And why do we study it? Do you agree with the statement below?
It is our goal to educate
youth to become global citizens who are able to think critically about world
issues, at home and abroad. Racial discrimination, gender and class issues,
war, poverty and inequality among humanity are only a few of the problems that
plague the planet. Education is empowerment and with knowledge we can make
change
What are your goals for this course?
Social justice is striving for a utopia—it is looking at human fault, error, wrongdoing, and searching for a way to, during one’s short time on this earth, impact whomever and whatever you can in a positive light. It’s striving for a goal you know is attainable, yet impossible as well. The entire idea of social justice is searching for a perfectly equal society, where everyone is given the chance to be successful, happy, and loved. Yet inherently, we as humans make this type of society nearly impossible to attain. It is for that reason that the entire idea of social justice is almost too big for one person to tackle on their own. But we must start small in defining social justice for ourselves so as to not, almost, bite off more than we can chew. Social justice ultimately is a movement that starts with one but needs a solid backing to really take the world by storm. We as a class must search for social equality in our limited yet still outlandish goals. Completely eliminate bullying from our little school, fill up the food bank so nobody goes hungry over the holiday season, sponsor ten children living in poverty—difficult goals, yes. Attainable, yes. We can try to change the world, but we must do it one step at a time. It is for that reason that I personally define social justice as the setting of realistic and positively impactful goals in order to better a small section of the world. Social justice, in my definition, also can’t be undertaken alone. One person can be the change, yes, but it is much easier to spur change when working as a team. Social justice inherently, for me, must be a team-based idea. Finally, for me, social justice can only be considered social justice when one can really see the impact one has had on someone else’s way of life, thinking, etc. Social justice therefore cannot silently overtake something. In this case, sustainability is important. For me, in social justice seeing really is believing.
ReplyDeleteSocial justice is taught in schools to encourage awareness, so that once we've left, we can network to make even more of an impact to those with whom we are close. Education, like the quote says above, really is empowerment. We are educated to light a little fire in our soul with the hopes that that fire may eb and flow, yet never fully extinguish itself.
My goals for this course are simple. My first is to encourage myself to make a difference. I am a very externally motivated person—take from it what you will—so this course is a perfect way, via the idea of getting marked, to almost force me to do some good in the world. Personally, it is too easy to stand back and not take action when there is no other motivation besides internal desires. I can now couple internal fuel with external pressure to really do some good.
My second goal of the course is to expose myself to a variety of social injustices in the hopes of spreading awareness for not just one or two issues that impassion me, but rather to get a true idea of the ideas and justice issues that impact everybody. I am doing this to, I suppose, to search for a more well-rounded point of view in regards to social justice.
Last, but certainly not least, I am looking at going into law—especially international—in post-secondary, and I really do think this course can tie in well with legal issues plaguing the country. I am taking this course because I think it and law 12 really do go hand in hand. They are ultimately two sides of the same coin and I feel as if I could get way more out of both courses if I were to take them both at the same time.
Defining social justice and why did I take the course: I know that social justice has to do with problems around the world such as, equal rights and starvation, etc but there is also a lot more to it that I do not even realize. There is a much bigger world out there with different problems that I may or may not have to face, it will hopefully be a big eye opener to me and I’d like to understand a lot more that is happening around me - good or bad.
ReplyDeleteSocial Justice is the act of trying to achieve absolute happiness. This can only be achieved by people doing everything they can to make a positive impact on the World. The world contains a lot of evil, cruelty, and unfairness towards people and certain groups of people. If you are a girl in many countries you are automatically deemed less than a man. This seems silly in Canada because we are so much more developed and socially fair, but this is not the case in countries, like Honduras. To achieve Social Justice is impossible to do by yourself, there are too many things in the world that need to be changed, but don’t think that because it is so big no one can help. Starting small is all it takes. As a class I would think we should start with small ideas and work towards a project that will have an impact on someone elses life. To achieve Social Justice thinking about someone and not yourself, is the first step. Don’t always think about how things are gonna benefit yourself, think about how you can benefit others. My goals for this class are being less selfish and to put other people first. Also I want to learn about the world and make a difference in it. I am determined to have an impact, small or big.
ReplyDeleteSocial justice is an unattainable idea that many people strive for- equality. I do believe that far into to future it may become more than just an idea, but not in our lifetime. People can do so much to make things fairly equal, but I do not think that things will be equal until everyone in the world is trying to achieve equality rather than just a percentage. Maybe I am wrong in my ideas about social justice, but I think it is going to take something drastic to make people change their minds about how equal things are going to end up. There is always going to be those individuals crazed for power over everyone who may have less than them, less money, fewer rights, or just a different opinion. And until those people are willing to accept that they are no better than anyone else social justice is just an unattainable idea.
ReplyDeleteTo me, social justice is just simply a wonderful dream, but I hope that I will be proved wrong.
I believe we study social justice to learn more about what it could be like to be thrown into someone elses shoes. It brings me back down off of my imaginary cloud that not everything is all good in the world because things are all perfect in one part of the world. Studying social justice is one way to become more aware of how life is for people with little to no rights, something I know many people take for granted. In this course, I hope that I will get off the cloud I’ve been living on my entire life and start to realise my own potential to make a change.
Kenzie, I think you are right about social justice not being attainable in our lifetime, it will take a long time to change people minds about equality. I do believe that if we do everything we can to help then it will be almost attainable.
DeleteYou have all impressed me with your awareness of, and interest in, the world out there that is so different from our own little Magic Kingdom. It is only through awareness that we can start to change those things that we believe must change. And I believe that once we are aware, we have no choice but to act. At least I hope that's the case.
ReplyDeleteSocial Justice, in concrete terms, is a simply civilized civilization. We call our many global, developed societies civilizations, but that is very inaccurate. Development, progression, change are all words we can use to describe the modern world(not necessarily in positive terms), but we cannot use “civilized.” War, poverty, inequality, racism (the list goes on forever) all play major roles in our so called civilizations, yet are all acts of corruption, not civil behaviour. If you look at our global society as I just did, one would see that Social Justice has not found room in our world and is therefore most often a concept. On occasion it does become practice but societies must strive to achieve it. Social Justice is the achievement of global civilization.
ReplyDeleteIf we look at societies throughout history we know that social justice has never been a common practice, but we can also see that it has been and can be reached. It is important that we teach such historical events to all future generations, that way we, as a society, can progress positively; therefore, I agree with the statement above. The quote summarizes the necessity in teaching and learning about social justice, which I would like to expand on.
At any age the mind has the capability and flexibility to absorb and interpret information through a variety of means. However, when we are young the mind has a far greater capacity to gain knowledge; therefore, the development of minds in youth is particularly crucial. Perspectives of children are unconditioned in comparison to those of adults; they have the possibility to balance their interpretations and create new perspectives. Specific environments and the people within them cause us to come across and formulate opinions and impressions of others. As a result we must listen and comprehend in order to come to our own conclusions. It seems that we often view the task of problem solving, in school for example, as a burden; whereas, it is a privilege in society where information is basically fed to us. And though it may be the “students” responsibility to put in the effort, it is the responsibility of the “teacher” to show the value and relevance in what they are learning, and thereby encouraging the purpose of “figuring things out”. We must come to our own conclusions to avoid the path of corruption, which can be led by very few. The teaching of “Social Justice” should help future generations to avoid “the path” through what I described: interactive activity allowing students to appreciate the concept and understand the purpose of it.
To me social justice means mankind's possibility, the possibility of applying the wisdom we gain as children throughout our lives. It is ultimately our own responsibility to actualize, which is summed up by one of my favourite quotes: “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
Sam,
DeleteI really enjoy the way you explained a little about the mind of a child and went over the idea that the child's mind is perfectly conditioned to absorb the most of its information from a very early age.
I think a part of this you didn't touch on is the fact that, to me, social injustice is a practice that is learned from an early age.
As you said before, your brain is conditioned to learn the most out of your surroundings—to make opinions and develop perspective—based on your life's necessities.
In my opinion, it is only logical, then, that evil and wickedness are traits that must be fostered, that must grow and develop also from an early age. Those who grow up in difficult circumstances, political turmoil, etc., logically would have a higher risk of growing up to disrespect social justice principles.
Just a thought!
What do you think?
Precisely, Brogan! I completely agree with your point. By describing how we, as a society, influence children and can help change the world for the better, I was implying that we are currently doing the opposite. Obviously, not all of us encourage social injustice, but many peoples practices and morals do foster those negative traits. I am glad that you picked up on that possibility, but sorry that I did not clarify enough that conditioned injustice was also a possibility!
DeleteMy goals for this course are few, but important for me. Besides the basics of wanting to make a “difference” in the world and receiving the motivation to follow through with a large project, I want to discover the emotion and satisfaction that comes with the accomplishment. I feel as if on my own time I can only ever complete small projects because of homework etc., but now that I can incorporate my efforts with school it is like “hitting two birds with one stone.” I want to gain school credits for what I enjoy doing, and furthermore, I feel that Social Justice is an important class to have on ones transcript and resumé. The decision to take this class shows devotion towards innovation, progression, equality, and overall change which our world is in desperate need of. Employers, schools, and anyone else who reads about your experience will view this course as a reflection of your personality and respect you. Besides the advantages it may give me when applying for general schools, jobs etc. in the future, I have also considered careers involved with the concept “Social Justice.” Taking this course, and experiencing what I can accomplish, will help me in deciding if my passion for “making a difference” will direct me into a career that follows that path.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Social Justice is not the act of trying to create a utopia but more the idea of it, but it also includes things like human right, equality, and other topics like it. To me it feels more like a concept than a practice. It is also something achieved, but people can be socially just and fair some it could be done.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion some course like social justice should be mandatory in school to teach kids to be more socially just. It is a good thing to learn, to get a better sense of the world around us and some of the problems with the world.
I am taking Social Justice because I am interesting with the topic and I like helping people. I also want to get a have a better understanding of the subject. So i can use it in the future to hopefully help others and make a difference in the world.
I believe social justice is trying to reach a peaceful happy society. An idea of equality between all. It can only be achieved over a long period of people working together to create peace and end violence, even after this it will still be nearly unattainable. There are always going to be people in the world who are crazy and evil, and that is why reaching social justice is so difficult.
ReplyDeleteMy goals for this course are to learn how to make a difference in the world no matter how big or small it may be.
Social Justice is something that will take work and collaboration and cooperation. It is aiming for a better world, and a better society. Social justice is something that involves the courage to be vulnerable and the courage to accept and work with all people. And not just that, social justice is so much more. It is something to be achieved, it is something that every person, society, and country truly yearns for. I think it may take a bit of enlightenment to achieve it, and a lot of out right acceptance. But I do think it can happen. It won't while I am alive, but one day I hope it will.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I taking this course? I hope, one day, to travel the world as a diplomatic representative for the arts in Canada and be able to speak about how the arts can bring us together in a society. Theatre, music, dance and art are all very large contributors to expression of the unfair and often are initiators of change. I believe that through the arts, social justice can one day be achieved.
Maddie, I really like how you worded your definition for social justice. It is something more than acceptance and courage to be vulnerable. I think it will be interesting to see how you bring social justice together with the arts and I am looking forward to that ocmbination. I'm sure it will be amazing.
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