Module 11
Key points of McLaughlin’s article “The King of Denmark and the naked mole rat: teaching critical thinking for social justice” (2011)
- Examples of standing up to injustice and experiments to see people’s reactions
- Why do we expect people can be “bullied” into not bullying others?
- Democracy ”depends upon the understanding that the majority should be subject to questions and that minority values and views will be tolerated where they do not cause significant harm”
- Equality and freedom, voices, for minorities or those who have been oppressed or ignored in society
- Welcome those voices to help teach principles, look for differing points of view so as to try and understand them
- Example of Huckleberry Finn as vehicle for discussion on racism
- Sanitizing language changes the meaning of the text
- Need to face these conversations head-on, not ignore them
- Teaching citizenship usually involves some sort of charity to help “those in need”
- Does not usually include actually seeing people living in sub-standard conditions locally or the vast disparity between rich and poor in developing countries
- “Why not?”
- Really teaching social justice means asking, and trying to answer, the hard questions, and looking for multiple viewpoints
McLaughlin’s article brings up some interesting points on how we approach social justice within the school environment. Often the most difficult, uncomfortable conversations are avoided, which in the author’s opinion, does a disservice to the process. She also points out that for real democracy, society’s minorities must have a voice: if there isn’t a disagreement, then someone is not being heard. In teaching social justice, we must also acknowledge the realities of disparity in our own communities and in the communities we ask students to help.
McLaughlin, Danielle. The King of Denmark and the naked mole rat: teaching critical thinking for social justice. Education Canada. Web. Accessed 23 November 2014.