Just Human

At this critical moment in K-12 education, we’re thrilled to introduce the inaugural issue of Learning for Justice magazine. Our Fall 2021 issue highlights key lessons learned from this past year—lessons that the education community can carry forward to help create safe and inclusive learning spaces. Be inspired by messages of hope, solidarity and activism that can aid in the transformational work needed to create the just future that all students deserve.
Learning spaces are often designed as if all of us were alike, but our communities are rich in diversity, including a range of abilities and needs. By focusing on making spaces, content and learning activities accessible to those with disabilities, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can benefit all learners while creating more equitable and inclusive educational experiences.
Even if your students are too young to vote, there are plenty of ways they can get involved in the last few days of this year's election season. Try sharing our Voting and Voices pledge and Story Corner video to encourage them to talk with their families about voting. Or check out our Voting and Voices classroom resources for ready-to-use lessons, texts and activities that can get students of all ages excited about Tuesday's elections!
We’ve updated our Future Voters Project! Check out our new resources, including a lesson bank for teaching about voter suppression, PD for managing partisanship in your classroom, discussion guides for addressing current events and more! Educators in the Deep South can check out our grants supporting school-based voter registration. And educators nationwide can sign up for this week’s free webinar on registering student voters during this unprecedented election season!
August 23 is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. With blatant, nationwide attempts to keep truth-telling out of schools, it’s especially critical to teach the whole truth about American slavery. Use our Teaching Hard History framework, its accompanying online archives and databases, and this film to help you and your students dig deeper into lessons about the slave trade and its lasting effects, as well as an often-forgotten part of our nation’s history: Indigenous enslavement.