Social Justice in Your School: Aim For Liberation

Where is the focus on social justice in your school? This question goes beyond the issue of Equal Opportunities as it addresses the cultural drivers of your school – the fundamental foundations on which your school is built.

For too long issues about equality of access have been couched in a restrictive language and a lack of understanding. If schools do not address the issues related to social justice then they will return to inhibit the progress of society. We need to unify all our efforts under a single banner of social justice.

Social justice is a broad enough concept to include social exclusion, economic exclusion, SEN, disabilities, ethnic exclusion and LGBT issues in a single heading.

Inspired by John West Burnham:
Equality is giving everyone a box, irrespective if they need one or not.
Equity is giving people who need more boxes, more boxes.
Liberation is removing the fence so that we eliminate any barriers to learning.

Advertisement

About educationalist04

I'm convinced we can, as a species, do much better than this if we set our minds to being much more positive and productive towards our fellow humans. The solution is learning - creating independent and autonomous learners who can problem solve, innovate and create a better more equitable and sustainable world. My books, Future Proof Your School and Re-Examining Success together with this blog, explore how better learning outcomes for all can be achieved.

View all posts by educationalist04 →