Should we promote social justice through social media? Social media is an excellent resource for current events. Social media could …

Over the past couple of weeks, I have spent a significant amount of time reflecting on what each team shared in their arguments for whether or not teachers have a responsibility to use technology and social media to promote social justice. Amanda and Jacquie articulated the benefits of using online platforms to support students in becoming more socially aware and to help increase their understanding of social justice issues. Ramsel discussed the idea that teachers should remain neutral in order to help students develop critical thinking skills. After considering both sides of the debate, as well as the readings and research about this topic, I have come to the conclusion that teachers are not necessarily responsible for teaching students about social justice online, but most definitely should support this type of learning in their classrooms.  What do the experts say about teaching social justice? In her blog post titled The Power of Teacher Neutrality, Taryn Bond Cleggfor shares helpful strategies that teachers can use with students when trying to promote critical thinking. These strategies also provide opportunities for students to use inquiry skills to investigate information on a topic and figure out answers with guidance, rather than the teacher giving students all the information and shutting down the thinking process. Bond Cleggfor suggests teachers do the following when trying to encourage critical thought: “ask probing questions, turn it back to the students, don’t be afraid of wrong answers, be neutral about the answer but still help to guide the learning, de-value the answer & re-value the learning” In another article, Kristen Parker shares research findings from a study that looks at whether political neutrality in classrooms is actually neutral. Lead researcher Alyssa Dunn and her co-researchers “argue that by remaining neutral, teachers are enacting the opposite of neutrality by ‘choosing to maintain the status quo and further marginalizing certain groups.’” Furthermore, “Dunn and her colleagues say the election is just one example of a renewed call for all teachers to consider the ethics of neutrality in the classroom.” The article, Teaching Social Justice in Theory and Practice by Caitrin Blake, makes no mention of using social media to teach about social justice issues. The article’s main focus is on the importance of teaching social justice in the classroom which I totally agree with. Blake explains that “social justice doesn’t manifest in a singular fashion, nor is it achieved through a specific means of instruction.” This statement leads me to believe that this type of learning does not necessarily have to happen through social media, although it should definitely be part of classroom instruction. Furthermore, she shares that “in addition to academic instruction, one of a classroom teacher’s most important roles is to help students develop the critical thinking, collaboration, and self-reflection skills necessary to foster a better society.”  Teaching social justice is important…but does it have to happen online? I absolutely think teachers are responsible for helping students understand, discuss, and engage with social justice issues. Teachers should create a classroom environment that fosters the development of critical thinking skills and models anti-oppressive education; however, I’m not sure if this instruction also needs to be done online through social media or other platforms. When considering my own use of online platforms, I mainly use my personal social media accounts to post the occasional pictures of my family, and other than that, I am not particularly active online. I think I may be struggling with this topic because, from my own experience, I have not used social media in the way that’s being discussed in this week’s debate. Because of this, I don’t really see social media as the place where this type of learning has to take place. Based on this realization, here is where I have finally landed in terms of my position on this week’s debate. I believe teachers absolutely have a responsibility to teach the students in their classrooms to be socially justice-minded; however, I don’t think this necessarily has to be done online. In order to support students in this type of learning, I think a teacher’s presence and guidance are vital. According to Blake, “in order to foster classroom social justice, teachers must first build a safe, encouraging place where students can speak about their experiences and beliefs.” Furthermore, Blake expresses that “ideally, students should view each other as academic siblings or co-learners instead of competitors. This perspective allows students to understand that while disagreements may occur, they must work together to increase their knowledge.” Teachers should be there with students to help them through the challenges of learning about social justice-related topics, and I personally don’t think this can be done as effectively online as it can be in the classroom.

This was a very interesting topic and both debate groups did an excellent job of sharing their viewpoints & trying to persuade the audience. I once again was pulled in two different directions and I think this was the first time since week 1 where my vote switched. Initially I felt that as educators we do have a responsibility to use technology and social media to promote social justice, however that belief shifted through out the presentation.

I am Uncomfortable.

About half way through the discussion period, Alec asked if we felt more uncomfortable with this topic than previous topics. Lots spoke up saying no, but for me, I absolutely felt uneasy. I usually have no problem sharing my thoughts, views, beliefs, or opinion; however this topic has a lot more depth to it. I feel as of recently a lot of topics have become a touchy subject and I would hate to say something that could make anyone else feel uncomfortable or uneasy.

I recently found myself in a situation where a lot of my close friends & some family disagreed with a belief I held. A belief that I feel quite strongly about, but don’t push on those around me. This belief doesn’t at all discriminate or negatively impact other people, yet here I am still scared to voice this belief because I don’t want to feel judged or attacked for something I believe. I feel like the world still needs to continue growing in the way that we need to respect & appreciate that people will have diverse beliefs, just like we are trying to teach within our classrooms.

Should Educators Stay Neutral?

I feel like I constantly feel pressure to remain neutral in many areas of my life. I do feel like part of it is because I am a teacher, and especially a Catholic teacher. I feel like I’m not allowed to have beliefs or opinions beyond our religion, but for me personally I think it is important to question things, to wonder & be curious. I believe that is how we learn and grow and push ourselves past points of comfort. I believe it helps us to be open minded to other people & their beliefs, while respecting the diversity that we all hold.

I had a Grade 6 student come up to me the other day during library. He was holding the newspaper and had just read one of the comics. He found it funny, so wanted to show me. The first picture was of a dad sitting in a lounger chair and the son was standing beside him. It looked like the son was getting in trouble about something. The dad had a speaking bubble saying “We do not lie, scam, or cheat…” and then in the next bubble it said, “We leave that to the government.” I laughed out loud. To me it was hilarious & honestly a good representation of how I personally feel about the government. However, that might not be how everyone else feels. I felt guilty for laughing. I felt guilty for showing through my laughter that I agreed with the joke. I felt bad that I showed I wasn’t remaining neutral and that I did actually have an opinion on this topic.

However…

As much as I feel I know where my decision is headed, the article, Teaching Social Justice in Theory and Practice did an excellent job sharing a point of view in which there is importance in teaching social justice within the classroom. It discusses the goals of social justice, explains how to foster a classroom community of conscience, elaborates on helping students see each other as co-learners rather than adversaries, touches on the importance of including diverse experiences and backgrounds in classroom materials, and reflects how learning social justice can be turned into community service and action.

After reading through this article & reading through the tips of how we can properly bring social justice into the classroom, I’ve realized that I already incorporate most of these things. I am always trying to incorporate the diverse backgrounds and all the unique ways in which my students learn best, while also bringing awareness to all the other social justices that exist in our world beyond our own personal classroom & community. Creating an environment where students feel safe to share their opinions, along with feeling valued & respected by their peers is very important. I think the trickiness of it comes into play when there are diverse opinions or beliefs that tend to impact or offend others.

What Now?

Between the debates, the articles, and honestly my own blog post this week, my thoughts & beliefs feel all over the place. I feel like this blog post felt more personal than it did actually getting somewhere, but maybe by getting all my thoughts & feelings out there it has helped me to reach my own conclusion. Moving forward I want to create the balance between a safe environment where students can share their opinions & feelings, while also remaining neutral & keeping certain topics out of the classroom. I think this will change from person to person and classroom to classroom, but for me personally I think finding that balance is key. It may take time, I might make mistakes, and it might be ongoing, but I hope to get there. To push perspectives, yet respect the boundaries.

Should schools be responsible for teaching students how to be good digital citizens? This debate goes beyond the digital and tech debate. At a surface level, sure, this seems like a conversation around the role and responsibilities of the teacher in relation to tech and digital citizenship, however I think that it goes far beyond … More It’s fine they’ll learn it in school…

Once again, this was a great debate question. Both sides argued their points very well; I found myself agreeing with Amanda, Jacquie, AND Ramsel all at the same time. Kudos to Ramsel for taking on this debate by herself. All … Continue reading →

Who is responsible for helping students create their digital footprint? After listening to and considering both sides of this debate, I would argue that schools, parents, and teachers all play an important role; it is our collective responsibility to work with young people to help them understand the complexities of the online world and how to exist within it. The digital world is completely intertwined with our everyday lives, whether we want it to be or not, making it difficult to differentiate between someone’s online and offline identities. I have been thinking quite a lot about this debate topic since last week. Not only have I considered the importance of teaching young adults about creating a positive digital footprint, but I have also considered my own digital footprint and what that means for me as an adult and parent. I have considered this topic from multiple perspectives and the more I think about it, the more I agree with the idea that teachers have a responsibility to help students develop a digital footprint.  What is my role as a teacher? Although Jessica and Rahima brought forward a strong argument against this week’s debate topic, I still believe teachers should take some responsibility in helping students understand their digital footprint. This article states that “as learning becomes more digital, educators at all levels are instrumental in building students’ understanding about how their online presence impacts both their personal and future professional lives. Educators are also instrumental in helping students develop lifelong habits to create and maintain a positive online identity.” The article continues to discuss the importance of equipping students with the appropriate skills needed to manage their online presence. When I consider this responsibility, I don’t necessarily feel equipped to educate students on a topic that I am not completely familiar with; however, my lack of knowledge doesn’t mean I can just avoid teaching about it altogether. Moving forward, I will seek out opportunities to learn more about digital literacy so that I can provide students with a better understanding of the topic. This article provides a starting point for fostering digital citizenship in the classroom giving advice about how “schools can train students to be safe and well-informed, responsible digital citizens:” Design a robust digital citizenship curriculum.  Counsel students that “what goes online stays online.”  Craft an empowering acceptable use policy for students.  Teach students their digital rights.  Advise parents of new social media and online trends.  Provide an easy-to-understand guide for online behavior.  Equip teachers and parents with EdTech programs and practices to manage children’s Internet use. Do parents have a responsibility? In addition to teachers, I believe that parents should also play a role in helping their kids learn about digital citizenship. In his TED talk “Accountability & Responsibility in a Digital Age,” Paul Davis discusses how parents and students need to take on some of the responsibility that comes with being a good online citizen. Parents, teachers, and schools can work together to help students navigate the online world. Davis discusses that we are all responsible for what we post and do online. Bringing in a speaker like Davis to address students and parents in a school setting would be a great way to help students and adults alike get a better handle on the issues surrounding digital citizenship.  Analyzing my own digital footprint After watching Keegan Korf’s TED talk I decided to go online to check out my own digital footprint. I don’t consider myself particularly active on social media or other online platforms but wanted to make sure I felt comfortable with my online presence. When searching my name on Google, I did not find anything too concerning. My name is fairly common, so only a couple of search results actually related to me. However, one thing that surprised me was a picture of me and my daughters that came up in the image search results. I am fairly thoughtful about not posting photos of my kids to any public platforms so I was surprised to see this particular photo show up. I realized that the image had been shared on a public Twitter account a few years ago. I tried to delete it from Twitter but I wasn’t able to clear the image from the search. Hopefully, my kids aren’t too upset with the fact that this photo of them is shared online for anyone to see (after reading this article, I am concerned about a possible negative reaction). I did find it interesting, however, that I couldn’t find any results online when searching for my maiden name, likely because I changed my name right around the time social media gained popularity.    Navigating New Territory So much of our lives are spent on our phones and computers. Students and adults alike need to gain a better understanding of how to exist as digital citizens. My husband is a journalist for CBC. I asked him his thoughts on this topic. This is what he shared with me based on his experiences: “I can find so much information about you so quickly…even if you’re not posting about a topic, it’s easy to find out what someone is liking on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It’s easy to find multiple examples per day of people not understanding their digital footprint. We are underselling how important learning this skill is.” Here is a news article that shows just how little some adults understand about their digital footprint. Students definitely aren’t the only people who need help navigating the online world. The devices we use on a daily basis can be incredible tools if we know how to use them properly. The technology we all have access to is fairly new, and as a whole, we haven’t necessarily been taught the best ways to use the powerful tool we have been given. Moving forward, it will be important to consider how we (re)educate people regarding their digital footprint, and I believe teachers have an important role to play in this.

The topic under discussion is significant and a severe problem in our contemporary civilization. We all belong to families, and …

Technology has provided society with access to some pretty amazing tools. Kennedy and Ummey’s opening statement presented several examples of this. They both did a great job describing the positive impacts technology can have on people’s ability to learn, raise awareness or funds for important causes, stand up for social justice issues, and connect with people from other places or cultures, just to name a few. I was impressed with the depth of their research; however, Graeme and Jeff’s argument as well as the articles and information shared for this week’s debate topic have convinced me to stick to the position that technology has not led to a more equitable society. If certain people are excluded from the benefits of technology due to socio-economic status, location, or race, then it is clear that not everyone is getting the same benefits from the technological tools that are available in today’s society.  In their posts this week, both Jeff and Will made reference to the concept of the Digital Mattew Effect which according to Neuman and Celano is “the tendency for early advantages to multiply over time” — which is to say that people who start off with more skilled exposure to technology will have an exponentially greater advantage over those with less exposure. This same article states that tech is actually “increasing the gap between rich and poor, between whites and minorities, and between the school-ready and the less-prepared.” In this Harvard Political Review article by Alyvia Bruce shared by Graeme and Jeff, the concern with technology is that students “are facing even more challenges as the technology gap widens. A student’s ability to have at-home learning resources is largely dependent on factors such as location, socioeconomic status, and race.”  Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic and the forced shift to online learning highlighted this inequity within my own classroom and school. When students were sent home in March 2020, some students did not have the technology or internet access needed to participate fully in online classes. Even though teachers did their best to make sure school work was still accessible to all students, the impact of virtual learning affected some students in a more negative way than others. In her article, Bruce continues by advising that “it is important to recognize that certain groups of students have many more obstacles to overcome to be on equal footing with their peers.” When making the gradual return back to in-person learning, there was a noticeable disparity between the students who had access to online learning technology and those who did not. The inequity caused by access to technology was evident.  So, where do we go from here? Is there any way to close the gap? Bruce’s article states that increasing funding, expanding at-home technology access, and creating community partnerships are all needed along with full-scale education reform. With these changes feeling rather large-scale and out of reach, what can I do in my classroom (if anything) to bridge the gap? According to Abdullah Masmali, “ it is crucial that technology use starts from kindergarten through secondary education. This will help to address differences between students who have the ability to use technology and those who are unable to use it” which goes back to the idea presented earlier in my post. Helping students to learn the appropriate skills at school on the devices provided is a small step that can help with more equitable access to technology.