For this week’s article on social justice in the
classroom I chose “Teaching Social Justice through Young Adult Literature” by
Jacqueline N Glasgow. I found the article in a search through the EWU library
using the JSTOR search resource. This article is not very long, or in depth,
but describes a method of teaching social justice in the classroom that the
author instituted in her own class.
The author feels that it is a teacher’s job to
create, for students, a democratic and critical space that fosters meaningful
and transformative learning. By allowing her classroom to become such a space
the educator expects her students to explore ideas, topics, and viewpoints that
not only reinforce but challenge their own. Using young adult literature as a
catalyst for discussion and critical exploration the teacher is hoping to
prepare her students to become citizens sophisticated in the understanding of
diversity and group interaction. Through this kind of group interaction
focusing on social justice the education system can better prepare students to
function in the world with the sensitivity of group diversity.
I like the way this article goes about saying that
reading and discussing young adult literature can help each student to
understand and value what it means to be a young adult. Through the
understanding of what it means, or what it feels like, to be a young adult each
student becomes aware of the diversity of not only the characters in the book,
but the students in their own classroom and the characters in their own lives.
The lessons discussed are all about bringing the
diversity and uniqueness of a culture represented in a book and relating it to
the world the students live in. This is done both on a micro level of
individual and class dynamics and on a macro level of wider cultural and
societal organization. Every group is diverse. Every group has opinions and
feelings that may be different from our own. Learning to accept and understand
the differences within a small class group can extend to the understanding of
larger political, ethnic, cultural, or religious groups that exist in our
society.
The article offers book ideas and corresponding topics
to explore critically in the classroom.
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