Running head: PHILOSOPHICAL DISCUSSION ON SOCIAL JUSTICE

This I Believe:
Philosophical Discussion on Social Justice
Amy Clawson
Seattle University

PHILISOPHICAL DISCUSSION ON SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice in my professional practice encompasses a commitment to building
multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills to effectively work with students from diverse
backgrounds and experiences (Pope, Reynolds, Mueller, et al., 2004). This broad philosophical
stance also includes a promise to engage in lifelong learning, and a willingness to lean into
discomfort and pursue opportunities for individual growth. I would like to broaden my
philosophical stance on social justice to include a commitment to help students understand the
intersectionality of identities, and grow in their development as a college student and beyond.
We must purposefully nurture our students, colleagues, and ourselves through the cracks,
knowing we will sustain the trauma of damaged petals along the way. It is essential that we
understand these damaged petals as the attributes of indignation, tenacity, and audacity
(Duncan-Andrade, 2004). This quote provided by Duncan-Andrade emphasizes the need to
recognize the damaging effects of past experiences, and understanding that these feelings of
indignation are fully viable.
I would like to take this quote one step farther by stating that these damaged petals need
to have a voice, I vow in my professional practice to build communities and spaces where
students are able to share their stories in a way that empowers their identities. Promoting the use
of testimonios in the education setting is one way that students can feel empowered and allowed
to express their experiences and identities. Numerous opportunities on college campuses can be
created to give students a voice. For instance, I could utilize time during a weekly meeting
session with the mentor group I supervise to share testimonios with the larger group about a
recent or past experience that is impacting their present. This is a simple yet powerful way to
provide my students a way to express their experiences and identities. Small moments can be
turned into large learning opportunities by utilizing intentionality. In my professional practice,

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intentionality is what I hope to bring to all interactions with students.

What will guide my actions in professional practice is active listening; far too often
educators are unwilling to listen to students needs and make changes. I am willing to attend or
help create open forums where students can air their grievances about practices on campus that
are unaligned with student values and needs. For instance, at Seattle University, students have
expressed a need for gender-neutral bathrooms, and educators and professionals across campus
have begun assessing spaces where accessibility and inclusivity can be improved. This is an
example of understanding students and student issues, and having a commitment to make
changes in policy and structure when necessary. One roadblock to allowing students to state their
grievances and help make change is when students priorities do not align with current budgets
and federal policies. Budget constraints will be an ongoing issue for my professional practice,
which will show the need for implementing creativity. Social justice in my professional practice
will undoubtedly include interacting and working with other departments across campus,
especially with budget constraints are in place. A framework that guides my commitment is
Harros Cycle of Liberation (Harro, 2008); this framework includes building community,
coalescing, and creating change, which would entail working with others across the college
campus.
Social justice to me is a commitment to understanding and exploring your own identities,
and how these identities can promote or inhibit student success. This is similar to my social
justice stance in professional practice because it engages in the awareness and knowledge
portions of my philosophy. As mentioned earlier, this entails lifelong learning and willingness to
get out of my comfort zone. Getting out of my comfort zone will be an ongoing tension that I
will face while pursuing social justice. I plan on getting out of this comfort zone by attending

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student affairs conferences, and engaging in service learning activities with peers and students. I
believe it is important for me as a professional to understand the community that my institution is
surrounded by; this is why I see the need for service learning components in addition to
academic work. One approach to cultivating social justice awareness is to expose students to
situations that compel them to reflect on the concepts of power and privilege (Lechuga, 2009).
Service learning is a way to build the skills portion of the social justice philosophy stated earlier.
It is not simply enough to learn about multicultural perspectives; you must understand what it
looks like in the community context as well.
One challenge I expect to face as I pursue social justice outside of the professional setting
is understanding and affirmation from family and friends. Coming from a conservative
background, it is difficult to express my work and future goals with my community. Recently, I
helped a woman and her child who appeared in danger on the side of the road. The mother and
her son were escaping a domestic abuse situation and simply needed support and care. As I told
this story to a family member, they commented on how dangerous this situation could have been,
and there were many what ifs present in this discussion. I determined that what ifs hold
individuals back from engaging in social justice work. It is important to keep yourself out of
danger, but there needs to be some risk-taking involved to create positive change. I made a
commitment to womens leadership after a powerful professional experience, and helping the
woman and her child is a way I saw my commitment turning into action.
Overall, there is much work to be done in my personal and professional life to implement
social justice awareness, knowledge, and skills. Looking ahead to the future, I foresee multiple
opportunities to grow and expand on my current knowledge, awareness and skills related to
social justice issues. I am hopeful that my passion for life-long learning and experiential

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learning can bridge the gap between awareness and action at higher education institutions. I
commit to utilizing my professional role in a way that builds community and creates change.

PHILISOPHICAL DISCUSSION ON SOCIAL JUSTICE

References
Duncan-Andrade, J.M.R. (2006). Note to educators: Hope required when growing roses in
concrete. Harvard Educational Review. 79(2), 181-194.
Harro, B. (2008). Updated version of the cycle of liberation (2000). In Adams M., et al. (eds),
Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (pp 463-469). New York: Routledge.
Lechuga, V.M., Clerc, L.N., & Howell, A.K. (2009). Power, privilege, and learning: Facilitating
encountered situations to promote social justice. Journal of College Student
Development, 50(2), 229-244.
Pope, R.L., Reynolds, A.L., Mueller, J.A. (2004). Multicultural competence in student affairs.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.