# data[].attributes.headline
Creating an effective learning community

# data[].attributes.subject
Creating an effective learning community

# data[].attributes.body
is accomplished when educational opportunities abound for all students, when rigorous academic goals are held and met by all students, when all students and families are made to feel welcome in the school community, when students are distributed across groupings in the school, and when one feature of a student's identity does not correspond with undesirable aspects of schooling (Scanlan & Theoharis, p.3).

# data[].attributes.body
A successful leader has a vision for learning, develops a school culture conducive to student learning, ensures effective management of the organization, collaborates with faculty and the community, responds to diverse community interests and needs, mobilizes community resources, and acts with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner (Scanlan & Theoharis, p. 2).

# data[].attributes.body
Educators should promote the knowledge and skills needed for thoughtful and productive citizenship.

# data[].attributes.body
As Educators, I believe we have a responsibility to teach and model social justice and to create inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for all our students.

# data[].attributes.body
A learning community should acknowledge the cultures represented within the school, work towards a positive school climate, and welcome the community to be involved and engaged in the school system.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social justice refers to a concept in which equity or justice is achieved in every aspect of society rather than in only some aspects or for some people. A world organized around social justice principles affords individuals and groups fair treatment as well as an impartial share or distribution of the advantages and disadvantages within a society.

Social justice includes a vision of a society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Social justice involves social actors who have a sense of their own agency as well as a sense of social responsibility toward and with others and the society as a whole. (Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, Adams, Bell, Griffin, 2nd ed., Routledge 2007)

Main Issues

The absence of social justice results in social oppression. Racism, sexism, ageism, classism, ableism, and heterosexism are some forms of social oppression in society. Societies and individuals form hierarchies of oppression in which certain types of oppression are addressed and others are not. Oppression of certain groups or individuals can result in social or legal exclusion, discrimination, inequitable distribution of resources, and emotional and physical consequences.

Strategies

Focus on diversity-awareness of the diversity in communities is critical to fostering social justice

Address real consequences of oppression-when discussing social justice in lessons or staff meetings, it is important to acknowledge the real social and economic disadvantages that oppressed people face in society, not simply the psychic harm of oppression

Understand the mechanisms that perpetuate oppression-i.e., those attitudes and behaviors (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism) from a position of privilege

Resist hierarchies of oppression-form strategies to foster justice with an inclusive mindset: who is being left out?

Seek to address social justice on three levels-personal (self), institutional (school) and societal (community).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Social justice refers to a concept in which equity or justice is achieved in every aspect of society rather than in only some aspects or for some people. A world organized around social justice principles affords individuals and groups fair treatment as well as an impartial share or distribution of the advantages and disadvantages within a society.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teaching for Change and Rethinking Schools collaborate to bring people's history to the classroom.

A dedicated website to encourage and support teaching about Central American history.

The best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA, and educators.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Building social justice starting in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Explore: Children & Youth | Human Rights Campaign

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find a wealth of resources for supporting LGBTQ youth at home, in school and in the community.

# data[].attributes.body
Leadership for social justice recognize inequalities, believe there is a need for change, and work for equitable outcomes for all students.  They know the students and community in which they work and are empathetic to their needs and struggles.

# data[].attributes.body
Social justice is a belief in equality of all people.  It means all humans deserve equal economic, social and political rights, and opportunities.  It includes providing shelter to the homeless, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick.  It encompasses that each person and creation, small and large, have value and should be appreciated.

# data[].attributes.body
I agree with Einstein, striving for social justice is one of the most valuable things we can do. Imagine what our world would look like if we were all working towards equity and creating a society where all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.

# data[].attributes.headline
Training a New Generation in Social Justice   

# data[].attributes.subject
Training a New Generation in Social Justice   

# data[].attributes.body
I choose this clip because it talks about a new and exciting program for training social activists at Monmouth University.  It teaches students how to use their voice to address social justice issues.  The program emphasizes the importance of being passionate and having a desire to be successful in creating change.  The goal of the program is to educate young minds on how to advocate for causes they deem important.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Training a new generation in social justice advocacy

# data[].attributes.body
Sergiovanni explains, "Morally based leadership is important in its own right, but it is also important because it taps what is important to people and what motivates them" (p. 270).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Understanding how school discipline policies can contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline is essential for educators and families. Harsh punishments, automatic out-of-class time and police involvement for discipline can push young people out of classrooms and into the criminal legal system. But educators, parents and caregivers can help to change this harmful system by advocating for and implementing practices that prioritize mental health and well-being.

We offer this new resource page that highlights LFJ articles and content to open dialogue, shift practices and foster change to benefit all young people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning for Justice | Education Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning for Justice provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

# data[].attributes.body
Leadership for social justice is not about power and status.  Leaders of social justice address equity concerns for underrepresented populations.  When thinking about social justice, our Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos came to mind; she would be the opposite of a leader working for social justice.  Some of her ideas are: eliminating funding for Special Olympics, disolving programs for children with special needs, revoking guidelines for affirmative action, and taking away protections and rights for LGBTQ students. Her disregard for equitable outcomes for all students and lack of empathy for the disadvantaged makes her an adversary to social justice and a terrible leader for the Department of Education.

# data[].attributes.body
Gardner, J. W. The nature of leadership. The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership, 3- 12.

Perriel, Y.  (2015).  Parental involvement and academic achievements: A case study.  Social and Economic Studies, 64, 75-88.

Scanlan, M., & Theoharis, G. Intersectionality in educational leadership. Leadership for Diverse Schools, 1-11.

Sergiovanni, T. J. Leadership as stewardship: "Who's serving who?". The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership, 269-286.

# data[].attributes.body
Gardner explains, "Leaders always have some measure of power, rooted in their capacity to persuade, but many people with power are without leadership gifts.  Their power, derives from money, or from the capacity to inflict harm, or from control of some piece of institutional machinery, or from access to the media" (p. 4).      I believe this quote accurately describes Betsy DeVos's style of leadership, one that is lacking social justice.

# data[].attributes.body
"Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained."  Helen Keller makes an important point, we need the majority of people to be concerned and working towards social justice in order for it to be achieved.  Unfortunately, with our current leadership and obsession with wealth and power we don't seem to be moving in the direction of equity.
It is interesting to me, that a person such as Helen Keller, a person who had such significant personal struggles, was concerned with how others were being treated.  It would have been easy for her to focus on her own difficulties and not be worried with others.  She was an amazing human being and important advocate for social justice.

# data[].attributes.body
when schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed, not only in school but also throughout life.  An accurate prediction of student achievement in school is not based on income or social status but on the
extent to which students' families are involved in their education.  Research has shown parental involvement improves student achievement, school programmes, and the school environment (Perriel, 2015, p. 76).