsabilizado pelo motorista rico. Durante uma discuss?o, um terceiro pergunta: você se acha o dono da estrada? O homem rico responde: olha o meu carro, eu sou um empresário, eu produzo e emprego muitas pessoas, se ele n?o pode ter um carro decente para andar nessa estrada ele n?o deveria estar aqui. A pergunta é: as coisas públicas, num contexto democrático, s?o para pessoas ricas?

Para escolher boas quest?es relacionadas à Justi?a Social, em primeiro lugar, é preciso se colocar no lugar do outro. Em Pedagogia do Oprimido, Paulo Freire aborda muito bem essa temática. Quais s?o as dores dos seus alunos? Qual a realidade deles? E como promover pessoas? Como dar a cada um a oportunidade de crescer?

In my experience, students feel safe and able to express themselves when they feel welcomed and valued. A classroom must be a safe environment for students to voice their ideas and share their knowledge even when they are not most confident in their answers. Educators should encourage students to be respectful of all individuals in the classroom and model that respect to provide an example for students to follow. Learning becomes much more enjoyable when students have no fear of being judged based of their identity or level of knowledge.

It is critical that a safe and respectful space is created and ensures that students feel comfortable expressing their opinions without fear of judgment. Additionally, we must be patient and understanding allowing time for students to process new information and challenge their existing beliefs. Furthermore, a focus on building empathy and critical thinking skills is crucial to help them develop the tools to analyze and understand complex social issues. Finally, progress has to be celebrated by acknowledging even small steps toward understanding and action.

Sou professor de ensino superior. Assim que come?o uma disciplina, pe?o para a turma responder a um questionário, em que pergunto se o discente é uma pessoa com deficiência e/ou neurodivergente, também indagando como isso influencia seu processo de aprendizagem. A quest?o n?o é obrigatória, porque nem todas as pessoas se sentem confortáveis para falar sobre isso. Obviamente n?o compartilho as respostas com ninguém, nem falo sobre o assunto diretamente. Sinto que essa pergunta cria uma ponte para que as pessoas com deficiência e/ou neurodiventes se abram voluntariamente comigo, explicando suas condi??es. A partir do acesso a essas informa??es, fa?o altera??es nas aulas e atividades para atender a esses contextos.

A safe and respectful space is very important. There can be the use of technology or sharing forums where people may express themselves in a free and fair manner in an anonymous way. Such that the fear of bullying, judging, and any undue harassment can be avoided and people have the freedom to express themselves and also to learn from the contribution of others. Suitable criteria can be decided about the points which can be earned by the students by making a valuable contribution. At the same time, certain penalties/deterrence can also be provided for the 'gas or inappropriateness'. Such policies should be discussed far and wide and should be applied only after the due consensus. The self-awareness level of teachers matters a lot for it.

A democratiza??o do livre pensamento é algo importante. O pertencimento é ser ouvido, participando efetivamente do debate público, onde todos deveriam ter suas perspectivas e vis?es colocadas sob o escrutínio, obviamente com os limites da liberdade de express?o. Vale lembrar que os direitos fundamentais, por mais fundamental que sejam n?o s?o absolutos.

One of the things I’ve been doing for the past two years is requiring my Introduction to Criminal Justice students participate in the Dewhitt Lloyd Bingham Justice For All Podcast Show which is worth 100 points of their grade. Students appear on the show in pairs, are given a script one week in advance and depending on what we are covering in the semester have to be prepared to have a discussion about the material as it relates to social justice. They discuss criminal justice and social justice while building their problem solving, character, diversity, communication, critical thinking, and ethics skills. In addition, they’re creating content as freshmen and sophomore students for their families and friends to listen to on all networks.

I totally agree on selecting a hot topic and discuss it with students. Unfortunately, social Justice does not exist in real world.

One of the best ways to get students interested and aware of social justice is to involve them in Role Plays. I have found this to be highly effective in my classes. I have observed that students love Role Plays and sometimes, even shy or uninterested students sit up and take notice. For them, to see their classmates donning a new role is funny and attractive. When social justice scenario is enacted, the idea enters strongly into the minds of students, making them proactively involved. When the occasion arises, the students turn into upholders of social justice.

Something I have used successfully in the past is to take my students back to a historical moment where the stakes were high, (although maybe the people didn't know that at the time) and each of them had to pick an actual person who was involved. Someone who was alive and who had an ideological or political position. The students had to stay in character, and speak from that person's perspective. Specifically, I had students act as if we were in a Colombo coffee house debating the impending "Sinhala only" language act that was being discussed in Sri Lanka in the 1950s. The students really get into the debate and at some point, it feels very real to everyone, I think.

Use interactive exercises to help students understand the complexities of social justice issues and to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Examples of these exercises include role-playing scenarios and case studies. Plan opportunities for experiential learning, such field trips or volunteer work, so that students can interact directly with social justice issues and put their academic understanding to use in practical settings.

Learning may be forgotten. Hence to convert learning into knowledge and wisdom, reflection is very much required. I give assignments to all my students to write reflective notes on the key learning from the class. The students write about the three aspects as follows: 1. what was the key learning from the class today? 2. how did this learning happen? and 3. what was my role/contribution to this learning? When the students are back in the next class, we discuss briefly this reflection process and students are happy and excited to share the new learnings and newer examples based on the last class's learning. Thus, the learning becomes more alive and the students are also in a position to reflect and learn new things with newer examples, etc.

Implement the Constructive Allignment teaching methodology. 1. Clearly define intendend learning outcomes (what should students achieve) 2. Teaching and learning activities (How will the students learn) 3. Assesment tasks (for the teacher to judge how well students are learning) 4. Iterate 1-3 several times before the final exam! (so students know what you want them to learn, which also engages them to learn it in smaller stepweise portions)

Pessoas aprendem de diversas formas diferentes, como bem descrito pela Andragogia. Por isso, esteja atento a criar oportunidades diferentes para os alunos. Padronizar a forma de ensinar é o primeiro passo para a evas?o. Kahoot, Quizz, Estudo de Caso, Sala de Aula Invertida, s?o apenas algumas das ferramentas que podemos usar. Dentro destas possibilidades, podemos - e devemos - inserir a realidade de cada um.

Effective engagement in social justice education necessitates a thoughtful assessment and reflection process. Diverse assessment methods like essays and portfolios, alongside feedback mechanisms, are crucial in understanding the depth and impact of student learning. Encouraging students to introspect about their growth and the application of their knowledge fosters lifelong learning and accountability. Simultaneously, educators must reflect on their pedagogical approaches, adapting and evolving to meet the dynamic needs of students. This reflective practice ensures that both teaching and learning are continuously improved, making education a powerful tool for social change.

Encerrando nossa jornada, a avalia??o é a pe?a-chave para entender o impacto da imers?o dos alunos em quest?es de justi?a social. Utilizo ensaios, apresenta??es e portfólios como lentes para observar suas conquistas. Além disso, colho feedbacks, pesquisas e promovo grupos focais, desvendando as experiências e opini?es dos alunos. A reflex?o n?o se limita apenas a notas, incentivando-os a ponderar sobre seu crescimento e desafios. Este é um convite à introspec??o, conectando o aprendizado às trajetórias pessoais e profissionais. Juntos, n?o apenas avaliamos, mas moldamos o futuro com sabedoria e reflex?o

Just talk honestly about how we put inclusive and near universal values into ACTION . How for instance do we live our everyday lives with compassion kindness fairness honesty hope joy and beauty ? How do we choose, act, relate and respond within those easily recognisable values ?

Self-reflection on beliefs they inherited from adults as children (societal conditioning) can help students become better partners in social justice movements.

Social justice is a key principle of public health and Covid-19 pandemic provided a prime case study from which students could draw examples of the phenomenon at play, particularly in the developing countries context. Equity (or a lack thereof) in vaccines and PPE distribution, social grants for the poorest in society, discussions around the National Health Insurance policy in South Africa and even their employment prospects in the public health system post studies helped students to appreciate of how the social justice is etched in their lived experiences. Thus, when they engaged in discussions on the matter, they did so as stakeholders whose opinions mattered beyond the lecture hall and were crucial in shaping healthcare policy making

When learning chess some coaches talk about the value of knowing classic games. I feel this is the same here. John Rawls book 'A theory of Justice' (1971) is clearly a 'classic' as it is a crucial contribution and many scholars who followed seemed to have used this as a starting point. I regret I am not as familiar with his work as I probably should be. One aspect I really like is his notion of political liberaltarianism where he explores the legitimate use of political power in a democracy. Given the emergence of the more extreme right in holding sway I feel that Rawls offers a welcome counter to this.

I think it's important to bring up the concepts of positionality, ethics in relation to one's positionality and how we act towards others, and accountability. It's also important to discuss why these concepts are important, both in relation to social justice issues and in relation to life in general.