Learning to Teach for Social Justice

by Linda Darling-Hammond (Editor), Jennifer French (Editor), José Luis García-López

In this skillfully crafted and engaging book, a group of student teachers -- led by Linda Darling-Hammond -- share their candid questions, concerns, dilemmas, and lessons learned about how to teach for social justice and social change. This text provides powerful examples of how Darling-Hammond and her students thoughtfully integrated diversity within a teacher education program -- an excellent model for educators who are seeking ways to transform their teacher education programs to better prepare teachers to work effectively in multicultural classrooms.The honest reflections, case studies, lessons, and projects described offer valuable tools to help teachers:

-- Engage in productive dialogues about both the inequities and the possibilities for social reconstruction within the communities where they will be teaching.

-- Apply the concepts they are learning in a university classroom to teaching for social justice in their own classrooms.

-- Find ways to use their insights about diversity to intervene on behalf of victimized and marginalized students.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Social Justice

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2002

About the author

Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the Learning Policy Institute, is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University. She is the award-winning author of numerous books including Beyond the Bubble Test: How Performance Assessments Support 21st Century Learning, and Powerful Teacher Education: Lessons from Exemplary Programs (Jossey-Bass).

Reviews

[Renee Gall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some really interesting and applicable points made, but lost me about halfway through.

Favorite lines:
- “As teachers, we must let our students teach each other that differences do matter- they shape our perspectives and identities. But they are not the whole story. If we encourage students to share their stories and celebrate their uniqueness, we teach them how to uncover the ties that bind us all.” (21)
- “As teachers, we are responsible for giving our students a voice, not for contributing to their silencing.” (26)
- “Taking the time to pay attention to your own assumptions and the values you bring into the classroom will help you create an environment where your students feel more comfortable finding their own voice…” (28)
- “The central message to our students should be that all people create history - and that includes them.” (38)
- “Helping students to find the positive power in their voices will help them to achieve well beyond what they could do either without voice or with the negative power of voice.” (57-58)
- “Diverse identity perspectives- race, gender, class, and sexual orientation- not only represent society as a whole but, more important, they represent our classrooms and our students…When we do not teach to all of our students, inequality prevails.” (64)

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book raises important issues from a variety of perspectives. As an experienced and well-read person in he field, I did not find anything that new or surprising, but I think it would be a good book for many prospective and beginning teachers. This book, edited by Linda and two former teacher education students, is a compilation of short articles by students in the Standford teacher education program reflecting on their experiences as student teachers and new teachers in connection with issues of social justice and teaching students of color.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would definitely recommend this for teaching credential students. It's a valuable 4 star read for a new teacher, but maybe only 3 stars for a more experienced teacher. This book is good for new teachers trying to figure out their place in the classroom or for teachers curious about teaching from a social justice perspective.

[Paloma Lechuga]

i loved it