Social Justice Teacher

1. I would first like to ask, why did you become a social justice teacher?

I became a social justice teacher because I believe that knowledge equals power. The media and institutions such as, the government have a lot of power over individuals. Society is full of "constructions" of gender, race, etc. I believe that if individuals had the facts about diversity, there would be less discrimination and inequality. Thus, I wanted to inform students so that they have the knowledge to breakdown these constructions.

2. What education and skills do you posses that makes you successful?

In university I took history, religion, and cultural classes. This gave me knowledge of a wide variety of diverse individuals and cultures. As well, I was

In your opinion, does the current education system provide children with adequate knowledge surrounding equity issues?

I do not think that it does. Unless you are taking many history and social studies courses, you would have little knowledge about diversity. This knowledge is as important, if not important than lets say, algebra. If people were more educated on diversity, there would be less discrimination.

6. What specific actions do you take to make a change?

Teaching the equity course is one one to make change, but I believe that it is the relationships that I make with my students that are most impactful. My favourite quote is, "They won't care what you teacher, until they know how much you care." By building trusting relationships with students, they want to come to class, they want to do well, and they want to succeed. This is the way that I have made the most change.

7. Have you been subject to any injustices in your own life?

I have not experienced any injustices personally. It makes me feel a sense of guilt because of it. Many individuals that I am close to have gone through a lot of tough situations. I try my best to be the person that they can talk

Many of them still email me to talk about the things that they are doing to create change. I believe that as this semester is coming to a close, that many of my students are much more open-minded and accepting of differences. I also believe that they see less difference, and more commonalities between individuals. Because of this, I believe that I have had a positive impact on society.

9. What is one thing you have yet to accomplish, in terms of your contributions towards social justice?

I would love to see Equity and Social Justice as a mandatory course. It is still a very new course. In fact, a textbook has yet to be created for it. I understand the value of mandatory courses such as, careers and civics, but I believe that it is just as important to be informed about the historic and current inequalities in Canada. As teachers, it is our jobs to help our students become "active citizens." This cannot be done without knowledge on diversity, the skills to be empathetic, or the critical thinking skills to break down stereotypes and misconceptions.

(I included the transcript only to help