Learning for Justice

 A tool I use often at the public library is the lesson builder on Learning for Justice's website. LFJ is the educational component to the non-profit, Southern Poverty Law Center based in Montgomery, AL.  Their mission statement is: 

"The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people."

SPLC created the Learning for Justice in 1991 (originally called Teaching Tolerance) branch as a way to help educators and community leaders in teaching four areas:

• Culture and Climate
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Leadership
• Family and Community Engagement

The International Society of Technology and Education (ISTE) works to target nine areas of expertise with one of those being Social-Emotional Learning and Cultural Competence. My background is in creating inclusive programming in non-profits and I am always looking for tools that help educators tackle some tough conversations. 

I found the LFJ website when I began working in the public library because I am always looking for ways to create a safe and open third space for our tweens and teens. Originally, I was on the search for posters that I could put up around the space and they offer free ones such as this:

Illustration by Carmen Segovia from the Learning for Justice website

Then I discovered their lesson builder tool and I turn to it all the time when I need to create programming at the library especially during the summer and as a community engagement program. You can watch my walk-through of how to create a lesson plan here:

This tool is for lesson planning but it also is geared towards students who want to become active members of their community and offers them hands-on ways to get to started. Other types of educational technology resources that focus on Social-Emotional Learning and Cultural Competence are:

Anti-Defamation League's No Place For Hate school-wide program

National Museum of African American History and Culture's museum classroom

The Smithsonian's Learning Lab 

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's virtual field trip

Spread the Word (to end the R-word) offers an assortment of tookits to use

I have spoken and trained hundreds of teens and adults on inclusion specifically focused on intellectual and developmental disabilities over the years. The one thing that comes every single time is people saying they're afraid to say the wrong thing. There's only one way to overcome that fear and that is to continually educate yourself. When people are afraid of saying the wrong thing then they don't engage with people outside of their comfort zone which becomes a missed opportunity to say "hello."