Social Justice Education is Everywhere: Strategies and Dispositions for Embedding Social Justice Education into Existing Curriculum

Saturday, January 17, 2026

8:30 AM - 4:00 PM HST

At the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center, located at 1922 Makiki Street, Honolulu, HI 96822

$200 per person

Alfie Kohn, prolific author and lecturer on human behavior, education, and parenting, describes social justice as one of the defining features of a progressive education. He explains: “A sense of community and responsibility for others isn’t confined to the classroom; indeed, students are helped to locate themselves in widening circles of care that extend beyond self, beyond friends, beyond their own ethnic group, and beyond their own country. Opportunities are offered not only to learn about, but also to put into action, a commitment to diversity and to improving the lives of others” (Kohn, 2008). In this workshop, participants will explore opportunities for embedding social justice education (SJE) topics, practices, teacher dispositions, and possibilities for action into their existing curriculum.

Participants will learn how the potential for SJE is every day and everywhere, rather than being a separate and isolated endeavor. They will see why teachers do not need to “sacrifice” or “separate” SJE from other academic priorities; instead, the teaching of social justice topics can be seamlessly aligned with state standards such as Common Core and with unit objectives. They will also learn strategies and approaches used by social justice educators. They will learn about SJE teacher dispositions, and how educators can approach social justice topics that they may still be learning about themselves. Participants will:

explore teacher positionalities and dispositions for SJE,
define social justice education (SJE) within diverse teaching contexts,
consider social justice action as an integral component of SJE,
modify one unit of their curriculum to embed SJE,
leave with knowledge and resources to continue this embedding work in their respective educational settings.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

Participants will be able to:

Align the teaching of SJE topics with state standards and unit objectives
Develop a pedagogical understanding of SJE for their educational contexts
Embed SJE into the curriculum to provide students with opportunities to learn, within an academic setting, about the realities of social (in)justice
Identify opportunities to provide SJE instruction as relevant and pertinent to an existing curriculum
Make adjustments and modifications based on observations of student engagement and learning
Prepare themselves to deliver research-centered instruction on SJE topics and to work according to a pedagogical understanding of social justice
Establish a method of reflection that allows for meaningful analysis of the teaching and learning experience of embedding SJE into the curriculum.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

8:30 - 9:15
Introduction and Framing: Defining SJE for your contexts
Levels of SJ Literacy
Teacher Dispositions and Positionality: Teaching with a SJ Lens
9:15 - 9:30
Introduction to ESJE: What and Why
9:30 - 10:30
Step 1: Preparing the unit: Identifying opportunities for SJE
Exploring materials with a SJ lens
Drafting an embedded SJ unit
Sharing
10:30 - 11:30
Step 2: Research and media literacy for educators
Defining and conducting unit-related research
11:30 - 12:30
Lunch
Optional exploration of definitions and resources
12:30 - 1:10
Step 3: Embedding the SJ topics
1:10 - 2:00
Step 4: Observing and modifying
Student diaries/journals about learning experiences
Sample scenarios
Sharing ideas
2:00 - 3:00
Share and give/obtain peer feedback for your draft embedded SJ unit plan
3:00 - 3:45
Step 5: Reflecting and obtaining feedback
Sample feedback (2 examples to obtain feedback)
Create feedback collection for your unit
3:45 - 4:00
Closing: Resources, support, and next steps

ABOUT THE FACILITATORS

Marie Times, MEd, (she/her/hers) is an English Language Arts (ELA) classroom teacher born and raised in Ewa Beach, Hawaiʻi. She has experience working with preschool, primary, and secondary students in various education settings across the United States and internationally. Miss Times holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Georgia State University and a Master’s degree in Curriculum & Teaching from Boston University. She was a member of Hanahau’oli School’s Spring 2025 cohort of Leaders of Social Justice in Education (LSJE), out of which this professional development workshop grew. Currently, she teaches grades 7 and 8 at a charter school in Oakland, California.

Jingwoan Chang, PhD, (she/her/hers) taught K-12 Mandarin Chinese for over 16 years in public and private schools in Illinois and Hawaiʻi, and now supports the World Languages program at the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design. In addition, she has facilitated the Leaders of Social Justice in Education cohorts of 2024 and 2025, and the quarterly Social Justice Educators Gathering since 2023. She conducted her doctoral research on how Hawaiʻi K-12 educators define and implement social justice education.

THIS WORKSHOP IS DESIGNED FOR

This workshop is for teachers of all disciplines and grades to:

clarify SJE definitions, goals, and connections to existing curriculum and standards;
embed SJE into existing curriculum without sacrificing other academic priorities;
explore teacher positionality and dispositions to teach in justice-oriented ways.

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