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,...
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,...
…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.
Other notable educators, such as the recipients of the "California Teacher of the Year" award, often exemplify the role of Teacher-Social Change Agents by going beyond traditional teaching methods to inspire change in their students…
