Stork 1 Ari Stork ED 100/101 Social Injustice Paper

Labor of Love Around the world and in the classroom, teachers are faced everyday with social injustice issues. One of the main social issues with in society is the concept of multicultural education. Multicultural education helps to make culture and diversity apart of learning. Multicultural education has many positives, being that it really levels the playing field, creating fairness and equality, and helps students understand and relate more with each other (63). On the down side of things, it can also bring upon teasing and prejudice between students. Students in a multicultural class can come from homes of poverty, range from different cultures and races, social class standings, individuals with disabilities, and sexual orientation. So, when students

are oblivious and have no concept of what social justice is, a lot of people and feeling can be hurt. Social justice teaches students the importance of respecting everyone that God has created. Im pro teachers educating their classes about social justice because when those students grow up, they will be among a multicultural society. In this paper, I will investigate teaching with a multicultural emphasis and fairness and equality for all students. Many different groups over time have been denied social justice. Teachers today have

taken it upon themselves to teach about multicultural social justice, which means students examine inequality and oppression in society and take action to remediate these inequalities (63). The definition of social justice is beautifully described in the hand out Mrs. Hughes gave

Stork 2 us reads, seeing a problem with in society in the world, investigating the cause of the problem and passionately fighting to solve and change it, this is a labor of love. By students stepping back and seeing examples of people being treated unfairly and the pain it causes them inside, they learn a very valuable lesson of citizenship and how to treat one another with care. My field work experience doesnt really pertain to the social injustice topics of multicultural learning environments and fairness and equality, because the Cold Springs Elementary fourth grade class Im involved with is all white. There are two children, Emil and Sofia, who are not from the United States originally, but never the less are embraced with friendship and love. I think Mrs. Edwards has done a wonderful job in showing that each student is a V.I.P. Mrs. Edwards makes every student in her class feel special. She has a bulletin board dedicated to a student each month. The student is asked to bring in pictures of themselves, with family, and doing their favorite activities and write a mini summary about their life, and then she hangs it up on the bulletin for all the students to view. When it is time for the pictures to come down and a new student have a chance to be on the bulletin board, Mrs. Edwards has all the students draw pictures and write little poems about why So and So is a Very Important Person. It is a great exercise that not only helps students to better relate with one another, but also use encouraging words. Mrs. Edwards believes in fairness and equality because she always reminds he students to think of others feelings and even on special holidays, if you are going to give something to someone then you should have something to give to everyone. If I were to address a social injustice issue at Cold Springs, I would want Mrs. Edwards to be present, because she has a lot of experience in the classroom and Im still learning and

Stork 3 gathering knowledge. I would sit down the student and ask him if he has any idea why Im having to talk with him. If he doesnt see why then I would explain how what he said or did may have hurt anothers feelings and I would stress that that is not right. Also to make sure I was getting through to the child, I would ask the student if the situation were reverse and another kid had said something to him like that, how would he feel? I really think that would make the student stop and think about his or her actions. As a teacher, it will be my mission to teach about the importance of multicultural equality and fairness to all students and the different people they are going to meet throughout their lives. By doing this it provides opportunities for self-transformation, leadership development, and community building. I bet that any teacher who includes the lessons of respect and social justice into their lesson plans will make a meaningful change in the classroom, school, community and even the society. Students will be prepared to face the world as good citizens with special values. Teachers have the power to affect the world and make a just and caring culture.