Giving Compass' Take:

• Dr. Margy Jones-Carey explains how bringing social justice into school curricula can help to introduce social justice themes at a young age.

• How can funders help districts adjust their curriculum accordingly? 

• Learn about social justice philanthropy


Schools are anchored in standards. There are social justice standards available to educators to use through Teaching Tolerance. The four areas addressed are Identify, Diversity, Justice and Action. The standards are written to ensure that there is a community of action engaged in reducing prejudice in a deliberate and measured way. In addition, there is an expectation of direct and explicit teaching around not only changing our actions as individuals but also engaging in changing the system (schools and communities). There are suggested anchor standards available that bring together diversity and justice standards as well as lesson plans that are ready for all grade levels. In addition, the Teaching Tolerance site offers rubrics and tasks for students to complete to demonstrate competence and mastery of the standards provided.

Research by James Banks supports that if we wait till adolescence to introduce social justice topics, we have missed the time when young learners have developed their opinions and values, which shape their actions and thoughts. As educators, we have some freedoms with the titles we choose for books for students to read, topics for students to write about and how we ask students to solve problems. When we are selecting books for students to read and topics for students to write about, we often pick titles that we read as students and topics we were asked to write about as students. There are so many titles available to us to read, fiction and non-fiction, that allow for teaching social justice for elementary and secondary students. These titles along with so many others are anchored in Community restoration, dignity for all, forgiveness, problem-solving, empathy and creating a sense of belonging. Once we are reading about social justice, we can begin to act through writing, problem-solving, projects and discussions.

Read the full article about bringing social justice to school curricula by Dr. Margy Jones-Carey at Getting Smart.