Social Justice

What is a "social justice framework"?

According to Marilyn Cochran-Smith, a leading scholar in education, a social justice framework is one that "actively address[es] the dynamics of oppression, privilege, and isms, [and recognizes] that society is the product of historically rooted, institutionally sanctioned stratification along socially constructed group lines that include race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability [among others].  Working for social justice in education means guiding students [and often being guided by students] in critical self-reflection of their socialization into this matrix of unequal relationships and its implications, analysis of the mechanisms of oppression, and the ability to challenge these hierarchies."

Basically, a social justice framework is a way of seeing and acting aimed at resisting unfairness and inequity while enhancing freedom and possibility for all.  It pays primary attention to how people, policies, practices, curricula, and institutions may be used to liberate rather than oppress those least served by our decision making.

Some examples (there are many more, some of which are contested) of principles guiding social justice work in education including the belief that:

• Schools often reproduce rather than remedy the patterns of social exclusion and oppression seen in the larger society.
• There are very real differentials in access to social and institutional power between relationally position group members, and those differentials exist in education settings.
• While all people have socialized prejudices and can discriminate, only the dominant group is backed by social and institutional power, which is multidimensional and constantly operating, being contested, and renegotiated, especially within schools.
• Those who claim to be for social justice must also be engaged in self-reflection on their own socialization into patterns of oppression and continually seek to counter those patterns.  This is a lifelong project and is not achieved at the completion of an article, workshop, or conference.

The above text was excerpted and adapted from Sensoy, O. & DiAngelo, R (2009).  Developing social justice literacy: An open letter to our faculty colleagues. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(5), p. 350.

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And the struggle continues...



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The Subtlety of Privilege and Bias