Pamela Khairallah Assignment 2 18724211

Classrooms are being populated with students from diverse backgrounds although

consciousness of this diversity is limited in education (Kumashiro, 2000). For this reason, there

is a need to implement a curriculum and a pedagogy that are inclusive and challenge the

hierarchical structures in the society. Working with diverse students is a demanding task since

it requires teachers to help students overcome the inequalities and the injustices that surround

them. This can only be achieved when teachers are aware and implement social justice

perspectives in their teaching practice.

Awareness of social justice enables teachers to give their students equal access and

equitable educational opportunities regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender,

religion or socioeconomic status. “Teaching for social justice involves advancing children’s

moral and ethical development and helping children learn how to (a) value differences between

people, (b) identify social injustices in the world around them, and (c) take collective action to

remedy the social injustices they find” (Lucey & Laney, 2009, p. 261). However, when

diversity consciousness is limited in classrooms, the dominant culture dominates resulting in

the exclusion, marginalisation or oppression of students who are not from this culture

(Kumashiro, 2000; Ndimande, 2010, p. 96). For example, the minority cultures are considered

less enlightened when western ways of being are privileged (Keddie, 2011). This is because

minority cultures do not come with the cultural capital that is valued by the dominant culture

(Grant & Sleeter, as cited in Ndimande, 2010, p. 95). Therefore, marginalised students have to

conform to the dominant norms.

Another example is the “truths” or ideological assumptions (a boy and a girl should have

respectively masculine and feminine traits), which are embedded with power, lead to inequity.

Hence, implementing social justice perspectives in teaching practices is important for students

to participate in an unoppressive society, challenge the normative standards and feel

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empowered. That is challenging the stereotypes, the hegemonic and imbalances in power and

hierarchy that are leading to discrimination so that marginalised students have a voice.

Culturally responsive teaching is a strategy that strives to close the achievement gap

between students who historically were unsuccessful academically and socially because of their

socioeconomic class, race and level of English language (Griner & Stewart, 2013; Vavrus,

2008, p. 50). In addition, Geneva Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive teaching as having

and using the knowledge, beliefs and values of ethnically diverse students in order to make

learning more effective (p. 31). This means that this approach focuses on seeing the cultural

differences as strengths and assets instead of weaknesses. It uses critical pedagogy as a

perspective to stimulate a two-way communication between the teacher and the students

(Vavrus, 2008, p. 52), which makes teaching more effective: teachers and students learn from

each other. As a result, students become active participants in their learning since the culturally

responsive teaching is a student-centred approach.

As a future mathematics teacher, I will make sure I use this approach in my instructional

strategies. For example, when teaching geometry and measurement a history of Australian

Indigenous art may be implemented at the beginning of the lesson. In this case, Indigenous

students will have a sense of belonging and see the relevance of this lesson in their lives, while

the others will gain knowledge of a new culture. This is also a strategy to build an inclusive

classroom, which will be discussed later. Another example is using relevant resources for

English as an additional language or dialect learners to help them acquire the necessary literacy

skills in order to succeed in mainstream classes. It is important to acknowledge that not all

students in high school might have the required literacy level. It is vital, therefore, to focus on

the keywords of each chapter and present the different words that have different meaning in

mathematics.
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Using the lens of critical theory and post-colonialism, teachers must acknowledge the cultural

differences without assuming that all students come from the same backgrounds with the same

assets or try to assimilate them into the dominant culture. On the contrary, teachers should

benefit from their students’ experiences to enhance their teaching, support their students’

development and most importantly, help them achieve academically to their full potential.

Hence, culturally responsive teachers embrace diversity as an asset to the classroom and

incorporate the cultural background of marginalised students while communicating high

expectations to students regardless of their race, ethnicity or class.

Another important pedagogy is building an inclusive and safe environment where social

constructions that are presented as natural are challenged (Bell, 2016, p. 8; Petrescu, 2013).

These can be based on race, sexuality, gender, religion, class and many other markers (Bell,

2016, p. 8). This strategy helps students and teachers challenge the stereotypes and assumptions

that are attributed to a particular group. Examples of stereotypes are the following: Asian

students excel in mathematics, a boy has to have masculine traits, the male and female roles in

employment and a “Muslim identity may become for an Arab” (Bell, 2016, p. 10). Therefore,

in a statistics lesson, by implementing a feminist perspective, examples about females

succeeding in the business or engineering world can be given so that students become aware

of the gender stereotypes. Moreover, paying attention to the words used in class is essential to

prevent bullying especially when it comes to sexuality. This is also applicable to the resources

and materials that need to present different aspects of society not only those of the dominant

culture or norms. Furthermore, encouraging group discussion, questioning and sharing ideas

are beneficial so that all students become active participants and their voices are heard. When

incorporating teaching strategies from a critical theory perspective, hegemonic structures that

are resulting in the oppression of different groups can be challenged. In addition, critical

pedagogy develops critical consciousness (Bell, 2016, p. 16) because it lets students question
Pamela Khairallah Assignment 2 18724211

and challenge the hierarchical structures in society. Hence, creating a classroom environment

that is inclusive for all the diverse students is important to expose and challenge the power

hierarchies, hegemonies and stereotypes.

In conclusion, this unit was beneficial because it allowed me to reflect critically on how

social injustices exist and are practised unconsciously in the classrooms. In addition, it showed

me how sociological theories can be used in practice to achieve equity among students and

therefore, promote student achievement. Most importantly, I learnt that teaching for social

justice can be achieved when I start looking at students as individuals. That is followed by

recognising and respecting the differences that they bring to schools and encouraging them to

think critically about social justice issues around them.

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References:

Bell, L. A. (2016). Theoretical foundations of social justice education. In M. Adams & L. A.

Bell (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (3rd ed., pp. 1-26). New York,

NY: Routledge.

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed., pp.

22-75). New York, NY: Teachers College.

Griner, A. C., & Stewart, M. L. (2013). Addressing the achievement gap and disproportionality

through the use of culturally responsive teaching practices. Urban Education, 48(4),

585-621. doi:10.1177/0042085912456847

Keddie, A. (2011). Educating for diversity and social justice. Professional Educator, 10(3), 27-

30. Retrieved from http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/

Kumashiro, K. K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. American Educational

Research Association, 70(1), 25-53. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/

Lucey, T. A., & Laney, J. D. (2009). This land was made for you and me: Teaching for

economic justice in upper elementary and middle school grades. The Social Studies,

100(6), 260-272. doi:10.1080/00377990903283916

Ndimande, B. S. (2010). Critical theory as social justice pedagogy. In C. K. Thandeka & N.

Hobbel (Eds.), Social justice pedagogy across the curriculum the practice of freedom

(pp. 89-103). New York, NY: Routledge.

Petrescu, C. (2013). Inclusive education. Euromentor Journal, 4(2), 149-152. Retrieved from

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Vavrus, M. (2008). Culturally responsive teaching. In T. L. Good (Ed), 21st century education:

A reference handbook (pp. 49-57). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.