...what do YOU stand for?!

As educators, we need to recognize how powerful education is, and see it as having transformative potential. It may not be tangible with step by step guidelines, but nonetheless it is possible to include social justice into our teaching practice. In relation to the 21^st century literacies, I feel that implementing social justice would be a combination of multicultural, moral, and critical literacy.  By allowing students to question the messages which come their way, they will learn to recognize the inequalities which exist in society (Harwood, 2008).

An exploration of human rights and social justice in the classroom. 

I recently came across a great article which really sparked my interest. Evans (2008) discussed human rights over a series of four generations, and how we often forget that human rights are actually quite a recent development. Just to break it down for you, here is how the article described the development of the “rights revolution”:

First generation: Establishing principles. The end of the Second World War led to the founding of the United Nations. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDRH) of 1948 was a significant achievement which shed light on rights asserting dignity, integrity, and equality.

Second generation: Standard setting. This was a generation which worked towards translating the moral force of the UDRH into legal practice. It was recognized that there was not a practical system set in place to implement and enforce the human rights which had recently been developed. This movement was launched primarily by Non- governmental organizations.

Third generation: Coping with the “New World Order”. The 1990s were a very critical time period with all the rapid changes happening around the world. It was recognized that the world people were living in was much different than the world they were born into. This time period consisted of violations which escalated in severity, and was an assault to identities (gender, language, ethnicity, etc.). The “new world order” was a dangerous time where power remained in the hands of a few, and others were left feeling helpless at making a difference.

Fourth generation: Making rights real. Changes continue to occur internationally, and there are many challenges that are making it difficult to break the cycle of human rights violations. Many human rights which were violated through tragic incidents such as trauma, torture etc. can lead to behavior dysfunctions which will just get passed down if they are not dealt with effectively (Evans, 2008).

…. You may be asking yourself, why is this important? As we can see, each of the past few generations have played a role in the development of human rights. And now - it is our turn! I found it ridiculous that children do not even know that they protected by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Personally, by the time I learned about it, I was no longer a child. The students in our classroom will be part of the fifth generation, and there is no doubt that we want those students to shape the world for the better.  

Here is a video which explains a brief overview on universal human rights

In order to progress towards an inclusive social order, it requires educators to address issues such as race, discrimination, hate and oppression (Bouette, 2008). Although it is a very difficult and sensitive issue to address, educators have the capacity to connect with individuals in a way which is not possible with other professions.

Providing students with a multicultural education can have such a profound impact.  It allows the students to be open minded towards people of all cultures, but it also allows them to challenge the existing inequalities which exist in society. I feel that challenging these inequalities and taking an active stance against them will be what the fifth generation contributes to society. 

For anyone who would like to learn more about social justice in the classroom, click here for some awesome ideas which help transform these ideas into practice. 

References:

Boutte, G. S. (2008). Beyond the Illusion of Diversity: How Early Childhood Teachers Can Promote Social Justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165-173.

Evans, D. G. (2008). Human rights: four generations of practice and development. In A.A. Abdi & L. Shultz (Eds.), Education for Human Rights and Global Citizenship (pp. 25 – 38).

 Harwood, D. d. (2008). Deconstructing and Reconstructing Cinderella: Theoretical Defense of Critical Literacy for Young Children. Language & Literacy: A Canadian Educational E-Journal, 10(2), 1-13.