Challenging Injustice - The Role of Education in Strengthening Democracy

Scott Seider is a professor at Boston College, Aaliyah El-Amin is a faculty colleague of Jal's at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Julia Bott is a longtime principal and now coaches principals on leading for equity. Highlights from their conversation include: an opening dialogue about the dismantling of the United States Department of Education, covering the organization's role and how it compares to Canada's system; how each of our guests became interested in social justice education; the role of schools when it comes to fostering critical thinking and civil responsibility; the importance of weaving a social justice framework throughout an entire curriculum as opposed to implementing smaller, one-time lessons; why teachers now face an even more difficult balancing act when it comes to addressing sensitive or polarizing issues in the classroom, especially related to inequities; the importance of giving tools to students that allow them to better participate in our democracy; how social and economic disparities affect access to quality education; concrete strategies and examples showing how education can improve civic engagement; and a lightning round that brings back the old Mac vs. PC debate! Check out their book: "Educating for Justice: Schoolwide Strategies to Prepare Students to Recognize, Analyze, and Challenge Inequity."Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219