How can you build a team that is committed to promoting social justice?

1 Define your vision

The first step to building a team that is committed to promoting social justice is to define your vision clearly and communicate it to your potential and existing team members. Your vision should reflect your beliefs, values, and goals for social justice in education, and how they align with your institution's mission and culture. Your vision should also be inspiring, realistic, and measurable, so that your team can see the purpose, direction, and impact of their work.

4 Provide opportunities for learning and growth

The fourth step to building a team that is committed to promoting social justice is to provide opportunities for learning and growth for your team members. Learning and growth are crucial for enhancing your team's knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to social justice in education, and for adapting to the changing needs and expectations of your students, staff, and communities. You should provide opportunities for learning and growth by offering training, mentoring, coaching, and feedback, and by encouraging your team to pursue their own professional development goals.

5 Engage in collaborative action

The fifth step to building a team that is committed to promoting social justice is to engage in collaborative action with your team members. Collaborative action is the process of planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving your team's initiatives and projects that aim to advance social justice in education. Collaborative action requires your team to work together as a cohesive unit, leveraging each other's strengths, sharing responsibilities, and overcoming challenges. You should engage in collaborative action by facilitating effective teamwork, setting clear objectives and expectations, monitoring progress and outcomes, and celebrating successes.

6 Partner with stakeholders

The sixth step to building a team that is committed to promoting social justice is to partner with stakeholders who can support and benefit from your team's work. Stakeholders are the individuals and groups who have an interest or influence in your team's social justice goals, such as students, parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and policy makers. Partnering with stakeholders can help your team gain insights, resources, feedback, and advocacy, and can also help your team create positive and lasting changes in your educational context. You should partner with stakeholders by building relationships, listening to their needs and expectations, involving them in decision making, and sharing your results and impact.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?