I thought I knew what the term Social Justice meant. I did, I think but in a very jumbled sort of way. I knew the gist of what it meant. It’s not a term I’ve ever sat down and thought about its meaning … I hear it all the time, I might of even said it a few times. So, when Lindsay asked if anyone knew what Social Justice meant … straight away … I asked Google.
Google said, Wikipedia said that Oxford reference said, ‘Social justice is justice in relation to a fair balance in the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals’ rights are recognized and protected’.
I admit I didn’t have that definition in my head. Here some words I thought were closely related; equality, freedom, rights … not sure whose … but someone’s rights.
I think about all the words that are never far away from Social Justice when I hear it used in sentences, privilege, gender, race inclusion, diversity, ableism, oppression, classicism, discrimination and others.
The collaborative activity this week saw us selecting post-it notes on which the names of significant educational reports and events had been written on and placing them under the correct dates on the wall which when complete formed the education in the UK timeline. I only knew the post-it notes relating to the 2000’s – Brexit, Murder of George Floyd, Covid 19 pandemic and those had already been placed on the wall under the 2000s.
I had the post-it note with the Kennedy Report and had absolutely no idea under which dates of the timeline it should be placed. So, I hazarded guess and placed between the 1950s and 1960s.
How wrong I was!
The Kennedy report bore no relationship to the fairly well-known family of Kennedys of 50s/60s America, which I hasten to add may have had a very, slight, influence over where I had stuck the post-it note.
Lindsay had pointed out that the Kennedy Report 1997 presented by Helen Kennedy QC sat between the Tomlinson Report 1996 and the Dearing Report 1997 of the timeline. So what were the main themes the Report?
‘Learning was central to national and individual economic prosperity and social cohesion, and that equity dictated that all should have the opportunity to succeed. Furthermore, it was suggested that a dramatic shift in policy was needed to widen participation in post‐16 learning, and to foster a culture in which continuing learning was considered a natural facet of adult life. Dame Helena’s task was to reach under‐represented groups and non‐traditional learners and to define the critical role of the further education sector in the process. The Report defined further education as ‘everything that does not happen in schools or universities’. The notion of widening participation has been superseded to a great extent by that of lifelong learning, which continues to address common barriers that adults have in accessing education, such as pressure of work; family and social life; financial constraints; and cultural and language issues.’ (Wallace, 2009).
‘The issue of widening participation specifically for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities was explored by the Tomlinson Report (1996).’ Is something I would like to explore further.
[531 words]
References
Wallace, S (2015) A Dictionary of Education. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. eISBN: 9780191758454. Available at:
(Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Additional reading
Gillard, D (2018) Kennedy Report (1997): Learning Works – Widening Participation in Further Education. Available at: https://www.education-uk.org/documents/kennedy1997/index.html (Accessed: 19 February 2024).