My Social Justice Philosophy by Nora E https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg Pursuing Equity in Education en-us 2019-03-26 15:14:26 UTC 2025-12-08 12:30:44 UTC hello@padlet.com nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345308809 2019-03-26 15:15:48 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345308809 This is what our current educational system looks like when it comes to access... nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345309534 2019-03-26 15:17:10 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345309534 "Teachers don't understand" Karega Bailey, an Educator and a Hip Hop artist with a social justice agenda nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345311508 As educators, we must look beyond a student's uncompleted assignments, low test scores or lack of engagement in the classroom. A student with "emergencies" in life will not present herself the way a middle-class white teacher will expect her to. When providing access to these students, we have to consider equity not equality.]]> 2019-03-26 15:20:44 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345311508 Raise Up - Jonathan Williams nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345316105 Giving voice to counter stories of youth is one of the most powerful ways to dismantle the embedded systemic injustices ineducational institutions.]]> 2019-03-26 15:28:50 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345316105 Social Justice in Education Awards - Gloria Ladson-Billings nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345321184 Gloria Ladson-Billings' provides advice to new teachers on tracing patterns of injustice in schools, and what culturally relevant pedagogy really entails:
"Getting to know a culture that really exists".]]> 2019-03-26 15:37:34 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345321184 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345328832 2019-03-26 15:50:03 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345328832 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345329624 Many of us in the field of education are not aware of our own privileges, and they come back to haunt us as implicit biases about different cultures, ethnicities, and poverty, or as deficit thinking.]]> 2019-03-26 15:51:34 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345329624 Social Justice/Injustice, where does it start? nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345735015 Social justice, is it a moral utopia? Is it a political minefield? Is it only aspirations or is it even possible to achieve?  Well, major steps has been taken towards it in many European countries, especially in Scandinavia. So where do We start? We start at our schools, because education does not happen in a vacuum. Our classrooms are microcosms of our country. Ability, disability, race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, gender, wealth and poverty are in one pot at our schools. However only a few of these are represented in the leadership, curriculum and stakeholders: the White, the Straight, the Able, the Wealthy.
What would our social justice goal be for educational institutions?  An all encompassing description would be a school where all students have equitable access to educational opportunities, and a welcoming climate for all families where diverse identities do not result in discrimination and/or undesired groupings (Scanlan, Theorahis, 2016). The undesired social injustice presents itself at our schools in a variety of ways such as limited access to AP curriculum which acts as a barrier to college entry, funding disparities for non-White schools, overrepresentation in Special Education, overrepresentation in discipline referrals, segregation and even isolation of students with learning disabilities, hostile environment for the religiously diverse, lack of diverse representation in faculty and leadership, lack of diverse representation in visual and written curriculum (to the extent that ethnic or bilingual studies are banned at certain school districts), and overall deficit thinking about the 'other ' that results in more poverty, more drop-outs, and more students being fed into the school-to-prison pipeline. ]]> 2019-03-27 14:52:10 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345735015 The Leader nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345767415 If we were to paint a picture of an educational leader with a social justice agenda, with the desire to build an equitable and integrated school with a welcoming school climate that can be sustained even after she leaves, it would be a leader who is not complacent with the status quo, is not afraid of conflict  has the stamina to pursue a conflict-ridden, ongoing and long-term change to alter beliefs, biases and norms, and who is ready to "focus their energy on developing people and processes rather than outcomes and metrics" (Bullar, 2015, p.217 as quoted in Welton, Owens, Zamani-Gallagher, 2018).

In her lecture, Gloria Ladson-Billings says "...real change and deep learning comes from grassroots". The leader will have to build that grassroots support through engaging families and the community with a bottom to top approach (Cooper, 2010). The next step in developing people is the hiring of diverse (race, culture, ethnicity, language, religion, ability/disability, gender) faculty and staff who reflect the student demographics in diversity, and are able to teach across different student learning needs, while fighting the resistance from conservative district leadership and Board members whose idea of diversity and equity may very well be no deeper than a poster on the wall or a costume and a prop on a holiday. The leader will be more successful in defending the social justice cause against the adversaries  if she is armed with the critical examination of valid data reflecting patterns of injustices at their school, results of surveys from students, families and staff, and a purposeful plan for the change to come.]]> 2019-03-27 15:49:22 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345767415 The Education of the Educator nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345773843 Implicit bias and deficit thinking are major culprits of injustices against minorities at schools. Assessment of belief systems of teachers, ongoing implicit bias professional development and encouraging interpersonal dialogue between families and staff is valuable in changing the deficit language and attitudes.]]> 2019-03-27 16:00:59 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345773843 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345780337 "The concept of Diversity simply focuses on the inclusivity and numerical representation of social groups but does not critically question whose perspective still weighs power as majoritarian."  Welton, Owens, Zamani-Gallagher, 2018)]]> 2019-03-27 16:13:56 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345780337 References nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345787576 Welton, A. D., Owens, D. R., & Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (2018). Anti-Racist Change: A Conceptual Framework for Educational Institutions to take Systemic Action. TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD, 120(14). Retrieved from
            http://www.library.illinois.edu.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/proxy/go.php?                                                                                                                          url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edswss&AN=000460792700014&site=eds-
            live&scope=site

Cooper, Camille Wilson (2010). Educational leaders as cultural workers: Engaging families and
             school communities through transformative leadership. In S.D. Horsford (Ed.)
             New perspectives in educational leadership: Exploring social, political, and community contexts
             and meaning (pp. 173-195). New York: Peter Lang.

Scanlan, M., & Theoharis, G. (2016). Introduction to Special Issue—Intersectionality: Promoting Social Justice While Navigating Multiple   
             Dimensions of Diversity. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 19(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458915625069


]]> 2019-03-27 16:27:14 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345787576 Being inclusive nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345895301 Isolation/segregation of Special Education students should also be a target of social justice efforts at schools. ]]> 2019-03-27 20:35:56 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345895301 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345896193 2019-03-27 20:39:24 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345896193 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345900226 2019-03-27 20:55:02 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345900226 nurannora1973 https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345901631 2019-03-27 21:00:39 UTC https://padlet.com/nurannora1973/g2b0qxnd1fwg/wish/345901631