Positive Social Change

It was not until recently that I read a journal article about social change that I
even was aware of what it meant or that it was something that I should be doing or more
importantly even teaching my students about. According to Walden‘s 2020 vision for
social change they are trying to make a positive impact on society and create benefits
for the public“ (Walden, 2017). As this vision suggests, someone who is trying to make a
positive social change is not just in it for themselves, they are trying to make things
better for other people. Some go even farther as to say it’s not just making things better
from the public but for trying to correct an injustice (Fry et al., 2021) which makes it all
that more serious that it should be taught in schools. People who are agents of social
change “ are people who can help develop and implement solutions to issues of injustice
instead of just hoping someone else will address problems” (Fry et al., 2021). There are
different levels of which people are able to get these solutions in place. Not everybody is
in a position where they can, from start to finish come up with a solution, and also be
able to implement it on every level, it takes a team. According to Fry et al, (2021, 30-31)
there are people who volunteer and work to make a difference, others who set up
systems to help those in need, and yet there are others who question why the problem
exists and what can be done so the problem stops. We need people in all of these
areas. The first two mentioned are almost like putting a bandaid on a cut. The bandaid
was good and necessary but if the injury never happened we would not need a bandaid.
All of these steps are actively doing something to help someone else. It is not just hoping
it will happen, but taking steps towards making it better for someone else. This is social
change. 

Pandy (2020) states, “without education there can be no social change”. Living in
ignorance, many would not even know that a problem is occurring or that it needs to be
fixed. For children this learning is often done in the classroom and is led by their teacher.
Educators not only can provide the knowledge needed but also the skills, thoughts and
attitudes that can lead to social change (Pandey, 2020). All components that Pandey
mentioned are important. Without the knowledge the skill, thoughts and attitudes are not
enough. The same is true if any of the other parts are missing. 

It is my job as an educator to start introducing them to social change. However, when

looking at some definitions of social change and thinking about injustices I think about
big issues and I get slightly overwhelmed on what that could mean in my classroom and
I don’t even know where to start. But when I think about Walden‘s vision of just making
things better for the public (Walden, 2017) I have some ideas of how I want to start
talking to my sixth graders about social change during social studies. One area that I
was surprised about is how many of my students are not aware of environmental issues
there are and what their impact is. We did a small project on it this past year but I plan to
add it. We looked at how garbage gets into our waterways and what different
organizations are doing to take care of it. The students were put into groups, researched
the topic and presented on what they learned to the class. To address more aspects of
social change I am going to add the topics of recycling in rural and underdeveloped
areas, location and overflowing problems with landfills, and what happens to trash in
different parts of the world. I would wrap it up with a discussion about what we can do to
help with the problem. This is just one project I want to dive deeper to introduce the
students to social change. Another topic that I would like to include is on food security
after we talk about the invention of farming and how people in ancient times dealt with
food insecurities and how it is handled today. These are just two ways I would like to
start including social change in my social studies classroom. 
Resources

Fry, S. W., Gayle, H., & Witt, H. (2021). Refining Pedagogy to Support Student Learning
in a General Education Course: Action Plans for Social Change. Transformative
Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 14(3), 26–40.

Pandey, P. (2020). EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE: AN INTERRELATIONSHIP.

Adamas University . Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
https://adamasuniversity.ac.in/education-and-social-change-an-interrelationship/ 

Walden University. (2017). Walden 2020: A vision for social change.

https://www.waldenu.edu/-/media/Walden/files/about- walden/walden-
university-2017-social-change-report-final-v-2.pdf?la=en