Social Justice

The article I chose to read on social justice was “Social Justice, Educators, and Schooling: Some Philosophical Issues,” done by the British Journal of educational studies. They explained in great detail the true meaning of social justice. They found that the fundamental problem with the social justice was a blanket term that many people used, but that there was no fundamental definition for. Policy makes would often make new rules or laws for education that were focused on improving social justice in the classroom, but that often meant simply changing diversity, or effecting low socio-economic status. They made a clear distinction that one or the other was not the case. The researchers stated that social justice did not involve diversity or the status of one’s material wealth. Social justice involves the individual’s quality of life. Social justice needs to occur in a community where an individual or multiple individuals are have serious or negative impacts in various aspects of their life. This may include their overall happiness, quality or life, or standard of living. Social justice is not just difference in diversity or income, but it is when these facets negatively impact their life that we then need a call for social justice. The issue then becomes how we teach students the true meaning of social justice. There are many different ways we can teach social justice in the classroom. One of the ways these educators used was to use the context of other countries to make analogies in their classroom. They should students New Zealand’s goals for positively effecting social justice by encouraging their citizens become active members in government. They made sure that the underprivileged were aware of injustice and could articulate ways to change it. Giving students this example then bringing it back to the injustices in their community could be a great way to bring social justice to their classroom. Using this knowledge of a strong definition for social justice and having a way to present to your classroom is a good way to get students interested in social justice and social change.