Social Justice, Education for

Social justice is an overarching term used to examine the inequitable social arrangements found between individuals or groups of individuals, including (although not necessarily exclusive of) social class, race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexuality. The concept of justice can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who considered the underpinning principles that would lead to a greater [Page 729]just society—that is, an ideal for a civilization based on the stability of its citizenry, and furthermore, the well-being and flourishing of its citizens. Two main considerations are often considered when trying to address social justice: the recognition that inequitable social arrangements exist that privilege certain individuals to the disadvantage or detriment of other individuals, and the redistribution of resources and conditions to rebalance the disadvantages accrued by some individuals to others.

Issues of social justice are of paramount importance in education. For instance, there is a strong correlation between a student's achievement in education and his or her future opportunities and socioeconomic class. The positional advantages accrued to students who achieve high levels of excellence will usually lead to a virtuous cycle of employability, mobility, social status, and well-being. The corollary of this is that factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, and social class are strong indicators of whether a child will do well in school or not. These factors have led many educational researchers to attempt to reduce the inequitable conditions for children.

Although there is much agreement that gross inequities exist among children in education, there is little consensus as to the best approach educators should take to reduce these inequities. Given this complexity, it is not clear from individuals' perspectives on social justice what the just outcome would be. Various considerations of social justice may pull in different and drastic directions. Similarly, numerous distinctions are commonly made in examining a specific aspect of social justice. For instance, both culture and color are often considered to be sources of racism.

Sociologists attempt to describe the educational circumstances of a particular phenomenon through empirical work and, in attempts to describe the situation, uncover the educational inequities that they may find. Within sociology, issues of social justice may be addressed more specifically within particular methodological and theoretical traditions. For example, the concept of social capital is one way to describe inequitable social arrangements found in educational settings. Feminists, broadly speaking, consider issues of gender and the role of self and agency, and (neo-) Marxists may consider the effects of social class. Postmodernists, on the other hand, question the way in which knowledge and understanding have been presented both historically and contemporarily, and the concomitant repercussions that these forms of understanding privilege certain individuals and their viewpoints. Social justice, for them, is underpinned by the dominant discourses predominant in society that oppress and marginalize certain people.

Education policy analysts examine current policies in place and evaluate their effectiveness, and, in providing such information, suggest policies that may better redistribute resources to redress issues of inequity through administrative and legislative acts. Two main priorities are often considered in attempts to redistribute the inequitable social arrangements in education. First, education policy analysts may examine the political dynamics of what is feasible and the potential trade-offs that may be required to move policies into acts. Second, they will consider both the aims of a policy and how effective the implementation of a policy is in rectifying an inequitable arrangement. Again, the ways in which policy analysts consider how to rectify inequitable social arrangements differ drastically.

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