Teaching For Social Justice - Teaching blob by Vanessa D'Egidio

     I read a blog by a primary school teacher, Vanessa D'Egidio, on Teaching for Social Justice. Her main focus was on teaching social justice to younger children, but many of the ideas presented can be adapted for older students. In her blog, she focused a lot on gender stereotypes, which is appropriate for all students, but the focus of ideas talked about can be changed to be appropriate for the grade level you are working with. For instance, instead of talking about gender stereotyped toys, I would maybe present the idea of the "player" vs. "slut" discrepancy of males vs. females and would be able to garner the attention of high school students easier than if I were talking about toys. This goes for most topics that she presented in her blog.
     Community building is a critical and foundational component of anti-bias teaching and learning." Vanessa talked a lot about how she had to first and foremost create a sense of community in her classroom. She had to make sure students felt comfortable with each other, that they knew proper body postures and gestures such a eye contact and facial expressions, and that they knew how to speak to each other respectfully. I think that this should not be overlooked, even in a high school classroom. We may assume that students can refute each others points with respect, but a lot of students still don't have that skill by the time they are in high school. It is our job to then teach them those skills needed so that they can participate in the classroom as well as the world outside. 
     "Anti-bias work in the classroom is inherently complex, messy, and challenging. Keeping this reality in mind though, it can be done, and more importantly, it can be adapted successfully..." We have to keep in mind that this is not an easy task. We will have to work on it, adjust our practices, and be prepared for failure. We also have to get back up and keep trying if we do fail. Social justice in the classroom is not something that can be taught in a day, week, or unit. We have to work together to create an atmosphere that allows for social justice, and we have to expand social justice to the world outside of our classroom as well: "only by collectively recognizing and actively working against bias will social justice take root in our communities."

http://feministteacher.com/2012/08/28/guest-blogvanessa-degidio-on-teaching-for-social-justice-in-primary-school-classrooms/