Foundations Education Social Justice

¶ … Education for Social Justice -- a Review

Foundations Education -- Social Justice

Author's note with contact information and more details on collegiate affiliation, etc.

Education is an institution that contains pervasive social injustice. Hytten and Bettez's article attempts to addresses several components of the issue. The article intends to provide a history of social justice movements in American education. The article intends to explain the dilemmas in effective social justice strategies and pedagogies. The article further intends to give a comprehensive explanation of the issue while giving the reader several vantage points from which to consider the issue and methods for change and/or improvement. Hytten and Bettez demand clarity and action. They require awareness of biases and awareness of the significance of culture when considering social justice. The paper will summarize, critique, and offer personal reflection upon their piece.

Understanding Education for Social Justice -- A Review

Summary:

Hytten and Bettez are concerned with the systemic implementation of social justice practices in formal education. They begin their piece by attempting to describe what social justice means in an educational setting. Their description begins with the acknowledgement of confusion and lack of consensus. This is a reason why they write in general -- because there is a lack of consensus regarding social justice in education in the first place. They spend time defining what social justice means, provide a brief history of social justice in American education, and list several social justice orientations from which educators can select and implement in their own classrooms. They claim that the literature regarding social justice in education is imprecise which leads to a continued lack of social justice or failed attempts to succeed at implementing social justice effectively. They have clearly gathered and scrutinized a great body of literature regarding this subject, and as such they have a sort of bird's eye view of the issue.

Hytten and Bettez write so as to clear the fog and offer some frameworks within which educators to considers and perhaps utilize in the educational environment. They spend considerable time explaining the necessity and significance of agreeing on the definitions of terms. Intentional or unintentional biases are illuminated through the discussion and firming up of definitions of terms. Hytten and Bettez contend that philosophical and/or conceptual line of thinking regarding social justice in education best lends itself toward this purpose. With the combination of the philosophical, the democratically grounded, the theoretically specific, the ethnographic/narrative, and the practical strands of literature about social justice in education, Hytten and Bettez believe a new definition of social justice will emerge that is workable, usable, and effective.

Critique:

Hytten and Bettez's arguments are comprehensive. They truly strive to cover all the bases regarding this issue fully. The writing is organized in a logical progression. Though the perspectives on social justice in education they offer vary, they continually return to their point of defining terms clearly. They are concerned with distinctly defined terms because they perceive that social justice in education is lacking or inconsistent or confusing. They are teachers who want to participate, but cannot do so effectively or at all because they do not know where to start; they do not have their bearings on the situation so how can they improve upon it? Hytten and Bettez are struck by educators who are motivated for social justice and begin enacting change on their own. This spirit of independence and activism is pervasive in their writing. The tone of the writing is not forceful -- they are not pressuring the reader to adhere to their agenda, yet it is clear this is an issue, which they and their colleagues are quite passionate -- so passionate to move toward action.

Hytten and Bettez are also very much aware of the history of the issue. They continually refer to movements in culture from decades past and how the victories and challenges of those times inform the state of social justice in education in the modern moment. In fact, the issue of culture is primary to their thoughts concerning social justice in education. Cultural studies and cultural histories are key, for them, in the defining of terms, in the orientation of pedagogy, and the implementation of social justice practices. This focus upon cultural differences and cultural studies is key because culture is a social phenomenon and the issue is that of social justice. Understanding cultures is important in order to perceive what cultures consider "justice." There is also a need to understand the mainstream culture and what about it produces so much injustice to those who do not occupy a position within it. For Hytten and Bettez, social justice is a reflection of true democracy.

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