Connections to Social Justice Standards: Identity, Diversity
Strategies:
1. Fostering “Safe-r” and “Brave-r” Spaces
2. Addressing Positionality, Difference and Bias
3. Supporting Intellectual Safety
4. Honoring Student Input, Disclosure and Feedback
Research shows that students need to feel physically and emotionally supported to learn, but culture, climate and social emotional learning must focus on more than just empathy, kindness and inclusion. Skilled social justice educators know this and respond by fostering authentic safety and trust in their classrooms and schools. Doing this effectively requires educators to directly address social differences and biases, two factors that underlie many unsafe and exclusionary behaviors. Intellectual safety is another important consideration; building a community of trust allows students to feel confident as they engage with complex and difficult ideas.
Educators who nurture social and emotional safety in the classroom also model the behavior necessary to maintain inclusive, respectful connections across lines of difference. This is especially powerful when teaching about relationship-building, conflict management and community.
An important note on the term safety: Safety looks and feels different for every student. It is therefore important to get to know your students as individuals and adjust your climate and culture work accordingly. Working toward braver and safer spaces must be an ongoing and consistent practice to make schools a space where all students can learn and thrive.
Fostering “Safe-r” and “Brave-r” Spaces
Because safety means different things to different students, it is impossible to promise that a space will always be 100% safe. Consider aiming to establish a “safe-r” or “brave-r” space, building upon what educators Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens outline in the article “From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces.” Fostering safer and braver spaces (the difference between the two spaces is highlighted in “Do We Need Safe or Brave Spaces?” featured on the Break Away Blog) in our classroom community will help prepare students to participate and interact more authentically with one another during conversations around race, power, privilege and other social justice issues.
The LFJ article “Solidarity as Social and Emotional Safety” provides an example of recognizing the need for emotional safety in the classroom and a model of partnership with community organizers that emphasizes mutual aid, restorative justice and safety by design.
Addressing Positionality, Difference and Bias
The bravest classrooms acknowledge positionality, difference and bias. When educators and students understand how their social identities relate to power and privilege, they can use their positionality to better inform conversations around equity and justice.
Many effective anti-bullying and community-building curricula give educators ways to address difference and bias with their students in safe and supportive ways. When integrated into the academic curriculum, the coursework can build social emotional skills and teach students to manage conflict. When students’ multiple identities are seen, they will feel safer speaking up and engaging in the classroom community.
The following resources from LFJ may be useful to help address positionality, difference and bias with your students:
- Analyzing Bias Through Digital Literacy lesson
- Supporting LGBTQ+ Young People (forthcoming from LFJ)
- Bullying & Bias resources
- Let’s Talk! guide
- Reading Diversity
- Responding to Hate and Bias at School
- Lessons from the film Bibi:
Supporting Intellectual Safety
An important aspect of social and emotional support is intellectual safety: an environment where students can be vulnerable, where their experiences are valued and where they can be challenged to expand their worldview. When educators create an intellectually braver space, students develop the ability to share their stories and learn from other perspectives. Students can also take risks in their own learning.
In an intellectually safe classroom, students:
- Trust the teacher and one another.
- Are empowered to value their own identities, their communities and the knowledge they bring with them to school.
- Appreciate multiple perspectives and value disagreement that pushes the dialogue forward.
- Feel brave enough to take risks, share out and be challenged.
To create an intellectually safe space, teachers can start the year by asking students to co-construct a classroom contract. A classroom contract provides a common reference point throughout the year, creating a space for open dialogue and predetermining how the class will respond if conflict arises.
LFJ’s Classroom Constitution provides a specific example of contracting that you can build on. Additionally, Facing History and Ourselves provides a contracting resource that offers more general strategy for creating your classroom agreements (see Appendix C: Online Supplement).
Honoring Student Input, Disclosure and Feedback
Social and emotional support can only exist when student input, disclosure and feedback are honored. Checking in with students on a regular basis about their wants and needs is one way to ensure the community is rooted in true collaboration between adults and young people. For example, educators can take a “temperature” check of their classroom before they begin a lesson, asking how their students are feeling. This could look like asking students to share an emoji or rate their readiness on a scale of one to five (one being tired, five being ready to learn).
Educators should also acknowledge that students will have varying levels of comfort with the information they hear and disclose during classroom conversations. If students choose not to disclose sensitive information, their choice should be honored. For example, students who come out to you as members of the LGBTQ+ community or immigrant students who share their families’ undocumented status with you should never be pressured to disclose those parts of their stories in class.
Teachers can also support students’ comfort and honor their perspectives by:
- Providing different modalities for them to share personal information.
- Regularly asking for student input on teaching practices.
- Transparently using student perspectives to shape future lessons and conversations.
These practices show students how you value their ideas and center their perspectives.
One way teachers can honor student input, disclosure and feedback is to provide multiple avenues for participation. Some students may feel safer writing their responses while others choose to share verbally; their preferences could change based on the topic. Regardless of what they decide to disclose and how they choose to disclose it, be sure to thank them for sharing their feelings or identities with you. However, when recognizing students who are sharing sensitive information with the class, remember to be conscious of not overemphasizing their “bravery” to the whole group, as this can send an unintentional message that those who choose not to share are not being “brave enough.”
Additionally, educators should periodically ask for student feedback around projects, lessons or routines to learn what is working for them and what might need to be adjusted moving forward. This can be done through an anonymous survey, having two students share out two things they like and one thing they would like to adjust, or a student-led discussion. When students have agency over their learning and can give input regarding the classroom environment, they feel more seen, heard and valued, contributing to greater engagement and a better overall learning experience.
