Diversity Social Justice & Learning

Part B: Reflection

Why is it important to implement Social Justice perspectives in your teaching practice?

This unit has taught me that social justice is more than just treating everyone equally, it
is about recognising the unique differences between individuals, the way I treat people
will affect them and therefore as a teacher, should create a safe learning environment by
promoting diversity rather than repressing individual identities to fit in the dominant
discourse in Australia, such as mediums portraying Australians naturally to be white
heteronormative males, or people of different ethnicity to be exotic in advertisements
and any Australian TV shows. The Social Justice perspective is important to implement in
my teaching because personally, inequalities within the community, local or global need
to be addressed as it does affect people when we should be living in a world of equity,
where everyone gets the support they need and has access to basic human rights in order
to achieve a fulfilled life. People use stereotyping and labelling as a joke, but the repeated
use of this becomes bullying and abuse, socially and emotionally harming others and
causing individuals to repress their identities. As a teacher, according to the Australian
Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] (2001, p. 5), I have to “know
students and how they learn”, “create and maintain supportive and safe learning
environments” and “engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the
community.” To me this means to learn and about engage with diverse linguistic, cultural,
ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds and different abilities, disabilities,
gender and sexualities of students, their families and the community, to engage students
in the learning, making content more relevant to their lives, as well as challenging the
dominant discourses within the community and promoting sensitivity rather than just
tolerance to the diversity in the school community. One of the educational goals of the
Melbourne Declaration (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and
Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008) is for “young Australians to become Active and informed
citizens” thus I am committed to incorporating cultural knowledge and hopefully develop
appreciation for the diversity within Australia, not just on the surface level such as food,
but appreciation individuality between students and their peers.
What pedagogical theories would influence and enhance learning and teaching and/or the
student experience?
There are many pedagogical theories that could enhance the learning experience of
students. I think the use of flexible grouping combined with student directed activities
would allow students to create their own strategies, deliberate with the teacher the
criteria of the task and initiate group cooperation with their peers. Applying the idea of
flexible grouping in the classroom would hopefully remove the perception that people
are being particularly grouped by their abilities, or segregated because of one group of
students are better than others as they are able to pick the peers that they work with
(Rubies-Davies, Peterson, Sibley & Rosenthal, 2014). It would also allow students to
challenge themselves as the group will have students of different cultural knowledge,
abilities and skills that they can use to work together. Another pedagogical approach that
would hopefully enhance student learning experience would be applying critical theory,
allowing students to question anything and everything that is considered the norm and
bringing in students’ cultural and background knowledge and integrating into the lesson
being conducted. This would promote diversity and inclusivity of all different
knowledges, and connect the knowledge for application outside of the classroom. The use
of critical theory would pose many problems that needs solving, challenging students to
think outside the box and critically analyse the situation. The relevance of information
would increase as it relatable to student’s situation, making the content valuable and
interesting for the student. The use of reflection and meditation during classes like
pastoral or roll call would allow students to reflect on their action with the help of teacher
guidance, and apply positive social support to promote a safe learning environment for
students and teachers alike.
How does/will your teaching practice address issues of equity and diversity?
In the key learning area of mathematics, I hardly found or have been exposed to any form
of diverse knowledge that is being incorporated into the mathematics classroom. To
address the issues of equity and diversity in mathematics would mean using
unconventional thinking. Traditionally, mathematical knowledge is portrayed as a ‘value-
free’ and ‘culture-free’ subject as many people assume that people from all diverse
backgrounds calculate mathematical problems the same, that there is no different
perspective to look at mathematics from, a universal known truth (Bishop, 1998). I
believe equity and diversity can be addressed by bringing to light the complexities and
diversities in the classroom, hence through decontextualising mathematics by bringing
in the historical context of the mathematical topic, student will be able to get a diverse
perspective from different cultures and also challenge something that was dominantly
thought to be a ‘Western’ or ‘Universal’ language. Another way my teaching practice could
promote diversity in the classroom is by creating dialogue and letting the local
community have a voice. Involving the community’s and the student’s family’s knowledge
as a resource, experts in the field who actually use mathematical knowledge and skills for
daily survival and well being will further engage students and increasing the relevance to
each individual student in the classroom. This reduces the possibilities of making
generalities and stereotypes about different cultural groups and add cultural relevance
to mathematics and live culturally as well. This would require a large amount time
invested into this project suggested by Civil (2007). In order to build on student, family,
and community knowledge, I would first be required to conduct research through
interviews with the students’ families and start developing trust and rapport with the
wider community. Then seek out what sort of cultural knowledge you could involve in
the in each particular topic. Having cultural experts hopefully removes cultural barriers
and issues, and bring to light the diversity of individuals.

References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from

https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/general/australian-professional-

standands-for-teachers-20171006.pdf?sfvrsn=399ae83c_12

Bishop, A. J. (1988). Mathematics education in its cultural context. Educational Studies

in Mathematics, 19(2), 179-191.

Civil, M. (2007). Building on community knowledge: An avenue to equity in

mathematics education. Improving access to mathematics: Diversity and equity in

the classroom, 105-117.

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008).

Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Retrieved from

http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_E

ducational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf

Rubie-Davies, C. M., Peterson, E. R., Sibley, C. G., & Rosenthal, R. (2014). A teacher

expectation intervention: Modelling the practices of high expectation teachers.

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 40, 72-85.