"Why Teaching About Social Justice Matters"

For this week's reading, I found an article on the Teaching Tolerance website written by Christina Torres, a seventh- and ninth-grade teacher in Honolulu, Hawaii. I believe that it may be important to note that I went into this reading with the understanding that social justice is essentially fairness in the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society, and applied this understanding to the article. In the article Torres starts out by stating that anyone and everyone has asked her, “Why do you make everything about ‘social justice’? Can’t you just let it go?” and even admits that she has asked herself the same questions. In response, Torres poses the question: “If she doesn’t teach her students about social justice, who will?” I believe that this question is an incredibly important one that we as future teachers must wrestle with. Torres notes that “cultural and societal knowledge can (and should) be taught at home” but that we also must validate and empower this knowledge outside of the home. Torres notes that “as teachers, we know this is not just a job; it is a privilege. Being able to teach with and learn from our students is a gift.” I believe that as teachers we have the capacity to empower students to be confident in themselves and their beliefs, to empower them to have empathy and compassion for others, and to empower them to be game-changers in whatever they do. We need to incorporate social justice in our classrooms in order to do this effectively. Teaching social justice allows our students to understand and “explore how their stories fit into the larger tapestry of a national and global story.” If we do not do this, we are not allowing our students (or ourselves) to be challenged by new ideas; we are not allowing our minds to expand. So, as teachers it is our job, our privilege, and our kuleana (Hawaiian for “one’s personal sense of responsibility”) to encourage and empower our students in our classrooms so they can go out into the world encouraged and empowered. If we don’t do it, who will?


Article can be found at: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/why-teaching-about-social-justice-matters