"My Social Justice Journey”
I honestly have so many thoughts, feelings, ideas, opinions, and emotions occurring simultaneously right now that I am finding it difficult to begin. I feel that my whole life has been rooted in a commitment to social justice. From my early family and educational experiences, I learned to treat others as I would want to be treated – to refrain from judging others and instead attempt to understand from where they are coming – to deeply appreciate what I had and to figure out how to help those whose basics needs were not being met – to appreciate and respect the dignity and humanity of all people.
These mantras became more deeply a part of my person as I progressed through my undergraduate education at the Jesuit school the University of Scranton. In both my theology and philosophy classes there, we focused on the written works of philosophers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, Marx, as well as many (in)famous Jesuit intellectuals (like the Italian Luigi Taparelli, thought to be responsible for coining the term ‘social justice’ during the Industrial Revolution in 1840). I feel that much of my early studies and lived experiences of social justice culminated during my yearlong service experience with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During this time, I lived and worked with other volunteers in what I consider to be a prime example of urban America: Newark, New Jersey.
These mantras became more deeply a part of my person as I progressed through my undergraduate education at the Jesuit school the University of Scranton. In both my theology and philosophy classes there, we focused on the written works of philosophers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, Marx, as well as many (in)famous Jesuit intellectuals (like the Italian Luigi Taparelli, thought to be responsible for coining the term ‘social justice’ during the Industrial Revolution in 1840). I feel that much of my early studies and lived experiences of social justice culminated during my yearlong service experience with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During this time, I lived and worked with other volunteers in what I consider to be a prime example of urban America: Newark, New Jersey.
That year completely exhausted me – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Before my year of service, I really thought I knew what it meant to work for social justice in an urban setting: what it would look like – what the outcomes would be – how it would make me feel. But I had figured all wrong. I left my service year with a significant loss of hope and belief – both belief in myself as a young adult ready to devote my career to working for social justice and belief that unjust situations in this world could ever change. I now realize (after 5 years of reflection) that my service year shattered my idealistic youthful self and replaced it with a hardened though much more realistic and ready-to-work young adult.
This time, my goal for my work in the urban classroom is to balance idealism with reality. I believe that the most important part of student education is dialogue between students and teachers; students and teachers are the biggest stakeholders in the urban educational system. Honesty is key. Ideally, this dialogue takes place as a two-way conversation. As Lisa Delpit notes, “the key [to fixing our public educational system] is to understand the variety of meanings available for any human interaction, and not to assume that the voices of the [white] majority speak for all”. The urban teacher needs to understand who his or her students are, from where the students come, and what the students find most important in their lives. Ideally, this can help the teacher better use culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings) as a way to reach all students.
Conversely, the students (and even the teacher him or herself!) need to recognize that the teacher has more to offer than just subject specific content knowledge. Teachers know much more about how the world works than students do; teachers should help students understand and develop the skills that they will need to ‘succeed’ in life, whatever that may come to mean. While I may not have the power to change the unjust nature of our capitalistic, white-privilege society, I do have the ability to help urban youth learn how to “make it” in this unjust system. Realistically, disadvantaged non-White students may not be open to having these conversations with a seemingly White, socioeconomically advantaged, authoritative female teacher. Luckily, I find that my courses at UPenn (especially the Psychoeducational Interactions with Young Black Males class) have helped me begin to understand how best to initiate and continue these conversations in the classroom. I need to make time to practice and reflect on these strategies in the future.
This time, my goal for my work in the urban classroom is to balance idealism with reality. I believe that the most important part of student education is dialogue between students and teachers; students and teachers are the biggest stakeholders in the urban educational system. Honesty is key. Ideally, this dialogue takes place as a two-way conversation. As Lisa Delpit notes, “the key [to fixing our public educational system] is to understand the variety of meanings available for any human interaction, and not to assume that the voices of the [white] majority speak for all”. The urban teacher needs to understand who his or her students are, from where the students come, and what the students find most important in their lives. Ideally, this can help the teacher better use culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings) as a way to reach all students.
Conversely, the students (and even the teacher him or herself!) need to recognize that the teacher has more to offer than just subject specific content knowledge. Teachers know much more about how the world works than students do; teachers should help students understand and develop the skills that they will need to ‘succeed’ in life, whatever that may come to mean. While I may not have the power to change the unjust nature of our capitalistic, white-privilege society, I do have the ability to help urban youth learn how to “make it” in this unjust system. Realistically, disadvantaged non-White students may not be open to having these conversations with a seemingly White, socioeconomically advantaged, authoritative female teacher. Luckily, I find that my courses at UPenn (especially the Psychoeducational Interactions with Young Black Males class) have helped me begin to understand how best to initiate and continue these conversations in the classroom. I need to make time to practice and reflect on these strategies in the future.
References:
Delpit, L. (2006). Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York, NY: The New Press.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491
Delpit, L. (2006). Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York, NY: The New Press.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491