Advocacy and Social Justice
Duration:
1 Teaching Period
Unit Code:
EDU40004
Contact Hours:
Recommended 10 hours of study per week
About this unit
In this unit, students examine the concept and practice of advocacy and the role of the teacher as an advocate for social justice. Both local and global issues related to social justice are examined and critiqued. Students have the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of social justice and how it links to the goals and practice of teaching. There is particular attention paid to children’s moral, ethical and social understandings and ways of nurturing a commitment to fairness, equity and social justice among children of different ages. The unit focuses on the principles of an anti-bias curriculum with a focus on promoting cooperation, empathy, caring for others and negotiation with the goal of empowering children to speak out against injustice.
Content
- Advocacy and the role of the professional
- Advocacy and professional identity
- Tools and dispositions for advocacy
- Critical and Socratic thinking
- Ethics and ethical decision making
- Ethical thinking and practice, including attention to the ECA Code of Ethics
- Anti-bias Curriculum
- The concept of global citizenship
- Interdependence and globalisation
- Identity and cultural diversity
- Social justice and human rights
- Peace building and conflict resolution
- Sustainable futures
- Rights of children – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Diversity, equity and social justice
- Children’s agency
- Guiding children’s moral, social and ethical understandings
- Children as advocates
- Children as active contributors to communities – case studies.
This unit is found in Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary).