"Social justice issues happen all the time. We hear about these things on the news, or online. But is it something teachers talk about? "--Maya MAstropasqua, 6th grade
Social justice issues happen all the time. We hear about these things on the news, or online. But is it something teachers talk about?
Kris Bradburn is a 6th grade English and History teacher at OSA. Bradburn talks about the times she’s talked to her students regarding social justice, mentioning Amanda Gorman’s poem after January’s Inauguration. “For me it’s anywhere and everywhere I can naturally integrate it into the curriculum I teach,” she says. Bradburn also notes how important it is for all teachers to integrate social justice into their teaching.
Of course, biases also might play a role when talking about equitability. Bradburn though, is in favor of an unbiased way of teaching. “I don't think it’s right for a teacher to bring in their personal agenda,” she says. She explains that she teaches a highschool class on the history of Oakland, which is heavily tied to matters of social justice, so she teaches a lot of content relevant to that. “I have to be mindful of like, ‘is this something I personally care about or am I actually teaching history’? But it’s hard not to.” When talking about students sharing input or insights, Bradburn says, “If I know there’s especially a hot issue, if kids want to bring it up, I try to give space.”
On whether or not she talks about these issues like hate crimes or police violence with her students, Bradburn responded, “It sort of depends on how connected it is with the curriculum, how much I think a certain topic will affect my students on a given day. If I can tell that something heavy went down and that’s where everyone’s mind at, then I’ll definitely bring it up.”
Bradburn thinks that having these kinds of talks with students is beneficial for them. “Part of what we’re trying to help you with is to become good people, good citizens of this world,” she says. “I have a lot of faith in your moral compass, and that if I give you information, not my opinion, but information, that you’ll also come to a good conclusion about what’s right and wrong.”
Amelia Whitcomb is a Literary Arts teacher at OSA. For her classes, she talks about social justice issues whenever there’s something in the news coming up, or something she’s heard around the school regarding social justice. Especially in screen writing, where there have been a lot of issues around things like representation, sexual harassment, racism, sexism, and homophobia that happen a lot, and she tries to bring that in.
On whether Whitcomb thinks all teachers should talk about social justice issues she said, “I do, but I do think it’s really important for teachers to be mindful about how to talk about it with students, and to sort of let it be, almost like, student-led conversations.” When talking about these things students may want to share, does Ms. Does Whitcomb give room to do that? “I think it’s incredibly important to ask for student input,” she says, “As a teacher I see myself as someone there for all of you, I am there serving you, really. I’m not there to have my own agenda or push my own beliefs, or my own feelings, or really anything on you—I’m there to facilitate your learning and facilitate your growth as humans.”
Whitcomb really tries to incorporate the best of both worlds between being biased and unbiased. “I do try to talk about it more from a fact based approach, laying out the information, but I do think we’ve come to a point where it’s really difficult to keep our personal feelings or politics out of it. I don’t try to push that on anybody, but I do often let my feelings be known to students,” she says, “I don’t let that be the dominant part, but I do think that it sometimes helps the conversation if I’m being honest as well.”
But how do students feel about bias from teachers? Declan McMahon is an eighth grader attending OSA. They feel teachers don’t really bring bias at all, “They try to stay unbiased,” they say, “I haven’t really seen any examples of bias, at least my teachers aren’t really that biased.”
“They just give us the facts,” said Zoe Mastropasqua, an eight grader at OSA. “I think it is helpful to hear other people’s opinions though.”
The level of comfort of a student is something to consider while discussing social justice issues. It’s important that they feel that they’re classroom is a safe space.
“I feel like they’re a safe space for sure,” McMahon notes on the topic. Adding, “They were more of a safe space when they were actually a space.”
Mastropasqua, on the other enjoys some zoom aspects. “I also feel like over Zoom cause you can private chat and don’t have to say it to everyone, and everyone agrees.”
Sometimes though, students might be so uncomfortable, that they don’t even want social justice issues talked about at all in class. McMahon thinks otherwise, “Well of course I want [teachers] to talk about it, I understand that it can be uncomfortable for some people, but I think it’s way better to talk about it than to not, and I will always want them to talk about it.” Mastropasqua agrees, saying, “I think it’s important to know what’s going on in the world.”
The way that different teachers talk about social justice and the way that different students hear it is different. But however it’s talked about, the bottom line is that it should be. That it’s important for kids to hear these things and know what’s going on.
Kris Bradburn is a 6th grade English and History teacher at OSA. Bradburn talks about the times she’s talked to her students regarding social justice, mentioning Amanda Gorman’s poem after January’s Inauguration. “For me it’s anywhere and everywhere I can naturally integrate it into the curriculum I teach,” she says. Bradburn also notes how important it is for all teachers to integrate social justice into their teaching.
Of course, biases also might play a role when talking about equitability. Bradburn though, is in favor of an unbiased way of teaching. “I don't think it’s right for a teacher to bring in their personal agenda,” she says. She explains that she teaches a highschool class on the history of Oakland, which is heavily tied to matters of social justice, so she teaches a lot of content relevant to that. “I have to be mindful of like, ‘is this something I personally care about or am I actually teaching history’? But it’s hard not to.” When talking about students sharing input or insights, Bradburn says, “If I know there’s especially a hot issue, if kids want to bring it up, I try to give space.”
On whether or not she talks about these issues like hate crimes or police violence with her students, Bradburn responded, “It sort of depends on how connected it is with the curriculum, how much I think a certain topic will affect my students on a given day. If I can tell that something heavy went down and that’s where everyone’s mind at, then I’ll definitely bring it up.”
Bradburn thinks that having these kinds of talks with students is beneficial for them. “Part of what we’re trying to help you with is to become good people, good citizens of this world,” she says. “I have a lot of faith in your moral compass, and that if I give you information, not my opinion, but information, that you’ll also come to a good conclusion about what’s right and wrong.”
Amelia Whitcomb is a Literary Arts teacher at OSA. For her classes, she talks about social justice issues whenever there’s something in the news coming up, or something she’s heard around the school regarding social justice. Especially in screen writing, where there have been a lot of issues around things like representation, sexual harassment, racism, sexism, and homophobia that happen a lot, and she tries to bring that in.
On whether Whitcomb thinks all teachers should talk about social justice issues she said, “I do, but I do think it’s really important for teachers to be mindful about how to talk about it with students, and to sort of let it be, almost like, student-led conversations.” When talking about these things students may want to share, does Ms. Does Whitcomb give room to do that? “I think it’s incredibly important to ask for student input,” she says, “As a teacher I see myself as someone there for all of you, I am there serving you, really. I’m not there to have my own agenda or push my own beliefs, or my own feelings, or really anything on you—I’m there to facilitate your learning and facilitate your growth as humans.”
Whitcomb really tries to incorporate the best of both worlds between being biased and unbiased. “I do try to talk about it more from a fact based approach, laying out the information, but I do think we’ve come to a point where it’s really difficult to keep our personal feelings or politics out of it. I don’t try to push that on anybody, but I do often let my feelings be known to students,” she says, “I don’t let that be the dominant part, but I do think that it sometimes helps the conversation if I’m being honest as well.”
But how do students feel about bias from teachers? Declan McMahon is an eighth grader attending OSA. They feel teachers don’t really bring bias at all, “They try to stay unbiased,” they say, “I haven’t really seen any examples of bias, at least my teachers aren’t really that biased.”
“They just give us the facts,” said Zoe Mastropasqua, an eight grader at OSA. “I think it is helpful to hear other people’s opinions though.”
The level of comfort of a student is something to consider while discussing social justice issues. It’s important that they feel that they’re classroom is a safe space.
“I feel like they’re a safe space for sure,” McMahon notes on the topic. Adding, “They were more of a safe space when they were actually a space.”
Mastropasqua, on the other enjoys some zoom aspects. “I also feel like over Zoom cause you can private chat and don’t have to say it to everyone, and everyone agrees.”
Sometimes though, students might be so uncomfortable, that they don’t even want social justice issues talked about at all in class. McMahon thinks otherwise, “Well of course I want [teachers] to talk about it, I understand that it can be uncomfortable for some people, but I think it’s way better to talk about it than to not, and I will always want them to talk about it.” Mastropasqua agrees, saying, “I think it’s important to know what’s going on in the world.”
The way that different teachers talk about social justice and the way that different students hear it is different. But however it’s talked about, the bottom line is that it should be. That it’s important for kids to hear these things and know what’s going on.