- teachers come from a very different social background than their students; this discrepancy creates social injustice; -> national educational reform is required (USA);
- most teachers are ill-prepared by their own education to deal with this situation
- by the time teachers realize that there is in fact a problem, they are no longer in the "trainee" stage, which causes them to feel like they have to "demonstrate expertise" rather than admit the fact above.
- those wishing to change and educate teachers about social justice will have a hard time due to decreasing school budgets and shifting priorities in education
- first challenge in teaching social justice: "endure moments of discomfort" -- (discomfort due to very different individuals with different experiences and character traits; also, different people will try to tackle the problems in different ways)
- the whole school should be part of the discourse, which makes it necessary to be aware and accept different perspectives, while avoiding bias
- often, bias is introduced (or is already part of) every-day school practice, for example in the case of "assuming" one type of sexuality (heterosexuality) as the norm, while ignoring other types. Many schools even tolerate oppressive / discriminatory behavior (ranging from verbal to physical abuse) against students perceived to be anything but heterosexual.
- to change this, teachers must analyze their own views and beliefs first. Afterwards, they need to integrate proper education about the topic (such as "discourag[ing] false images of gay and lesbian persons") into the curricula.
- another approach: "equity leadership teams" (ELT) - engage in specific projects tailored to the needs of the school. e.g. analysis of statistics (demographic vs dropout rates, disciplinary referrals, academic achievement, ...)
- (one example of such an ELT in Portland, Oregon)
- another example: role of religion in society; teachers must be sensitive to its importance without being biased in one way or the other, i.e. using an approach that "reflect[s] diverse perspectives"
- the school (staff, students) is just one element, the community "around" it must also be included in the discourse, i.e. parents, families, businesses, neighboring schools, ..