Social justice and diversity are two main topics that will be concurrent through my teaching

degree, as well as my career as an educator. It is something that I must be aware of, and learn

how to teach to my student cohort, as well as minimize throughout my career as an educator.

Kumashiro (2015) highlights the point in which people often overlook teaching practices that

can often invisibly highlight privilege groups or identities and marginalize others. This is

why changes in teaching need to occur. Fairness and equitable distribution of education and

benefits are essential, as not only do they help develop moral judgement (Fahrenwald, 2003)

but allow for those who are economically disadvantaged and normally wouldnt benefit good

education (Tikly & Barrett, 2013) have a chance. This new approach to teaching as well as

the insightful knowledge gained through this unit can help bridge the gaps between privileged

and marginalized groups so that fairness and equity is presented in my classroom.

This unit has further helped develop my understanding of the types of social justice

issues that are currently occurring in schools. Theories such as Marxs Social Reproduction

Theory could explain why students from low income or low social economic status (low

SES) background will not benefit as those in the same social groups will often procreate with

the same social group and thus the cycle continues (Rioux, 2015), while other theories such

as critical race theory, as well as privilege and whiteness theory can explain why some

hegemonic groups can be favoured, leaving other groups, such as indigenous people

marginalized (Ferfolja, Jones & Ullman, 2015). Finally, dominant discourse can also

highlight how information which is governed by adults or teaching can affect their

understanding of their knowledge, such as information of sexuality due to fear of corruption

(Robinson, 2012). These theories are just some of the few I will be aware of and use to help

me navigate my teaching practices in order to provide equitable and fair education to my

student cohort from diverse backgrounds.

 With social justice education, my teaching pedagogy has also altered due to this.

There are various teaching pedagogies I could use, but when it comes to issues such as

marginalization for example, it is essential that I cater my teaching method to close the gap

and end the marginalization, such as discussion, role playing and simulation games, as well

as cooperative learning. Discussion can be effective when dealing with a controversial or low

consensus topic (Killen 2009) as it engages students and uncovers opinions students may

have not considered before. Role playing and simulation games can be a powerful

exploration tool as it helps explore values and interpersonal issues (Marsh, Clarke &

Pittaway, 2014, p. 203). Finally, cooperative learning can create engagement and help

students help each other instead of the traditional teacher teachers and students learn (Marsh

et al, 2014). All of these teaching pedagogies where used when we created our group game.

Its main aim was to highlight marginalization, which as discussed before can come in various

forms.

The game was based around marginalization of Indigenous students, specifically

Aboriginal students. the study we found articulated that aboriginal students and their parents

felt that often times, they were marginalized due to their culture and the lack of

understanding, trust and cooperation between students and their teachers (Lewthwaite, 2015).

In order to display just how the marginalization was occurring, we used critical race theory as

well as privilege and whiteness theory. Critical race theory highlights how a particular race

with have more power due to race, religion or linguistic backgrounds (Ferfolja et al, 2015),

while privilege and whiteness theory further uncover how dominant hegemonic groups can

have power over other groups, which can cause marginalization (Ferfolja et al, 2015). Using

these theories, our group created a game dedicated to show how privilege and randomness

could impact a person from simply rolling a number on a die.

 The game contained questions specifically to the Key Learning Area (KLA) of

history, and its aim was to marginalize two of the four players at complete random by placing

them in two teams. The game not only taught students how privilege and exclusion can

happen at any time, it also gave the students a self-reflective moment which could then be

used to facilitate a discussion, potentially altering assumptions students had prior to playing

the game. This kind of resource that incorporates various teaching pedagogies can be

effective if used concisely and appropriately. Games such as ours can help students even

come to terms that perhaps they too had unware stereotypes for certain ethnicities which they

werent aware of, which in classroom environments can help create even stronger inclusive

environments. Furthermore, it can also help teachers uncover potential social injustices and

begin planning methods to combat the injustices theyve uncovered.

After this unit and creating a teaching resource such as our group project, I realized just how

much power teachers have as educators to young students. The dominant discourse teachers

posses with how they use the unit syllabus can have a huge effect on the information students

receive. How teachers use the dominant discourse can both be a positive outcome for all

students, or marginalize those who do not fit the dominant group profile. In these instances,

the knowledge I have gained throughout this unit can ensure I utilize the syllabus in a way

that education is equitable and accessible, so that social justice issues are minimized. It is

obvious that social justice issues will never disappear overnight, and it takes a group effort

and consistency to combat the inequality, marginalization and discrimination many students

face in schooling environments, but taking on board all the content, pedagogical methods as

well as theories can help bridge the gap beginning in my class rooms so that every student

feels fair and included.

References

Fahrenwald, N.L. (2003). Teaching Social Justice. Nurse Educator, 28(5). P. 222-226.

Ferfolja, T.; Jones Diaz, C. & Ullman, J. (2015). Understanding Sociological Theory for

Educational Purposes. Australia: Cambridge University Press

Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies (5th ed.) Melbourne, Vic.: Cengage Learning.

Kumashiro, K.K. (2015). Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Towards Social

Justice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Lewthwaite, B. E., Osborne, B., Lloyd, N., Boon, H., Llewellyn, L., Webber, T., Laffin, G.,

Harrison, M., Day, C., Kemp, C., & Wills, J. (2015). Seeking a Pedagogy of

Difference: What Aboriginal Students and their Parents in North Queensland Say

About Teaching and their Learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education,

40(5). DOI: hAp://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n5.8

Marsh, C.J., Clark, M., Pittaway, S. (2014) Marshs becoming a teacher (6th Ed.) Frenchs

Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.

Rioux, S. (2015). Embodied contradictions: Capitalism, social reproduction and body

formation. Womens Studies International Forum, 48(1). DOI:

10.1016/j.wsif.2014.03.008

Robinson, K.H. (2012). Difficult citizenship: The precarious relationships between

childhood, sexuality and access to knowledge. Sexualities, 15(3), 257-276.

Tikly, L. & Barrett, A.M. (2013). Education Quality and Social Justice in the Global South.

New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.