102083 Diversity, Social Justice and Learning – Assessment 2

The social justice inequalities addressed in this unit permeates throughout history so teaching

the effects on the affected individuals through different mediums will allow the students to

reflect and empathise with these oppressed groups; I will not just forthright tell them that it’s

wrong, showing them what these oppressed groups of people endure will have a deeper

impact. Different mediums such as giving them worksheets on the unfair treatment of the

Aborigines or movies, such as ‘The Rabbit-Proof Fence’, that showcase these covert

inequalities and violence. I will show that these issues still exist which can be demonstrated

through “…current events, popular culture, and news stories” (Case, 2017, p. 91). These can

be used as discussion at the end of each lesson in order to make the students socially aware of

what is happening around the world. As Case (2017) reveals, discussion of privilege,

inequality and more importantly intersectionality, there is no longer the set standard for

which others are compared to and measured against (p. 12). Gender Bender is an activity that

encourages the students to think of their counterparts’ experiences and how they might suffer

because of the injustices. Without these discussions, the social hierarchy and the standard will

still be rigidly in place and others be perceived as inferior as a result.

In history, there is generally two perspectives of an event but what is taught in schools are

generally from the perspectives of the Europeans; for example, there is a vast majority of

texts from the perspectives of the British when colonising Australia and often these accounts

are biased and present a negative view of the Indigenous peoples (Nieto & Bode, 2012, p.

55). When teaching history, I will encourage my students to question and be analytical of the

various texts presented to them, not just accept what is being handed to them - I am teaching

them the skill to question everything in life, not just the texts being analysed in the classroom.

I feel that is one of the limitations of our game, Gender Bender, is that it limits their critical
thinking because it gives them the information and does not allow them to critically think of

the social justice issue on a deeper level. Still, Gender Bender is a great activity that allows

the students to be empathetic towards their counterpart, experiencing their difficulties in

everyday life, especially the injustices they face just because of their gender.