What does social justice look like in our classrooms, and how does it connect to students’ long-term economic opportunities?
In what ways does our daily teaching practice promote (or hinder) social justice?
Should schools primarily prepare students for the workforce—or for citizenship and critical thinking?
At ĀYŌDÈ, we’d love to hear from you! Do you have ideas or reflections to share?
We can make a bigger impact with long term economic opportunities by allowing specialties & trade paths to be availableat the beginning of High School, even 8th grade like Job Fairs for courses; instead of spending years after High School graduation trying to figure out where our real interests lie.
We also hinder ourselves with the information being taught as “truths” when our Textbooks are riddled with misinformation and give a false sense of the World, only to add to the stressor of life after Graduation.
Areas of study should absolutely be more applicable to the real World, including teaching Empathy, Citizenship & Leadership; assuming those things are taught in homes is why we find ourselves mired in a broken system that reaches far beyond the days of being in an Education Sytem.
A moment that stuck with me the most was when my Leadership Teacher asked if anyone knew what Empathy meant & aside from myself and one other girl, no one in a class of 28 knew of empathy & my heart shattered. It takes a village & we can’t control what happens in their homes but we absolutely have a duty to teach love, compassion, basic human decency, and empathy above all else; what good is a life without it?
“The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world”
-Plato
So many wise words. Thank you, It’s true that many areas of study don’t always feel applicable to the real world. While it’s important to know how to calculate the area of a rhombus, I believe the emphasis should be not only on the math itself, but on what students learn about themselves in the process—especially those who have had a more challenging journey to reach the answer.
We should be encouraging curiosity, perseverance, and the belief that “I can do this.” Alongside academics, we must intentionally teach empathy, citizenship, and leadership. Knowing how to calculate a square root or spell correctly is valuable—but those skills alone are not enough to prepare someone for the real world.
Schools should not leave social and character development to chance. Empathy helps students understand and care about others’ feelings and perspectives. Citizenship teaches responsibility, respect, and how to contribute positively to a community. Leadership builds confidence, decision-making skills, integrity, and the ability to guide or influence others in constructive ways. These qualities shape how a person interacts with the world.
Technical skills and factual knowledge, by themselves, don’t guarantee success or fulfillment. In real life, people must collaborate, solve problems with others, handle conflict, show resilience, and act ethically. A person may be academically strong, but without empathy, responsibility, and character, they may struggle in relationships, workplaces, and communities.
What a student carries home at the end of the day is not simply the ability to spell a list of words, but the way they felt while learning them.
Years from now, most children won’t remember the specific spelling words from a Tuesday afternoon. What stays with them is the emotional experience attached to the learning. Did they feel capable? Encouraged? Proud of themselves for trying? Or did they feel embarrassed, anxious, or defeated?
Of course, learning to spell is important. But even more important is cultivating resilience, courage, and a sense of competence in the process. The true lesson isn’t only in mastering the content—it’s in building a learner who feels capable of facing challenges again tomorrow.
