Mission Statement

We, as social justice educators at the University of California, Los Angeles, come together to create a space so we can have a critical voice, and thus full participation, in carrying out the UCLA Center X and Teacher Education Program's mission of social justice and democracy. We believe that in order for real change to occur, we must be pro-active in engaging in critical dialogue and counter discourse: not only with others, but ourselves. We understand that this dialogue must not only occur with what we do in our off-campous communities, but also in the on-campus community of administration, faculty, staff, and students as well. We believe that just as we must be held accountable to our role as educators, we must hold accountable those at Center X who educate us. We know that we must take action to empower the entire community of learners through ensuring that conscientization pervades our outreach, our admissions, our curriculum, our instruction, our partnerships, and our collaborations. Only then will we truly blend theory and practice, collaborate across institutions and communities, remain self-renewing, and embody a social justice agenda.

A Brief History

In the fall quarter of 1999, a forum where novices could get together and dialogue was initiated by the Social Studies Team. Following the initiation of the novice forum, a survey concerning issues regarding TEP and its curriculum was developed and distributed. Although no direct action came from this survey, it served to unify students and provide them with a space where their voices could be heard. This space naturally lent itself to the critical dialogue often discussed in the theories and writings that the novices were studying at UCLA. Despite there being many differences in philosophies and ideologies, the forum provided a space where critical discourse and action could be engaged in and realized. This, combined with the networking of TSJ with other faculty, administration and past TEP students, eventually created a more authentic form of practice for the novices involved. Even though meetings, discussions and actions could be frustrating and confrontational at times, novices who attended the forum were very much aware that they were taking the ideas of social justice and democracy beyond UCLA classrooms and applying it to themselves and the Teacher Education Program.

The novice forum came to be organized as Teachers for Social Justice, a direct reference to the TEP and Center X agenda of social justice. Although the name changed, the intent of the group stayed the same. Members began to organize in committees around a variety of issues such as admissions, recruitment, curriculum, instruction, student teaching placements, and the partnership schools where these placements occurred. Throughout the rest of the fall quarter, TSJ focused on two major objectives. One was to attain a seat on the TEP Council, a representative body comprised of faculty, administrators, first and second year students, and alumni, aimed at discussing the concerns and issues of novices. The other objective was to do research and create a presentation to TEP Council on the student teaching placement, and eventual workplace, of TEP students. Throughout the year, TSJ's presence on the Council proved to be a controversial, yet integral place where student voices could be brought to the forefront of the program. An example of this would be the research that TSJ presented to the faculty and administration at TEP Council. The research, collected from the previous three years, clearly displayed the conspicuous student teaching placement, and subsequent job placement, of over 2/3 of UCLA TEP students in schools west of the 405 freeway, and not in the most marginalized and disempowered communities of South-Central and East Los Angeles.

Throughout the remainder of the year, Teachers for Social Justice set out to do a variety of projects, aimed at closing the gap between the justice and democracy studied in the Teacher Education Program, and the culture and practices set forth by the same institution. Weekly meetings consisted of guest speakers who ranged from community activists to progressive professors. A proposal for a school partnership committee, to allow for novices to petition for partnership list additions, created opportunities for novices to teach in inner-city areas like Compton, Watts, Chinatown and South-Central. In the midst of novices researching for teaching positions, TSJ was instrumental in bridging a deeper understanding of inner city education by forming a community panel for novices to dialogue with parents, teachers, administrators, and students. Ironically enough, this "community panel" was brought to Westwood by TSJ, and not the other way around. However, after the logistics were addressed by Teachers for Social Justice, the community panel was turned into the Community Day. One day out of the current novices’ Orientation Week was dedicated to meeting and visiting with individuals and schools from a few Los Angeles communities. Finally, TSJ members also worked with faculty and administration on initiating curriculum and instruction changes for the years to come.

Currently, Teachers for Social Justice continues to be novice-driven. At the beginning of this year, novices met with residents to discuss their issues and gain insight on what occurred in the program the year before. Following this meeting, several novices got together to address their concerns and issues as social justice educators. While maintaining dialogue with these residents, this group of novices is presently developing an organized student voice to collaborate with faculty and administration in TEP.

Lessons Learned

Reflecting on last year, we realize that as members of Teachers For Social Justice we were both able to apply the theories taught in our graduate courses and uphold the agenda of social justice. Critical pedagogy informed and scaffolded our actions taken in TEP and continues to shape our practice in the classroom. TSJ allowed us to find our space to be advocates for our students and communities, while struggling for democracy in our own education.

Charlene Baldwin teachres at 99th Street Elementary School in Watts.
cbaldwin@ucla.edu

Benji Chang teachers at Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown.
changbj@ucla.edu