Equity & Excellence in Education, 38: 103–109, 2005
                     c
            Copyright
UniversityofMassachusettsAmherstSchoolofEducation
            ISSN1066-5684print/1547-3457online
            DOI:10.1080/10665680590935034
            Five Essential Components for Social Justice Education
                                                                                                     Heather W. Hackman
                  Thequestion of how to teach effectively from a clear social justice perspective that empowers, encourages students to
                  thinkcritically, and modelssocialchangehasbeenaconsistentchallengeforprogressiveeducators.Thisarticleintends
                  to shed light on this issue by demonstrating how educators can utilize a social justice pedagogical lens to treat their
                  content in ways that meet their commitment to empowering education. Specifically, this article clarifies what social
                  justice education is by introducing readers to five key components useful in teaching from a social justice perspective:
                  tools for content mastery, tools for critical thinking, tools for action and social change, tools for personal reflection,
                  andtools for awareness of multicultural group dynamics. While no pedagogical approach is a panacea, this approach
                  offers readers five specific areas to focus on in their teaching and their efforts at working toward social justice in their
                  classrooms.
                    his is a critical time in our world, in our nation,      createsmultiplepointsofentryinteachingforsocialjus-
                    andcertainlyinpubliceducation.Thetensepolit-             tice, it ultimately does the field a disservice by diluting
            T
                    icaldiscourseandhugelycontrastingideasabout              the essence of social justice education and weakening
            thefutureofU.S.educationleavesmanyfamilies,teach-                thecallforteachers,schools,andcommunitiestobetrue
            ers, communities,andadministratorsatalossforhowto                vanguardsforchange.Iaddressthisissuebypresenting
            bestservethestudentsintheirschoolsandoursocietyas                whatIperceive to be most fundamental to social justice
            a whole. In a climate characterized by well-intentioned          education via a definition of it and then a presentation
            but poorly funded policies like No Child Left Behind             of five components I view as necessary for its effective
            (NCLB), educators need to take a stronger and more               implementation. These five components (content mas-
            vocal stance against the furtherance of policies and ap-         tery, critical thinking, action skills, self-reflection, and an
            proachesthatservesomeattheexpenseofmany.Instead                  awareness of multicultural group dynamics) represent
            of trying to work with policies such as NCLB, educators          neitheranexhaustivenoranexclusiveunderstandingof
            need to demand educational environments conducive                social justice education. They do, however, help clarify
            to engaged, critical, and empowered thinking and ac-             what constitutes a social justice educational approach,
            tion. Equity and social justice need to move beyond be-          and provide for socially and politically conscious K-12
            ing merely buzzwords and instead become part of the              teachers a clearer sense of how to focus their classroom
            lived practice in the classroom.                                 content and process.
               Over the last decade, a number of authors have in-
            cluded the concept of social justice in their work and           DEFININGSOCIALJUSTICEEDUCATION
            calledforacommitmenttosocialjusticeeducation(SJE).
            And yet, a review of the literature reveals a range of              Working in chorus with the goals of other educa-
            definitions of social justice education and its manifes-         tional theory bases, social justice education encourages
            tation in the classroom. Those unfamiliar with it might          students to take an active role in their own education
            see social justice education as being about treating all         and supports teachers in creating empowering, demo-
            students equally, while others might think it involves           cratic, and critical educational environments. Bell (1997)
            the dismantling and reconstructing of education from             defines social justice as being a goal and a process. “The
            its very core. While having a broad definitional range           goal of social justice education is full and equal partici-
                                                                             pation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped
                                                                             to meet their needs,’’ (Bell, 1997, p. 3) while, “the pro-
               Address correspondence to Heather W. Hackman, Human Rela-     cess for attaining the goal of social justice...should be
            tions andMulticulturalEducation,B-118,CoE,St.CloudStateUniver-   democratic and participatory, inclusive and affirming
            sity, 720 Fourth Avenue South, Saint Cloud, MN 56301-4498. E-mail:
            hwhackman@stcloudstate.edu                                       of human agency and human capacities for working
                                                                                                                                     103
            104                                                 HEATHERW.HACKMAN
            collaboratively to create change’’ (p. 4). I have distilled      components:
            Bell’s goals of social justice education to include stu-             
 Contentmastery
            dent empowerment, the equitable distribution of re-                  
 Tools for critical analysis
            sources and social responsibility, and her processes to              
 Tools for social change
            include democracy, a student-centered focus, dialogue,               
 Tools for personal reflection
            and an analysis of power. Social justice education does              
 Anawarenessofmulticulturalgroupdynamics
            notmerelyexaminedifferenceordiversitybutpayscare-
            ful attention to the systems of power and privilege that            The diagram in Figure 1 reveals that solid work in
            giverisetosocialinequality,andencouragesstudentsto               any of these five areas will lead to more critical educa-
            critically examine oppression on institutional, cultural,        tional environments that benefit students and commu-
            and individual levels in search of opportunities for so-         nities. However, it is the combination and interaction of
            cial action in the service of social change. Clearly, this       allfivecomponentsthatcreatesaneffectiveenvironment
            definition goes well beyond the celebration of diversity,        forsocialjusticeeducation.Toillustrate,Ibrieflyexplain
            the use of dialogue groups in the classroom, or even the         eachcomponentandthendiscusshowtheirinteractions
            existence of democratic processes regarding class goals          contribute to a social justice educational environment.
            andprocedures. To be most effective, social justice edu-
            cation requires an examination of systems of power and
            oppressioncombinedwithaprolongedemphasisonso-                       Tool1:ContentMastery
            cial change and student agency in and outside of the                Content mastery is a vital aspect of social justice ed-
            classroom.                                                       ucation and consists of three principle spheres: factual
                                                                             information, historical contextualization, and a macro-
            FIVEESSENTIALCOMPONENTSFOR                                       to-micro content analysis. Content mastery is the first
            SOCIALJUSTICEEDUCATION                                           component of effective social justice education because
               Althoughitisimportanttoclarifythemeaningofso-                 information acquisition is an essential basis for learn-
            cial justice education, it also is vital to identify a spe-      ing. Without complex sources of information, students
            cific course of classroom implementation. My desire for          cannot possibly participate in positive, proactive so-
            amoreequitableapproachtoteachingencouragedmeto                   cial change. Importantly, factual information must not
            examinetheliteratureforamorespecificexplanationofa               merely reproduce dominant, hegemonic ideologies but
            social justice educational approach. I found that a social       instead represent a range of ideas and information that
            justice approach can be characterized by five essential          gobeyondthoseusuallypresentedinmainstreammedia
            Figure 1
            Five essential components for social justice education.
                                                COMPONENTSFORSOCIALJUSTICEEDUCATION                                             105
            or educational materials. More specifically, the “facts’’     tent mastery, however, would include an explanation of
            necessaryforeffective social justice education must rep-      the science and health impact of global warming, un-
            resent broad and deep levels of information so that stu-      derscored by statistical data and international research.
            dents can not only critically examine content but also        Students could examine this information through a crit-
            effectively dialogue about it with others. Remembering        ical lens and question the progression of global warm-
            thatsocialjusticeeducationasksstudentstoengageinso-           ing and deforestation throughout the last two centuries
            cialresponsibility,educatorsmustprovidestudentswith           with a special emphasis on the industrialization period.
            enough critical information to do so effectively; other-      What global and national historical, political, and eco-
            wise, students are set up for failure and frustration.        nomicforces have contributed to and maintained (sped
               Ahistorical information, however, leaves students          up or slowed down) the progression of global warm-
            withalimitedunderstandingofthepolitical,social,and            ing on this planet? And finally, students would exam-
            economicforcesandpatternsthatcreateandsustainthe              ine the implications of this issue globally, as well as lo-
            oppressive social dynamics students are contesting and        cally, addressing macro scale questions, such as: “Which
            transforming.Thus,athoroughunderstandingofthehis-             countries produce the most waste? Where is this waste
            torical context of all classroom content is vital for stu-    distributed globally? How are people in other countries
            dents to construct an analytical lens. Again, this content    affectedbyglobalwarming?Whatpolicieshavebeenef-
            mustbeexaminedwithacriticalperspectivebecausehis-             fective in curbing the production of greenhouse gases?
            tory is written by the members of dominant groups and         Why have some countries continually undermined ef-
            the need for a broad representation of history is essen-      forts at curbing global warming? Which countries are
            tial. Loewen(1996)illustratestheempoweringeffectthat          they?Howdomultinationalcorporationsfigureintothis
            criticalviewsofhistorycanhaveonstudentsthroughhis             issue?Whatisenvironmentalracism?’’Onamicrolevel,
            analysis of historical bias in public school history books.   studentswouldaddressquestionssuchas:“Whataremy
               Andfinally, content mastery involves student under-        ownconsumption patterns? What does this classroom,
            standing on both the micro and the macro levels. First,       school, and community do with our waste? How do we
            ascountlessauthorsinbothmulticulturalandsocialjus-            contribute to the problem or the solution? What is the
            tice education indicate, students need information that       impact for me, right now in my life, regarding global
            is connected to their lives and that helps them to un-        warming? What will be the impact on me in 20, 30 and
            derstand the micro-level implications of macro issues         50years?’’
            (Delpit, 1995; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1997; Nieto,
            2000).Fromthis,studentscanengageinsocialactionand                Tool2:Critical Thinking and the Analysis
            formulate ideas for concrete ways to incorporate class-          of Oppression
            roomcontentintotheirlives,communities,andsocietyas
            awhole.Second,studentsneedtodevelopasolidunder-                  For four key reasons, content alone is insufficient to
            standing of how classroom content connects with larger        createdemocratic,empoweringclassroomsettings,orto
            issues in society. In a socially just classroom, these two    adequately prepare students to become active agents of
            levels are constantly interacting, thus helping students      change and social justice in their lives and communi-
            to truly understand the phrase, “think globally, act lo-      ties. First, the mere possession of information does not
            cally.’’ Ultimately, both students and teachers need to be    necessarily translate into wisdom or deep knowledge.
            abletoanswerthequestion,“Whyisthisinformationim-              This is evident, for example, in that individuals in the
            portant on both a micro and macro scale?’’Understand-         U.S.have“known’’aboutthehistoricalandcurrentman-
            ing both micro and macro implications for content mas-        ifestations of racism, and yet that knowledge has not
            tery draws from student experience, invites them into         been enough to motivate change on the deepest of lev-
            theknowledgeconstructionprocess,andleadstoamore               els. Closer examinationrevealsthatcontentwithouthis-
            student-centered classroom.                                   torical context, especially when combined with lack of
               To better understand these three aspects of content        analysis, results in the inability to challenge racism in
            mastery, consider the issue of global warming. Main-          any significant way. Second, the possession of informa-
            streammediaandinformationsourcesoftenportraythis              tion alone does not necessarily provide students with a
            issue as something that seems to “just be happening’’         pathway for action. In my classes, for example, I have
            without any specific reference to its sources, implica-       witnessed students feeling overwhelmed by the infor-
            tions, or suggestions of proactive measures that indi-        mation presented and, as a result, feeling “stuck’’ and
            viduals and governments can take to stop it. This pre-        unsure of how to act to change unjust social patterns.
            sentation leaves students minimally exposed to how            Third,presentationofinformationastruthdevoidofcri-
            to accurately address the issue, or leaves unquestioned       tique runs the risk of creating a dogmatic and prescrip-
            the consumption and production patterns of the United         tiveclassroomenvironment.Inasocialjusticeclassroom,
            States and other industrial nations. Examining this is-       all content is subject to debate and critique. And finally,
            suefromasocialjusticeperspectivewithrespecttocon-             information presented outside a context of power and
                106                                                               HEATHERW.HACKMAN
                oppression runs the risk of recreating the marginaliza-                            students in our public and private educational environ-
                tionexperiencedbymembersofoppressedgroups,such                                     ments are taught to feel disempowered (“I can’t change
                as students of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer stu-                        anything; I am just one person’’), complacent (“I don’t
                dents, women, or poor/working-class folks.                                         have time to change anything’’), or hopeless (“Nothing
                   To avoidthesepitfallsandtheparalysis,hopelessness,                              will ever change anyway’’).
                cynicism, and powerlessness they often invoke, educa-                                  Oneofthemosteffortless forms of cultural imperial-
                tors must help students to use critical analysis and the                           ismistoconvincethoselivingwithinsystemsofinequal-
                careful consideration of issues of oppression to provide                           ity that there is nothing they can or should do about
                bothdeepknowledgeandadirectionfortheapplication                                    it (Young, 2000). Those who dare to critique and chal-
                ofthatknowledgeinstudents’lives.PauloFreire’s(1970)                                lenge the status quo are labeled a threat to the fabric
                praxis loop is a wonderful example of how information                              of democracy and freedom in the United States. Our
                needs to be combined with tools for critical thinking to                           current sociopolitical climate is an example of a soci-
                bring the power of that information to fruition. In par-                           etywheredissentfromthedominantideologyisseenas
                ticular, helping students use information to critique sys-                         “un-American’’and unpatriotic. Educators need to dis-
                tems of power and inequality in society, to help them                              rupt the notion that silence is patriotic and teach stu-
                ask who benefits from said systems, and to encourage                               dents that their rights as citizens in this society carry
                them to consider what aspects of our social structures                             responsibilities—ofparticipation,voice,andprotest—so
                keepthoseinequalitiesaliveareallimportantandneces-                                 that this can actually become a society of, by, and for all
                sarywaysforstudentstobecomemoreengagedinsocial                                     of its citizens. Students need to learn that social action is
                justice education.                                                                 fundamentaltotheeverydayworkingsoftheirlives.
                   Thetermcritical thinking has become so overused in                                  Specific classroom and teaching tools for action and
                education that it has lost some of its meaning. Think-                             social change vary, of course, according to the content
                ing about an issue is not equivalent to critical thinking,                         andthepoliticalperspectiveofthoseinvolved.Forsome,
                which requires: (1) focusing on information from mul-                              Saul Alinsky’s (1971) radical approach to taking power
                tiple, non-dominant perspectives, and seeing those as                              viagrassrootsprotestsandstreetactionsanditsredistri-
                independently valid and not as an add-on to the domi-                              butiontothemassesviaeconomicandpoliticalaccessis
                nant, hegemonic one; (2) de-centering students’analyti-                            fitting. To others, Freire’s (1973) “problem posing’’ pro-
                cal frame and opening their minds to a broader range of                            cess for the achievement of awareness and education as
                experiences; (3) analyzing the effects of power and op-                            thepracticeoffreedomisthemoreusefulapproach.And
                pression; and (4) inquiring into what alternatives exist                           still forothers,Zu´niga’˜     sandSevig’s(2000)focusonsocial
                with respect to the current, dominant view of reality of                           change through intergroup dialogue or Christenson’s
                thisissue.Thefirsttwopointsareparticularlyimportant                                (1998) route to social change through writing and liter-
                in that if I critically analyze other cultural perspectives                        acy development are important approaches. Addition-
                whileneverleavingthesafetyandcomfortofmyown,I                                      ally, some approachesandtoolsforsocialchangewillbe
                donothingmorethanreify“theother”or“exoticother”                                    grounded within “the system’’ (Oakes & Lipton, 1999),
                status of those groups and perpetuate the dehumaniza-                              while others will embody Lorde’s (1984) notion that the
                tion of those groups. Therefore, critical thinking is the                          master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.
                processbywhichweconsiderperspective,positionality,                                 Whatever the approach, there is a long history of social
                power,andpossibilities with respect to content.                                    action and social change in this country for both domi-
                                                                                                   nant and subordinate groups, and teachers who expose
                                                                                                   studentstothishistoryandthebroadassortmentoftools
                   Tool3:ActionandSocialChange                                                     forsocialchangewillpreparethemwellforsocialjustice
                                                                                                   work.
                   The third component, tools for action and social
                change, is critical to help move students from cynicism
                anddespairtohopeandpossibility.Uponlearningabout                                       Tool4:PersonalReflection
                issues of oppression and privilege, dominant group
                membersmayfeelmiredintherealityoftheirprivilege,                                       Usingthesefirstthreecomponentsistypicallytheex-
                andsubordinate group members may re-experience the                                 tent to which teachers engage in social justice education
                frustration of oppression. Teaching about issues of op-                            (Hackman, 2000). A fourth component, personal reflec-
                pression without proffering social action tools for stu-                           tion, reminds teachers to reflect critically on themselves
                dents ultimately creates a classroom atmosphere that                               and the personal qualities that inform their practice. In
                lacks hope and creative energy. If the goal of SJE is to                           Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
                supportcriticalthinking,thenwemustcreateclassroom                                  and Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope, bell hooks
                spaces that provide the opportunity to do so. It is also                           (1994:seealsohooks,2003)articulatesthreecentralways
                necessarytointentionallyteachthesetoolsbecausemost                                 in which the ability to be critically self-reflective lends