It is time to review the schedule for the placement of your session in the AAACE Agenda. This is the final draft of the Schedule. When you look up your name, use the detail listing to check what days/times you asked to be placed. This is a huge program and we can accommodate necessary changes in day and time now, but may not be able to do so after September 1, 2013 except in emergencies. Please carefully check your placement and send any requests to Ginger Phillips, AAACE Conference Planner with AAACE Session Change Request in the subject line. We will respond to your email, but it may take us up to a week to do so. Thanks for your help in "fine tuning" this agenda!
Social Justice in the Adult Classroom: Creating a Culture of Respect
Type of Presentation
Workshop (60-75 minutes)
Session Abstract
Learn to create safe classrooms for ALL going beyond inclusivity to act on power dynamics. Discuss the relationship between diversity and social justice, identify own biases and develop an action plan.
Target Audience
Any adult educator concerned about social justice issues and their impact/place in the classroom. Teachers/administrators wanting to learn to support oppressed immigrant, LGBT, or religious minority students who lack the resources to create a safe space for these issues. Teachers and researchers interested in interrupting the normative curriculum by integrating social justice issues in their lesson plans.
Learning Outcomes
• Review research on and information about bullying, anti-immigrant feelings, and religious oppression;
• Learn to identify other forms of oppression that affect students;
• Learn how to create a culture of inclusion and respect;
• Identify skill of good social justice allies,
• Discuss implications for adult education professional development, and
• Briefly discuss activities for the classroom.
Session Description
In today’s economic crisis, our students are affected by a growing sense of fear about the future, the economy, fair jobs, and accessible healthcare. But there is a more basic fear felt by those who are the targets of discrimination, of intolerance, and of xenophobia. How can educators and language teachers create classrooms that are safe for all students, regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, immigration status, or employment?
To do that, we must become allies for social justice in a politically charged and challenging context. We need to identify skills needed in a multicultural context. If we are to recognize oppression and learn how to interrupt it, we need supportive programs and professional development activities centered around social justice issues where we learn to create a culture of inclusion and respect, identify the behaviors that make for good social justice allies and develop action plans.
Efforts are made to try to schedule sessions on the day preferred by the Primary Presenter, though this cannot be guaranteed. Please check your preference.
Friday November 8
Primary Presenter
Federico Salas-Isnardi, Texas A&M University - Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning
Work Title
Adult Literacy Specialist