Partnerships with community organizations can help extend classroom activities, provide additional support for students’ needs and add new perspectives to teaching material—all while sending the message that communities are valuable learning resources.
The news has been abuzz with the term sanctuary city since President Trump issued an executive order on the matter. Attorney Naomi Tsu, who directs the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project, explains exactly what sanctuary cities are.
Educators and other adults can help students develop their leadership skills in a variety of ways, from preparing students for formal leadership positions to supporting student-driven actions for social justice.
When educators take the time to build and sustain engagement with students’ caregivers, they illustrate social justice in action, showing students that their identities and living situations are valuable and worthy of understanding.
Effective collaborative learning requires planning to avoid existing racial, gender, socio-economic, linguistic, academic or other divisions within the classroom.
Research shows that students need to feel physically and emotionally supported to learn, but culture, climate and social emotional learning must focus on more than just empathy, kindness and inclusion.