The Teacher as an Agent for Equity Is It Communism

Who is the Teacher Social Change Agent?

Introduction

Teacher-Social Change Agents unite education with activism, and pedagogy with societal reform. They work to reshape classrooms and communities to reflect social justice values. This paper discusses what that means and why it is significant.

What is a Teacher-Social Change Agent?

A Teacher-Social Change Agent is an educator who actively promotes and facilitates the development and implementation of transformative processes within the classroom, as well as throughout the whole school, and even throughout the surrounding community. The Teacher-Social Change Agent does this by focusing attention and supportive resources on processes that will effectively contribute to positive societal changes. These educators impart knowledge in the classroom and in the community, and they also work on inspiring critical thinking, promoting social justice, advocating for greater equity, challenging biases, and encouraging active global citizenship (Bourn, 2016).

Teachers are often seen as important in promoting change, especially when it comes to advancing the goals of global education. Their role as a Teacher-Social Change Agent is this work really comes into play in a big way, though.

In the basic dimensions of their classrooms, teachers are supposed to help broaden the horizons of their students. They introduce learners to different voices, perspectives, ideas, and principles, and challenge them to question the prevailing beliefs, biases, and assumptions surrounding global matters. The teaching methodologies they adopt place significant emphasis on valuing individual experiences. This approach creates a space critical reflection and pushes students to rethink what they know or have been taught about dominant societal values.

The influence of a Teacher-Social Change Agent also impacts the community. Teacher-Social Change Agents bring in elements of global learning, and with them give students a more holistic education that highlights the principles of social justice and encourages the spirit of active global citizenship. That is why people who never had any ambition to teach find themselves now in the classroom as social justice advocates, winning awards in California (Baron, 2013).

Teachers are usually respected in society and therefore when they engage with the community, they are seen as leaders. They advocate for changes in society that reflect the ideals of social justice, community, equity, and the need of global teamwork. Their influence as agents of change is rooted in this (Waterloo Region District School Board, 2014).

Significance

In many societies, teachers are perceived as natural leaders capable of bringing about positive changes. Because we live in a global society, the role of teachers as agents of social change can be seen as even more important. This is because they are more and more being asked to prepare students for being global citizens and to push back against systems that do not support social justice causes.

Some examples include the Global Learning Programme in England, which has the goal of helping young people understand their role in a global world order and create strategies to make it more just and sustainable. The program emphasizes moving from a charity mentality to one of social justice.