The following text below is a short overview of the Making Space, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice Throughout the K-12 Curriculum document. The topic in question was a presentation on inclusive education, a very broad topic, and there was a suggested word count. This was a group project and the name of our group was ‘The Goodfellas.’
The Goodfellas
February 11th, 2021
EDEF 3200, Winter 2021
Overview:
Making Space, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice Throughout the K-12 Curriculum
This is an overview of the Making Space: Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice Throughout the K-12 Curriculum that was created by the British Columbia government’s Department of Education. This document is split into five parts. The first section is the introduction and context going from pages three through seventeen. The second section is Kindergarten through Grade Three on pages twenty-two through twenty-five. The third section is grades four through seven on pages thirty-one through forty-four. The fourth and fifth sections split grades, which are specific to the high school curriculum, make up the remainder of the book. This overview focuses on the first three sections.
The introduction provides some context on the importance of Social Justice and Diversity Education for teachers and highlights the problems of previous education models (Government of British Columbia, p. 6). It has a helpful self-assessment tool for teaching practice (Government of British Columbia, pp. 7-8). It provides context of how to navigate some of the trickier questions of teaching awkward or uncomfortable areas of social justice and how to keep classroom control and productive during such discussions (Government of British Columbia, pp. 9-13). One salient section is navigating topics of ‘social isolation’ such as when a teacher feels ‘not in their lane’ discussing socio-economic problems that affect their students and not themselves (Government of British Columbia, pp. 10-11).
The Adolescent and Primary Elementary education sections provide subject-specific suggestions of discussing Social Justice and Diversity (Government of British Columbia, pp. 22-44). These are suggestions to aid in a more inclusive classroom as teachers move forward in discussing subject matters that are sometimes difficult to contextualize and discuss.
Government of British Columbia. Department of Education. (2008) Making space: Teaching for diversity and social justice throughout the K-12 curriculum. GT Publishing Services.