March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 40 F

How Maryland Schools Support Student Activism for Social Justice

The colleges and schools in Maryland, are a community committed to practices and research that transforms education in a way that will emphasize social justice and equality. Their work offers access to opportunities that will inspire all students to reach their goals and be participants of the broader civic, economic, and democratic fabric of society.

The students have many benefits from the research opportunities and mentorships from the diverse scholars. And the educators are doing a great job at teaching their classes and giving the students assignment help while at the same time doing coursework and conducting research that will advance anti-racism, social justice, and equality. Online police brutality essays reflect students’ thoughts regarding these issues and state that “justice has been delayed for too long and denied for too many times”. And that many would still be alive if we all collectively had stood up to support the protests against racism” and that cannot be truer. Making it one of many reasons why we should fight for the blueprint of Maryland’s future.

Campus Initiatives in Support of Social Justice

Maryland schools are partnered up closely with local school systems through internships, educational leadership development, school improvement projects, research collaborations, and school counseling initiatives. And now their center for diversity and inclusion in education is a center that collaborates with national experts on any kind of issues related to equality in school. Also, Maryland’s flagship university status allows a close relationship with policymakers, nonprofit organizations, and agencies from all around the world.

Their goal is achieving effective activism that will have an impact on social justice, and for that, they are constantly sharing their knowledge to try and improve the lives in Maryland through different centers and campus initiatives such as the following:

  • Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education (MIMAUE): MIMAUE focuses on racial and social justice in K-12 education. Improving high school activism and addressing all the achievement gaps through community partnerships.
  • The Center for Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education: This center provides all the expertise needed to understand all the issues related to social justice, inclusion, and diversity in higher education.
  • UMD’s Advance Program: They support mostly the Advanced program that offers critical information for facility members and promotes an inclusive and diverse work environment.

Learning About Cultural Diversity through Intergroup Dialogue

Having tough conversations about tough topics is the key to addressing social issues. And Maryland schools have engaged and been forefront in those critical conversations. They have created an intergroup dialogue course to discuss past, present, and even future social issues. And brought together students from different races and identities to discuss different forms of marginalization and bias, including racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. The courses also have writing assignments that allow the students to express themselves, which can be helpful to their academic education.

New Disability Studies minor

The University of Maryland also introduced a disability studies minor, placed in the College of education, and the minor features course work from across the College, emphasizing the interdisciplinary nature of the program. One of the core courses in the minor is “disability: from stigma and sideshow to Main Street and Mainstream. Electives also offer courses on disability culture, assistive robotics and the neuroscience of learning.

Ways of supporting Social Justice

  • Visually representing diversity to students by inclusion in school.
  • Advocate more teachers of color – to represent diverse students. Rather than just listen to lessons about the importance of it from a monolithic group of teachers.
  • Listening to students – Since they come from an age in a world filled with hate and violence, Students are losing motivation to bring awareness. So, listening to the honest stories directly from the students, helps the teachers, members of the board, and the community to take the needed justice measurements.
  • Enduring Understanding – to better share and cope, the staff created a common language that they call enduring Understanding, which focuses on diversity, justice, identity, and action.

 

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