Education for Social Justice Graduate Certificate
The graduate certificate in education for social justice affords students (and non-degree seeking community members) an opportunity to engage in thoughtful, rigorous, and sustained inquiry into social justice struggles in P-20 classrooms, schools, and educational systems. The certificate also affords participants an opportunity to inquire into the complex relationships between P-20 schooling and broader cultural, economic, political, and social structures, policies, and practices. The certificate offers a range of topical and methodological vantage points to study social justice and education.
This breadth of opportunities for inquiry is possible because SOE faculty who participate in the certificate work in a range of educational subfields, including educational administration, higher education, mathematics education, multicultural education, science education, social foundations, social studies education, and student affairs. Our work draws from an array of professional experiences, disciplinary tools, and intellectual and political traditions.
Although our backgrounds, perspectives, and interests are different, we are bound by a shared belief that socially and politically meaningful engagement in and with P-20 institutions, the communities they serve, and the broader social order requires sustained critical reflection and dialogue about the (contested) meanings of social justice, as both an idea and a practice. We view this critical reflection and dialogue as the guiding force of the certificate and something we aim to foster in all of our courses and field experiences.