Social Justice through a dialogic process

Attending the International Leadership Institute engaging in a 'dialogic process' while exploring "social Justice" and educational leadership.

Reflection on my learning during March 10 2014:

Interesting and challenging concepts that have come up for me…

• Contending perspectives - I've come to realize how people support the process of thinking in differing ways. This resonates strongly with me after what was mentioned that ‘contending’ is not a competing perspective and therefore there doesn’t need to be a winner and loser. 
•   Suspension – sustain my certainty in order to engage in a dialogue and play with ideas… don’t hold on to thoughts – be prepared for ideas of the voice of   ‘other’

The importance of talk has been interesting and insightful. The opportunity to ‘suspend’ prior thinking is a challenge! I have spent much time listening to the voices of those in my group. The process of dialogue has been wholeheartedly engaged by the group. There are some who speak more than others, yet that is ok at this point. There are times when contending perspectives have been shared and will continue to be shared, digested, questioned, and then maintained, all through a trust in the process.

Core issues that arise for me include when an injustice is identified and who identifies it. following this, I am very aware that social justice creates tensions for school leaders.

Other ideas that have emerged that are contending perspectives for me include; the notion that social justice begins as a need of oppressed groups which is taken up by ‘others’, while conversely, others would say that social justice begins as a vision to ensure equal opportunities within societal boundaries.

I believe that social justice is at the core of what we do on a daily basis in education and is wrapped up in ideals as well as contextually bound within societal values, beliefs and visions. 

I feel I have more questions to ask…

Who legitimizes Social Justice?

Something I am yet to uncover is the question of what is the voice of other? How do they make themselves heard? and Who will be listening?

Who are the underserved in our schools?

How are we really addressing their needs?

So what does this mean for me back at work?

My group’s learning:

Dialogic process

Dialogue is about listening with discernment and it usually evolves over time. An interesting idea that emerged is that the dialogue unfolds within time frames for participants and often these can be interwoven –the dialogic process occurs at one time, and yet this continues through the internal reflections of any of the participants being processed long after the dialogue ends (if it ends at all).  It is a reciprocal process of exploration and communication of and reflection on ideas over time. This allows the time to allow the dialogue to permeate people’s thinking. Dialogue includes inquiry and meta-cognition; sharing of ideas while thinking about what you come to the dialogue with.

There are layers of processes – which are parallel – the inter-personal interactions as well as the internal processes.

New personal revelations, understanding and practice that impact future thinking…”A mind stretched by a new idea never regains its original shape“