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Teaching children empathy that leads to justice means much more than teaching kindness. Adults—educators, parents and caregivers—who support young learners have the opportunity to create “culture[s] of justice” in which empathy and justice are the priority. These LFJ resources feature strategies that educators, parents and caregivers can use to actively engage little learners as they develop age-appropriate skills and understanding that will lead them forward in the pursuit of justice.

As an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ efforts—particularly targeting trans and nonbinary youth—continues at the start of the new school year, it’s imperative for educators, parents and caregivers to help young people understand that justice requires an appreciation for the value of identity and diversity among individuals, and that there are actions to take to ensure equity. These LFJ resources can help foster such understanding. 

A social justice education expert offers suggestions for dealing with the implications of this seismic Supreme Court decision, believing in the power of education “to transform society, to work deliberately against injustice and to move toward collective liberation.” 

Textbooks reflect dominant social structures—including biases and the lack of representation of people who are historically relegated to the margins. Educators are looking for ways to use and expand on textbook content to teach a more inclusive and honest history. These LFJ resources provide some suggestions for how to make that happen. 

To understand the complexities of the present, we must connect with the hard history of our country’s past. And we can learn about that honest history outside the classroom—in museums and field trips—because “No educator can accurately map out the whole landscape of our history alone. We are all stronger when we traverse the terrain together.”