Yes, teachers do have a responsibility to promote social justice using social media. To me, this is just a “no-brainer.”
Of course, we all want a better world for the next generation, so why not use our platforms, our voices, or any means possible to promote things that may improve the state of the world. We know that as teachers, we want our students to be good people and to be positive, contributing members of society.
We also know that our students’ main form of communication these days IS social media, so what better way to get these important messages across?
I know that it is our responsibility to educate our students on social justice issues using social media, because it is “speaking their language”, it is easily accessible, and addressing these issues are vital to the betterment of society.
Whether the issues covered are “touchy subjects’ or we fear backlash from parents for addressing taboo topics, we cannot deny that open communication about any given topic betters the situation.
As Jeff stated during our debate, “The world is not a safe place.”
It just isn’t. However, by advocating for social justice rights and by having these conversations, we can perhaps make it a little bit better.
We can prepare our students for the real world by teaching them to advocate for important human rights and then hopefully become activists to make the world a better place.
We do not want apathy.
We want to create a better society. We want advocates. We want leaders. We want helpers.
If we can achieve this in any way, we should. We see the example of the student-initiated protests in Chile and the success they had there. We also see the success of Great Thunberg’s climate change centered activism, and the snowball effect her efforts have had on countless youth around the globe. There are thousands of other examples of student led activism that has happened with the help of social media.
Despite being strongly in favour of using social media to promote social justice, I enjoyed debating this week and saw things from a new perspective during the live debate. Ramsel’s conversation surrounding the fact that neutrality can create critical thinkers was an especially good point.
However, we were still able to refute this point. We believe that you can post on social media about social justice issues WHILE maintaining neutrality.
Also, saying nothing IS saying something.
We feel like we can still be neutral, but still demonstrate to our students how to have a voice and to stand up for what they believe in regarding social justice issues.
We also know that yes, teachers do have a place on social media this day in age. Perhaps 10 years ago, this was the case, but now we see many instances of teachers vibrantly and successfully engaging in their classrooms on social media.
Yes, we may be primarily “curriculum deliverers” however we also have a responsibility to use social media to promote social justice.
Lastly, to borrow from last week’s debate, we know that it is not the sole responsibility of teachers to promote social justice, via social media or otherwise. It takes experts on the topics, parents AND teachers. Again,
“It takes a village.“
8 Comments
Catrina Hunter
Great post Amanda. You brought up many good points in last week’s debate as well as in this post. I agree with you that it’s important to raise and discuss social justice issues with our students as a way to “create a better society…advocates…leaders…helpers.” Even with the information you presented, I am still struggling to fully agree with the idea that this has to be done using social media. This could definitely be because I am not someone who uses social media in this way. I am absolutely contemplating this week’s topic in a very personal way, and I’m wondering if I’ll ever get to a point where I feel totally comfortable using social media as a way to promote social justice. Thanks for the compelling debate. You have given me a lot to contemplate.
Will Whitten
Amanda,
I think you’ve got a great post and did a great job debating this idea. I just get stuck on the idea that it is our responsibility to do this work on social media. You said “I know that it is our responsibility to educate our students on social justice issues using social media, because it is ‘speaking their language'” and I think that is an interesting point. I just wonder if speaking their language on social media is as effective as some of the work we can do in the classroom. I don’t think we need to shy away from social justice work in our classroom but I do wonder if we are really responsible to do it on social media. Where do teacher get to separate work and life? I think teach it in your classroom, live it in your life but you are not responsible to educate on social media that is outside our role as teachers. It is really the “responsible” that sticks with me. Thanks again for your thoughts and great debate !
Amanda Stecyk
Thank you for your insight, Will. Essentially, when thinking about this debate, I viewed the word “responsibility” as we “should” instead of we “have to”
Although it’s not a specific requirement to our job, per se, there are many aspects of our “responsibilities as educators” that go unsaid. We are teachers, role models, and guidance counsellors, among many other things. If we can have any part in influencing our students whether it be in the classroom or via social media, I believe that we should (it would be very “responsible” of us to do so!)
Laura Erickson
Great post Amanda! I agree with your statement that “saying nothing is saying something”. I also thought Ramsel’s point regarding teacher neutrality was a good point. I aim to teach my students HOW to think, not WHAT to think. I would argue that this responsibility begins and ends in the classroom. Will asked a good question in his reply to your post in regards to the teacher’s responsibility to educate our students on social media. I believe that this is outside our role as an educator. This is a difficult line to walk as this article in the National Post shows:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/a-lot-of-reason-to-be-afraid-says-censured-teacher-critical-of-the-woke-revolution-in-classrooms
Amanda Stecyk
Thank you so much, Laura. I love your philosophy about teaching students “how” to think and not “what.”
I think this is SO important, especially this day in age when many of our youth are so easily swayed by the “influencers” that are so very prominent on every social media platform these days.
Amanda Stecyk
Thank you again for your insight, Catrina! I can certainly agree that social media is not the *only* way to promote social justice, and that this has to be done only in this manner, but it is definitely one of the tools we can use to find information, promote equality, and encourage our students to become activists!
Kanwal Humayun
Great pointers Amanda !!
I totally support the fact that as teachers we have to use the tools which are most used by the students and in terms of social media we have to make our presence there as that’s the place where we can mostly find the students with maximum interest. I also like how you have said that saying nothing is also something and we can not back out from this responsibility. I am personally invested in this topic as I feel it is everyone’s and mostly the teachers responsibility to create social justice as we can not deny the responsibility of creating the next generation by teaching them social justice
Amanda Stecyk
Thank you once again Kanwal, I am also a strong advocate for promoting social justice in any way possible!