A teacher’s opinion on limits of SJE...
In a survey conducted with 20 people teachers have been questioned about the limits of divers teaching material. These are their answers...
Limits of divers teaching material are...
“In some cases, it might be too complex on a political level to include Social Justice as a topic without it being the focus of teaching.”
“Social Injustice is a problem that cannot be solved by schools alone. But it is important to familiarize students with different perspectives and ways of living to teach mutual acceptance and empathy.”
“Social Injustice is also part of the educational system. Mostly, due to location and socio-economical background schools have access to more resources and higher quality teaching.”
“One cannot include everybody. There will always be people who feel excluded in some way. Also, there are very sensitive topics. By covering these topics certain people/groups/ minorities might feel uncomfortable.”
“Diverse teaching materials are a good starting point and can have a huge impact. However, just because you use diverse teaching material does not necessarily mean that you teach diversity and Social Justice. This is such a huge topic, and first teachers must be aware of that and reflect their own privileges.”
“Teaching material mirrors current discourses in the respective society, i. e. reproduces thoughts that are perpetuated anyways. Thus, textbooks do not contribute to new ideas. Of course, school material is never meant to proselytize as it is bound to the curricula set by the government.”
“Students might be confused (teachers should create an atmosphere in which different aspects can be discussed).”
“Kids can be cruel: make fun of certain aspects (e.g., homosexual couples) —> make other students feel uncomfortable who might be homosexual.”
