As part of our course curriculum, students read and reflect on stories of persons working for social justice, as well as consider and wrestle with varying definitions and understandings of the term. To further explore the concept, students participate in what I call the Four Quadrants exercise.
In this exercise, students are asked to get up and move to the center of the room. The far end of the room is labeled with the word “Just,” the back end of the room “Unjust,” the right side of the room is labeled “Effective,” and the left side “Ineffective.” Students are told to define these terms however they choose. Students are then invited to imagine two lines forming a cross to divide the room, a vertical line up and down the center of the room, and a horizontal line across the room from left to right, effectively splitting the room into four quadrants.
Students are then presented with a social justice scenario and asked to interpret the facts for themselves and to vote with their feet, to take a stand by standing in a particular quadrant. Where they stand literally reflects where they stand metaphorically, and how they understand the notion of social justice as practically applied.
After the Four Quadrants exercise, students collectively create a class definition of social justice. They struggle with this collective task; it is always challenging. They then study the history of the social work profession’s efforts to do the same, and they come to understand that the social work profession has also struggled to define social justice.
I also share with students my proposed definition of social justice, noting that it integrates concepts from social work association ethical statements and principles, as well as social science, philosophical, theological, and educational research and writings.
“True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.”
Social worker, Sam and Cele Keeper Endowed Professor in Peace and Social Justice at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, and Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams, shares her vision for social justice. Relfect on her TED talk in light of the social work profession’s commitment to social justice.
Watch the film clip below and discuss the role of silence in the practice of social justice. In particular, consider the ways in which silence is betrayal, as stated here by Dr. King, and the ways in which silence is power.
Scholar who provided intellectual underpinnings to international peace movement.
Film clip from acclaimed film Planting Seeds of Mindfulness.
The Pebble Meditation and Social Justice Practice.
Song and Social Justice – The Price of Silence.
