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.
When students witness activist resistance to injustices in their own communities, it helps them better understand a core component of social justice education.
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.
Educators who connect their teaching to students’ cultures, languages and heritage create classroom environments that value critical home-school relationships, affirm student identities and challenge stereotypes.
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 asking students to explore issues of personal and social identity, teachers must help establish braver spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for, respected, and have opportunities to learn from one another’s experiences and perspectives.
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.