Even Teacher Candidates can Teach for Social Justice

            I recently attended a guest lecture titled “Teaching For Social Justice” by Deirdre Kelly, and I found that it related very well to Appleman’s discussion of Marxist literal theory in Critical Encounters. Appleman discusses the importance of teaching students about social class and privilege in high school classrooms. Appleman argues that there is an expanding awareness of the cultural power lies in the texts used in Canadian classrooms and that teachers must use this awareness to challenge the status quo.

            Appleman points out that many teachers and students are uncomfortable discussing social class, but counters this with the fact that the material taught to students always has a link to some form of political ideology. Teachers need to be aware of the reasons behind the information they are providing their students with and need to teach their students to see the hidden assumptions of power within their texts.

            Kelly’s lecture focused mainly on ‘stories from the front-lines of teaching’ about how teacher candidates were working to create change and challenging students to see how power is built in our society. Kelly used examples to illustrate how even though presenting this material to a school-board or to the students themselves may cause concern initially the benefits students gain through understanding these issues are vast. The most striking example was a demonstration of a sweatshop situation in an elementary classroom. Students were divided into groups where they took turns as the worker or as the employer/work enforcer. The goal was for students to learn about the division of power its effects. Initially the teacher advisor was concerned about the repercussions that this may have, but allowed the teacher candidate to carry out experiment anyway with great success.

            Being a teacher candidate facing the prospect of going into schools and teaching next year I have been daunted with the thought of applying the theories that I’ve been introduced to this year. Knowing that other teacher interns have had success in their attempts to bring similar theories into their praxis is encouraging for me. If they can do it, I know that I will be able to too.