My primary goal as an educator is to help my students develop the skills necessary to not only excel academically but also to grow into well-rounded citizens of the world who can succeed in life beyond my classroom walls. It is crucial that I not only teach students chemistry and English content knowledge but also how to speak, write and think about real-world problems. 

 

Advocacy in the classroom can have several different meanings and take multiple forms. First of all, the core concept means not only having the knowledge of various social issues and injustices in the world around us but also the ability to cite evidence and have an informed opinion about these topics. It is also essential to develop the skill set necessary to obtain the information to form opinions about issues. When students are in our classrooms, we can provide them with the information they can cite and reference to establish their opinions and worldviews. However, it is also our responsibility to help students to develop the skill set necessary to find this information on their own and develop informed decisions beyond our classroom walls. I also strive to teach my students that their voice and their opinions matter.

 

Students in my classes have engaged and followed through on several projects that I have initiated—that have allowed them to advocate for others as well as act as self-advocates. In the following pages, you will learn more about several advocacy projects that have taken place in my classroom. First, students in my English classroom in Indonesia used their collective and individual assets to increase pride in cultural identity through planning and hosting an Indonesian cultural heritage day. Then you will see my students in Los Angeles develop their self-advocacy skills and use their individual assets to challenge an inequity of opportunities and the opportunity gap through a senior portfolio and defense project. Finally, you will see my students in Los Angeles use their individual and collective assets to navigate and challenge systemic injustices caused by living in a food desert by revitalizing our school's abandoned garden and making a lasting impact on the school and surrounding community for years to come. Through each of these experiences, you will see my students think, speak and write about real-world issues as well as cite evidence from information I provided and research additional evidence independently to enrich classroom conversation. Please click on the following images to learn more about the projects I initiated with which my students engaged with and followed through on.