Expert answer:short paragraph
Answer & Explanation:I have article and read then writing very short paragraph and what you thinking group 2.pdf take a look and let me if you have any questionThank you
group_2.pdf
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Equity & Excellence in Education, 40: 156–165, 2007
c University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Education
Copyright
ISSN 1066-5684 print /1547-3457 online
DOI: 10.1080/10665680701221313
Service-Learning for Social Justice in the Elementary
Classroom: Can We Get There from Here?
Rahima C. Wade
This article focuses on 40 elementary school teachers’ efforts to involve their students in social justice-oriented servicelearning experiences and the struggles and support they encounter in doing so. The service-learning activities described
here begin with student interest and initiative and focus on advocacy and concerted efforts to right unjust situations.
With teacher support and guidance, students consider multiple perspectives and challenge the status quo. At times
they accomplish their aims; in other cases, success is found in students learning valuable life lessons about the skills and
long-term effort needed to effect change. Struggles with state mandates, required curriculum, colleagues, and parents
are discussed, as well as the creative and subversive measures teachers use to address these challenges.
C
ommunity service-learning—the integration of
school or community-based service activities
with academic skills and structured reflection—
is a growing movement nationally in the field of education. With funding and initiatives at the federal, state,
and private levels, service-learning programs have proliferated in the nation’s K-12 classrooms as well as in colleges and universities. The popularity of service-learning
among the nation’s K-12 educators rests primarily on its
ability to promote students’self-esteem and civic responsibility. Critics of service-learning, however, point to its
limitations in helping students develop a commitment to
social justice by working for long-term systemic change
through both social and political channels (Boyle-Baise,
2002; Kahne & Westheimer, 1996; Wade, 2000, 2001). Too
often, service-learning projects neglect to include a focus on the root causes of the problem at hand; nor are
students often encouraged to question why the need for
service exists in the first place.
This article focuses on elementary school teachers’ efforts to involve their students in social justice-oriented
service learning experiences and the struggles and support they encounter in doing so. In order to make a
case for the value and practicality of elementary level
social-justice-oriented service-learning experiences, several tasks are in order. First, I discuss the defining features of service-learning aimed at social justice goals.
Next, I argue that this work holds distinct advantages
Address correspondence to Rahima C. Wade, University of Iowa,
College of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Lindquist Center N
291, Iowa City, IA 52242. E-mail: rahima-wade@uiowa.edu
156
over traditional approaches to service-learning and that
it is a valuable pursuit for the elementary school. Finally,
I present examples from elementary teachers’ practice
that illustrate both the strengths and limitations of their
social justice work.
WHAT IS SERVICE-LEARNING
FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?
Describing service-learning for social justice first necessitates a definition of social justice. While individual
understandings of social justice will necessarily be influenced by culture, historical context, and personal life experience, a definition of social justice will serve to ground
the following discussion of community service-learning
for social justice. Adams, Bell, and Griffin (1997), define
a socially just society as one in which all members have
their basic needs met. In addition, they note that in a
just society all individuals are physically and psychologically safe and secure and able to develop to their full
capacities and capable of interacting democratically with
others. If a socially just society is one in which all people
are accorded equal worth and opportunity, it follows that
social justice is incompatible with any form of prejudice
or discrimination based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, or any other factor.
To be authentic and relevant for elementary students,
social justice education needs to begin with children’s
lived experiences—their concerns, hopes, and dreams—
and then move toward multiple perspectives and action directed toward social change (Adams et al., 1997;
Bigelow, Christensen, Karp, Miner, & Peterson, 1994).
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM SOCIAL JUSTICE SERVICE-LEARNING
Quality social justice education is: student-centered, collaborative, experiential, intellectual, analytical, multicultural, value-based and activist (Bigelow et al., 1994;
Wade, 2001, 2004). Social justice-oriented educators ask
their students “to develop their democratic capacities: to
question, to challenge, to make real decisions, to collectively solve problems’’ (Bigelow et al., 1994, p. 4).
High quality community service-learning activities
share many of the same characteristics as social justice education. Both are aimed at ameliorating societal
problems and both involve students working collectively
with others to effect change (Wade, 2000). In fact, educators and policymakers can use the characteristics of
social justice education listed above as a template for developing service-learning projects aimed at social justice
goals. Table 1 illustrates what each of the characteristics might look like in service-learning practice. While
few projects are likely to embody all of these characteristics, these characteristics do provide a model for
projects that address social justice goals from planning to
completion.
An example will illustrate how a traditional servicelearning project can be transformed into a social justiceoriented one. A service-learning project on the topic of
homelessness might typically involve collecting clothing
and blankets for a shelter or serving meals at the local
soup kitchen. With a few additions, this project could
incorporate a social justice emphasis. First, teacher and
students could discuss the different reasons that people
become homeless and the needs homeless people have
beyond food and clothing. Students could explore the
range of services provided to homeless people in their
community (such as housing offices and job centers) and,
in concert with interviewing agency workers and homeless individuals, if possible, determine what resources
and services are still needed to enable people to move
toward the goal of working and living on their own.
Students could write to or speak with public officials
and assist with fundraising to establish additional services, such as setting up a mail service, health clinic, job
training class, or a telephone message system at the shelter through which employers and job seekers can contact each other. With teacher guidance, students could
also learn about state and national organizations working to solve the problem of homelessness and assist with
fundraising or advocacy to further their work.
157
Table 1
Principles of Social Justice-Oriented Service-Learning
Social Justice Education
Student-centered
Collaborative
Experiential
Intellectual
Analytical
Multicultural
Value-based
Activist
Examples in Service-Learning
Practice
Students are involved in choosing
the issue of concern for their
service-learning project.
Students are asked to explain
how this issue connects with
their own lives.
Students collaborate with their
classmates, others in the
school, and most importantly,
the recipients of the service, in
the design and conduct of the
service-learning project.
Students are actively engaged in
community needs assessment,
research, and project
development as well as service
activities in the school and/or
community.
Students seek out a variety of
sources with multiple
perspectives as they study and
analyze the issue they have
chosen. They also use subject
matter skills and knowledge to
plan and carry out their
service-learning project.
Students examine the root causes
of the problem they are
addressing. They consider
whose voices have been
excluded and what their own
role is in relation to the
problem.
Students adopt an inclusive
approach to the problem they
are addressing, in terms of
understanding the issue from
diverse perspectives and also
in terms of whom they involve
and how they work together
on the problem.
Students acknowledge the
controversial nature of aspects
of the problem they are
addressing. They examine and
discuss the values involved.
Students engage in direct and/or
indirect service as well as
advocacy aimed at creating a
more socially just society.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF
SERVICE-LEARNING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?
From Wade, 2001.
The social justice-oriented homelessness project described above differs in several significant ways from traditional types of service-learning. Customarily, students
serve the school or community by addressing a problem
or need in the environment or within a given population (e.g., senior citizens, people with disabilities, those
who are hungry or poor). Typically such projects are carried out through collaboration with a community agency
as a partner. Projects are most often aimed at meeting
the needs of individuals as defined by the agency, using
strategies that do not question prevailing societal norms
and practices.
158
RAHIMA C. WADE
The concept of service-learning that I propose here
goes beyond meeting individual needs and maintaining
the status quo. Social justice-oriented service-learning
involves inquiring about the root causes of societal
problems and, in addition to serving individuals, attempting to influence those causes at a structural level.
Traditional service-learning programs’ typically discrete
focus on meeting individual needs limits the power of
service-learning to effect broad-based changes in both
students and the communities in which they serve. Too
often, program leaders are more concerned with students’ personal, social, and academic development from
a charitable orientation than they are with working
to question prevailing practice and to create meaningful change in society (Wade, 2000). Rarely do students
in service-learning programs consider the root causes
of the structural inequities that have led to the need
for service (Wade, 2000). Nor do service-learning students often taken action to address injustice through
advocacy or political action (Kahne & Westheimer,
1996).
While traditional forms of service-learning have many
benefits for both students and communities, my point is
this: If, as educators, we want to work toward lessening
oppression and inequity in significant ways, we would
be wise to consider issues beyond immediate individual needs. Further, in order to effectively address social
justice issues, we must be dedicated over the long term,
as oppression and inequity in our society are persistent
problems.
Even if we are primarily concerned with what our students learn from their service-learning involvement, social justice service-learning may prove more instrumental. Paulo Freire, and a number of authors influenced by
his work, cautioned about the potential dangers of charitable work that did not include a critical examination of
the social and political forces that created the need for
charity in the first place (Maybach, 1996). Without a critical analysis of the conditions that promote poverty, for
example, it is too easy for the provider of help to blame
the recipient for his or her condition, a dynamic that may
be present in certain types of charitable community service (Maybach, 1996).
While meeting individual needs in the community is
an important aspect of effective citizenship, our democracy depends on its citizens’ willingness and ability to
examine current social problems, to evaluate how they
have developed over time, and to consider new directions in creating a better society for us all. An important
part of the civic mission of schooling is helping students
understand and work toward our societal creed of “justice for all.’’ Service-learning for social justice is service
to a cause, an ideal—indeed—to the vision of a wholly
just society. It does not ignore individual needs, but neither does it neglect to consider the long-term structural
issues behind the problems at hand.
DOES SERVICE-LEARNING FOR SOCIAL
JUSTICE EDUCATION BELONG IN THE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The complexity of social justice issues might lead one
to think that such topics should be relegated to higher
education or political “think tanks.’’ Yet it is precisely
because these problems are so pervasive and persistent
that service-learning for social justice should begin in the
earliest years of schooling. If students are to develop a
commitment to social justice ideals, this work should begin in the elementary years when children are concerned
with “fairness’’ and when their empathy and perspective
taking abilities are developing. While elementary school
efforts will, of necessity, be simpler than those at the high
school or college level, it is important that teachers at this
level lay the ground work for students to question and
pursue justice issues of interest and relevance to their
young lives.
This is not to say that the work is easy. Several aspects
of service-learning for social justice prove especially challenging at the elementary level. Discussing social justice
issues in the classroom can be difficult, given their complexity and controversial nature. Some equate “social justice’’ with left wing politics, which could be problematic
in many communities. Social justice efforts do tend to
focus on questioning the power structures in our society
and thus often have a political dimension. And working
for social justice usually involves activities focused on
long-term change, rather than on immediate observable
benefits.
Yet if educators are to give students the skills and
knowledge needed to address the increasing poverty,
discrimination, and other inequities in our society, approaches beyond meeting individual needs are critical.
And there are many benefits for students in this work as
well. Pelo and Davidson (2000), anti-bias early childhood
educators, asserted:
Activism is an empowering process for young children;
it calls on them to flex their social, emotional, intellectual
and sometimes even their physical muscles. They work
together to solve complex problems, make forays out into
the adult community, ask questions, and declare their
feelings. (p. 9)
But can we “get there from here’’? Can we transform
service-learning practice from its current state to fulfill
social justice goals? What are the challenges in elementary level social justice teaching and how successful are
teachers in addressing them? These questions prompted
my efforts to learn from elementary teachers across the
country who involve their students in service-learning
aimed at social justice goals. The findings focus on stories of promising practice and unmet possibilities as well
as on teachers’ struggles and sources of support as they
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM SOCIAL JUSTICE SERVICE-LEARNING
attempt to teach for social justice in an often restrictive
educational system.
TALKING TO SOCIAL JUSTICE TEACHERS:
AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH
All of the teachers I interviewed self-selected for
this study by responding to an e-mail invitation sent
out through social justice education organizations and
teacher educators I know who teach about social justice.
The e-mail message included the following brief description to help teachers self-identify in a way that would
be consistent with the current literature on social justice
education. “Social justice education empowers students
to analyze the root causes of injustice, promote equal
opportunity for all people, and learn from multiple perspectives on an issue or topic within a collaborative, experiential approach to teaching and learning.’’
METHODS
Participants
Many teachers responded with enthusiasm to the invitation to talk about their social justice work in the classroom. The 40 teacher participants in this study range
in age from 24 to 63, with a mean age of 43.8 years.
Years of teaching range from 2 to 35 years, with a mean
of 13.3 years taught. Almost half of the teachers (n =
18) have taught 10 years or less; 9 of the teachers have
been teaching for more than 20 years. Most teachers have
had a broad range of experience within the elementary
grades, and several have taught preschool, middle, or
high school as well. Looking at the most recent elementary grade level taught at the time of the study for each
teacher, 20 taught at the primary (K-3) level, 16 at the
intermediate (4-6) level, and 4 identified their teaching
positions as K-6.
The teacher participants represent a more diverse
sample than one would find in the population of elementary teachers in the United States as a whole.1 There
are 34 women and 6 men; almost a quarter identified
their ethnicity as other than white (n = 9; 2 Puerto Rican,
2 Mexican American, 4 African American, and 1 Arab
American). Several teachers also identified themselves as
being from other targeted/oppressed groups in society
(gay, lesbian, Jewish, poor). Twenty-three of the teachers
taught in urban settings, 13 in suburban towns, and 4 in
rural communities. All of the urban teachers and many of
those teaching in rural and suburban settings indicated
they taught ethnically diverse student populations.
Data Collection
Each teacher participated in a one to two hour interview, either individually or in a small focus group.
159
Following a semi-structured format, I used a set of specific questions to frame the interviews (Rubin & Rubin,
1995). I asked teachers to reflect on how, why, and with
what resources they teach for and/or about social justice. I also asked them to define what “social justice’’ and
“teaching for social justice’’ meant to them. Teachers described both the teaching strategies and social studies
topics they focus on when teaching about social justice.
Several questions addressed what motivates and sustains these teachers in their efforts to teach for social justice as well as the challenges they experience and how
they overcome them. Each teacher also completed an information sheet that asked for the teacher’s name, age,
gender, ethnicity, number of years teaching, past teaching positions, present teaching position, and relevant life
experiences and interests in regard to teaching for social
justice.
When possible, I interviewed teachers in person at
their school sites; this was the case for 13 of the teachers. I interviewed five other teachers face to face in
their homes or at professional conferences. Due to limitations with time and funding to travel, I conducted
the remainder of the interviews over the phone. I taperecorded all interviews and I, along with a graduate student and professional staff in the University
of Iowa College of Education, transcribed the tapes
verbatim.
With funding from the National Council for the Social
Studies, I was able to convene a three-day meeting bringing together 10 of the 40 teachers to engage in focus group
dialogues about their work, the strategies they find most
useful, the topics most compelling, the challenges they
face, and the ways in which they create support for their
work. I also observed two of the ten teachers for two
days each to get a more in-depth look at their classroom
practice.2
Data Analysis
I analyzed all interview and focus group transcripts and observation notes using the grounded theory method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Patton, 1980), reading and re-reading the data while searching for salient
themes. I used several of Krueger’s (1994) systematic
steps to organize both the data gathering and subsequent
analysis: (1) sequencing questions to allow for maximum
insight, (2) tape-recording the data, (3) coding data for
emerge …
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
How it works
- Paste your instructions in the instructions box. You can also attach an instructions file
- Select the writer category, deadline, education level and review the instructions
- Make a payment for the order to be assignment to a writer
- Download the paper after the writer uploads it
Will the writer plagiarize my essay?
You will get a plagiarism-free paper and you can get an originality report upon request.
Is this service safe?
All the personal information is confidential and we have 100% safe payment methods. We also guarantee good grades