Title: The Long-Term
Effects of Social-Justice Education on Black Students
Source: Anderson, M.D. (2016), The long-term effects of social-justice
education on black students. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/07/the-long-term-effects-of-social-justice-education-on-marginalized-students/491876/
Key Points: High school
teacher T.J. Whitaker had students ready The
Savage City which ultimately caused an uproar due to the intent for
students to examine oppression, classism, and abuse of power. It yielded results. A study shows that several years later the
students from Whitaker’s courses appreciate the prompting of self-exploration
and openness it caused in marginalized students.
Intended Audience: Educators and anyone interested in the
direction of society.
Relevance: beneficial to
get students talking about social justice issues of today. Just as we saw on the video showed in class
this past Saturday, people need to start talking about these sensitive
issues. Having these discussions
provided the chance to work passed the hurt and pain. As educators we play a vital role in exposing
students to issues and more importantly teaching and giving them the tools to
process in healthy ways.
This was an interesting way to have students examine these areas, but I think that because the content resonated with the students so much that it was able to make a difference in their life. I found it interesting that when it comes to privilege, we often think of whites vs. minorities, but this research brought out the privilege within the black community. While some find these topics controversial, I am glad to see that others are taking the risk and discussing them with students to actually make a difference.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Talking about sensitive issues in school is incredibly important. Social justice issues and like are easily digested when they are current and relevant, and much harder to digest when they are written in a text book with end-of-chapter questions. Your note of students processing these ideas in healthy ways is what the focus should be on. Making sure that student fully understand the gravity of the subject matter and the relevance is very important, but this needs to be done in the proper way to educate, not sway.
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