Writing about social justice issues creates more meaningful learning and helps students develop an understanding of civic engagement in their communities both locally and globally. My goal is to help instructors provide more in-depth instruction and methods about social justice issues in the classroom and outside the classroom. I hope students are motivated and have the skills necessary to make real changes on real issues in their lives and the lives of others who are marginalized by social justice issues. 
 
Approaching social justice issue requires self-affirmation of values, so students can understand their position in society and identity (Shnabel). This is done through methods and application of critical pedagogy in and outside the classroom. Social justice is a part of critical pedagogy. “In short, critical pedagogy motivates both critique and agency—for teachers and students alike— “through a language of skepticism and possibility and a culture of openness, debate, and engagement” (Giroux, 2007, p. 2)” (Stinson 78). Addressing social justice issues is part of the critique and agency that takes place in the composition classroom and a way for students to apply rhetoric theory in meaningful ways. 

Social Justice issues can cover issues of race, gender, and poverty and many other social issues that people face in their communities, and often these issues are combined. Thomas Miler who wrote, “Teaching the Histories of Rhetoric as a Social Praxis.” states, “if we can move our courses beyond the history of ideas about rhetoric and focus on the practical rhetorical situations where shared traditions are called upon to speak to changing social conditions” (Miller 80). This is why social justice issues are important. Writing about social justice issues apply rhetoric in meaningful ways for change. Students want to learn about real issues and concerns that transform their lives and others. 
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​Social Justice Issues connect the self to the community in meaningful ways. It helps students understand and develop civic engagement with making their communities better especially for those who marginalized. Thomas Miler who wrote, “Teaching the Histories of Rhetoric as a Social Praxis.” states, “Historical research can contribute to the teaching of such critically engaged literacy if we can move our courses beyond the history of ideas about rhetoric and focus on the practical rhetorical situations where shared traditions are called upon to speak to changing social conditions” (Miller 80).  Writing about social justice issues creates more meaningful learning and real life application of problem-solving thinking skills . My goal is to help instructors provide more in-depth instruction and methods about social justice issues in the classroom and outside the classroom. By writing and critically thinking about real issues in the community that affect the students and others, I hope students and instructors are motivated and have the skills necessary to make real changes on real issues in their lives and their communities. 
 
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Work Cited
Miller, Thomas P. “Teaching the Histories of Rhetoric as a Social Praxis.” Rhetoric Review, vol.
12, no. 1, Taylor & Francis Group, 1993, pp. 70–82, doi:10.1080/07350199309389027.

Shnabel, Nurit, et al. “Demystifying Values-Affirmation Interventions: Writing About Social
Belonging Is a Key to Buffering Against Identity Threat.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 39, no. 5, May 2013, pp. 663–676, doi:10.1177/0146167213480816.

Stinson, W. David, et al. “Critical Pedagogy and Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice”
 International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, Vol 4, no. 1, 2012, pp 76-94

"Social justice is understanding "relations of power, resource inequities, and disparate opportunities and explicit discrimination among different social groups based on race, class, gender, language, and other differences" (Stinson 79). For those who are marginalized by social justice issues, it impacts their daily lives, families, and communities. Social justice issues affect individuals on both global and local scales. Here are just some of the issues listed for each.

Global Social Justice Issues:

• Climate Change
• Slavery
• Child Labor
• Starvation 
• Women's Rights
• Water Rights
• Rights to an Education 
• Sex trafficking 
• Immigration 

Local Social Justice Issues:

• Water Rights
• Native American Rights
• Racial Profiling
• Affordable Housing 
• Women's Rights
• Sex trafficking
• Gender and Sex Discrimination 
• Immigration 

Defining social justice is complex.  Addressing social justice issues is part of the critique and agency that takes place in the composition classroom and way for students to apply rhetoric theory in meaningful ways. David W. Stinson, Carla R. Bidwell, Ginny C. Powell who wrote “Critical Pedagogy and Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice” discuss the complexity of the definition with teaching. One that it’s multilayered, “teaching for social justice are complex, multi-layered, and often contradictory … social justice, emphasizes the multifaceted and relational aspects of different conceptualization about social justice but resists presenting a delimiting, unifying theory with the hope of provoking more questions and stimulating new discussions about the many meanings of teaching for social justice.” (Stinson 79). Two, social justice is dependent of its cultural surroundings and rhetorical situation and it is a ““sliding signifier,” which suggests that defining what social justice teaching “actually means is struggled over, in the same way that concepts such as democracy are subject to different senses by different groups with sometimes radically different ideological and educational agendas” (79). Social Justice issues can be applied to any subject area like in math class for statistical outcomes for racial profiling, or service learning for marginalized groups for a psychology class, or even a environmental biology class for understanding water rights. 

Social justice is not just writing about how people that are oppressed; it's working towards empowering those who are marginalized and creating real life application of critical thinking methods of problem solving for real life issues. Lauren F. Lichty, and Eylin Palamaro‐Munsell who wrote “Pursuing an Ethical, Socially Just Classroom: Searching for Community Psychology Pedagogy” explains, to create an ethical, socially just classroom, it is important to have processes for collaborating that encourage shared language, shared talking space, and valuing all members of a community.” Both professors understand the need to teach from social justice lens to help students prepare as community psychologist to fight oppression, reduce social inequalities, and work towards empowerment for marginalized people. 
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​Work Cited
Lichty, Lauren F., and Eylin Palamaro‐Munsell. “Pursuing an Ethical, Socially Just Classroom:
Searching for Community Psychology Pedagogy.” American Journal of Community
Psychology, vol. 60, no. 3-4, WILEY, 2017, pp. 316–26, doi:10.1002/ajcp.12199.

Stinson, W. David, et al. “Critical Pedagogy and Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice”
International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, Vol 4, no. 1, 2012, pp 76-94