RE: Sleeter and Grant Ch. 6

A couple more notes about Chapter 6 and the Multicultural Social Justice Education method:

I think the second half of this chapter is what makes the method more viable for use in a real classroom setting. I really like that Sleeter and Grant pull in resources from Dewey and Freire with this method. I think it is very important that students learn how to be advocates of and vehicles for social change. But first they have to know and understand the system and how they fit into it. This social justice education method seems to really encourage teachers to help their students understand their role in making changes in society by empowering them and helping them see that they are the future. This idea of student empowerment is so important in my opinion. In my experience, students that feel that they are doing a good job in the classroom, even if they are struggling with a particular subject/skill, they work harder and feel better about school. Children need to feel like someone believes in them, and I think teachers have to shoulder this responsibility. It is always a toss-up what kind of support a child will get at home. Therefore, the teacher should always try to be supportive and encouraging of all students in case they are not getting the support they need from their guardians. I think this makes a big difference in a classroom and contributes to the way students perform.

I'm always pleased to read concrete examples of ways to implement the methods in the classroom. For instance, Sleeter provides three good examples on page 200 of how to incorporate the idea of students as advocates for social change. It includes using projects such as running elections for student government, or analyzing current events that have to do with a particular ethnic/social group to help students understand how to get involved with the way our government and society works. I hope that in my classroom I will find enough creativity to incorporate some form of this type of education.