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Otterettes Discussion Notes
"Social Justice is fairness."
Social justice is important in schools and in your own life, because we need to treat people how you would like to be treated. One step can always lead to another.
As educators, we need to educate our children at a younger age about social justice so it will continue into their higher education.
Everyone has their own definition of what social justice is. We need to give children the opportunity to create such a definition.
Some people may ignore social justice, because it is not noticeable in their lives; they have not experienced some issues that others may have lived through.
"The struggle for social justice must continue, no society has achieved it."
Keep pushing for more social justice!
As human beings, will we ever be content?
Sometimes people donate money to charity to make themselves look good in the eyes of society. Social justice may never be achieved, but it is something to strive for.
How has your definition of social justice shifted through life experiences?
Everyone doesn't need to be equal, it's more about acceptance and tolerance.
Not every child is privileged. Some children are blinded by social injustice, because they didn't live through it.
Teach the concepts of social justice at younger ages- it doesn't need a title to understand it.
Social justice is awareness.
If poverty is off the table, the roots of social justice will not be addressed.
Poverty is a root cause of issues resolving around social injustice.
Pushing poverty aside is ignoring a big issue of inequality.
We have resources, but are not educated on them. Spreading awareness on such issues could help the fight for social justice.
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Web Video (The Otters)
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/01/30/standardized-testing-teachers-rally-against http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_HwI6S92Eo http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.greatschools.org%2Fschool-choice%2Fstandardized-testing%2F7262-school-test-scores-video.gs&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNH3uQM-wV3FS-55P9Y0Yau9vpNccA
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Web Research
DoSomething.org is a not-for-profit group for young people (13 - 25 year olds). The goal of the group is to have young people work for social change in their communities or an a larger level. They have different causes that they care about like Education, Homelessness, Discrimination, etc. The website provides resources for it's members to be able to fight for the cause(s) they care about without having to speand any money. For example, they list ways in which young students can organize a "School Supply Drive" or to start a "Tutoring Program" in their schools among others. http://www.dosomething.org/cause/77/act-now
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: The Source for News, Ideas and Action is a "non-partisan initiative that brings together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to find genuine solutions to the economic hardshits" of millions of Americans. Among the issues the group focuses on is the impact of poverty on education. Among the resources offered to learn about this issue are: academic and government reports, news headlines http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/education_and_poverty.aspx
NPR.org segment titled: Former 'No Child' Supporter Says It's A Failure- Diane Ravitch discusses with NPR host Michel Martin about issues being faced today by the American education system (the conversation lasts approximately 7 minutes, the transcript is also included). http://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162643516/former-no-child-supporter-says-its-a-failure
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Team Bloggers-- Team SMACK
Tanka Poem
Fighting injustice
Must come from within our schools,
But also must be
The responsibility
Of every community.
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Discussion Facilitators: Team Otterettes
“I would define social justice as fairness...It is important to me because one of the basic premises of our society is equal justice for all, meaning fairness for all, in both a legal sense with reference to education” (p.91).
“So long as there is equal opportunity, so long as some have far greater advantage than others, the struggle for social justice must continue. No society has achieved it, ever, and we validate our own humanity by continuing to insist on changes that improve the lives of others” (p.91).
-Is social justice important to you? Why or why not?
“I supported choice and accountability on the assumption of hope that they would provide wider opportunity for children who live in poverty and for minorities. I began to change my mind as I watched these policies come to fruition. I saw accountability turn into a regime of testing and punishment that did nothing to help children but quite a lot to label them.”
-How has your definition of social justice shifted or evolved throughout your life? Give specific examples.
“So long as the issue of poverty is off the table, as so many leaders demand, we will not address the root causes of social injustice...what [those who now blame schools for all the ills of society] argue is that privatization and testing are a sure route to equality and social justice, even though these strategies advance stratification, not equality” (p.93).
-What do you think are examples of effective social justice work in American education today?
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Author Spotlight: The Jellies
Background info:
Diane was born on July 1, 1938 in Houston, Texas. She had seven siblings and attended public schools in Houston. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1960. She received her Ph.D. in history from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science in 1975. Diane currently lives in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Her ex-husband is Richard Ravitch and they have two sons together. They had a third son, but he died from leukemia at the age of two. She worked as Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. Her responsibilities were for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. From 1997-2004 she was a member of the National Assessment Governing Board. She also held the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution from 1995 to 2005. She is an honorary life trustee of the New York Public Library and a former Guggenheim Fellow. She was a member of the Koret Task Force at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University) from 1999 to 2009. She was a member of the board of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation from 1996 to 2009. Ravitch began her career as an editorial assistant at the New Leader magazine, a small journal devoted to democratic ideas. In 1975, she became a historian of education with a Ph.D. from Columbia University. At that time she worked closely with Teachers College president Lawrence A. Cremin, who was her mentor.
Passion and Inspiration:
Diane has a passion about getting a better education for all. She serves as an advocate for public education through government service. She has said that she got her passion for writing from her rabbi and school teachers from Houston. She had an early interest in history focusing on public education. Diane spent many hours in the library reading about public education. She later led the federal effort to promote the creation of voluntary state and national academic standards.
Current Focus or Work:
Diane is a historian of education. She is a Research Professor of Education at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, she was a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education. She will be speaking at different graduation ceremonies this year like Queens College and Stanford. She also has a blog which she posts about different educational issues frequently.
Published Works:
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (2010)
Edspeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon (2007)
The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (2003)
Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform (2000)
National Standards in American Education: A Citizen’s Guide (1995)
What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know? (with Chester Finn, Jr.) [1987]
The Schools We Deserve (1985)
The Troubled Crusade: American Education, 1945–1980 (1983)
The Revisionists Revised (1978)
The Great School Wars: New York City, 1805–1973 (1974)
Here is a link if you would like to purchase any of her books: http://dianeravitch.com/dianes-books/
She blogs at dianeravitch.net, a site which has had nearly 3.5 million page views in less than a year.
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Extension Activity (Team MAKKS)
For the activity this week we are going to play charades!
The class will be spilt into 2 groups (pro and con) and one person at a time will come up and act out a word that one of our group members will give you. You will have 45 seconds to act out a word that your group will try to guess. If you feel that you need more than one person, you can pull a person from your group to help act out the word. We want everybody to participate so once you have acted once, you cannot act again unless you are called up to help.
When 45 seconds is up if you have not gotten the word, your turn will be up and the next member of your team will be up.
Have fun!
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Web Researchers DJ-CA
Kindness Is Society: The Plight and Promise of Social Justice in Public Education
Diane Ravitch
http://www.teachersforjustice.org/
This is a website for teachers who are for social justice in education. Teachers for Social Justice (TSJ) is an organization of teachers, administrators, pre-service teachers, and other educators working in public, independent, alternative, and charter schools and universities in the Chicago area. We have come together based on our commitment to education for social justice. We are working toward classrooms and schools that are anti-racist, multicultural / multilingual, and grounded in the experiences of our students. We believe that all children should have an academically rigorous education that is both caring and critical, an education that helps students pose critical questions about society and "talk back" to the world.
http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2009/mar09/social-justice.html
This is a newspaper article about Multiculturalism and Social Justice in American Public Education in the Education Reporter, a newspaper of Education Rights.
http://dianeravitch.net/
This is a link to Ravitch’s personal blog. She speaks a lot about educational reform among other topics. She has posted more than 2000 times since she started the blog.
http://redthread.utah.edu/public-education-needs-social-justice-education/5358
This link discusses the importance of good education and what that entails. It also covers why social justice is an important aspect that public education needs.
http://saveourschoolsmarch.org/event/12th-annual-teaching-social-justice-curriculum-fair This is a website for teachers, parents, and concerned community members to come together to organize fundraisers and write letters to President Obama or federal education officials to have their voice heard and/or state their concerns.
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