James Cohen remembers well the closing moments of the first Social Justice Summer Camp for Educators in 2017.
The plan for the future, as announced by Cohen and his fellow camp counselors from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, was to host the event on a biannual basis.
But the unexpected reaction from the still-buzzing participants came swiftly.
“No!” the crowd responded. “Every year!”
Seven Junes later, with Edition 7.0 now in the books, Cohen’s shared enthusiasm for what the camp accomplishes has not dimmed.
“I enjoy the interactions with the campers because I feel so rejuvenated. Emotionally. Psychologically. Professionally. When you have like-minded people getting together for a common cause, that, in itself, is energizing,” says the professor of ESL/Bilingual Education.
More importantly, “the reason why people teach is because you’re making a difference,” he adds, “and the camp is clearly making a difference in the lives of these teachers and their students. To me, that’s such a huge driving force behind everything I do.”
Professors Joseph Flynn, Dana Isawi and Michael Manderino join Cohen as counselors of the camp that this year drew 75 educators from the K-12 world. Campers included classroom teachers as well as school and district administrators.
“Justice is always going to be an issue in education,” says Flynn, professor of curriculum and instruction.
“Education can either help sustain the status quo, or it can help people become more critically thoughtful about not only subject matter but their world,” he adds, “and teachers are always going to need support and help in developing the skills to help their students learn how to be more thoughtful, reflective and critical about the world they live in.”
Camp offers that, he says.
“They hear new things, and old things that they aware of that are reconfirmed and re-instilled,” Flynn says. “They appreciate the camaraderie that’s built among the community and having the ability to talk about issues in their practice and struggles that they’re having in their classrooms and in their community in general. They have a whole team of people here that they can talk to, and get advice and critique from, that they might not otherwise have access to.”
Manderino and Isawi agree.
“It allows people to be more of their authentic selves and who they want to be as educators,” Manderino says. “By the end, people are deeply reflective. Friendships and connections get forged.”
“Some of them might be the only person in their buildings who cares about these topics,” adds Isawi, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, “and this is a place where all we talk about is social justice, equity and inclusion. It gives them a sense of community. That’s how it is for me, and how it continues for me, although I’m not an educator in K-12. We value justice in general – and in education.”
A lunchtime chat with one of those educators validated the camp’s importance, she says.
“I get inspired every year by the stories I hear from teachers and the impact they’re making, and it doesn’t seem like it’s one child at a time. For some reason, I feel like they’re making a huge impact on so many kids,” Isawi says.
But “with the climate in some of these districts, it seems like it’s becoming more restrictive,” she adds. “Not everybody’s having these conversations, and the camp is a draw for these people who want to have these conversations and can’t.”
Social Justice Summer Camp provides space for those voices.
“The camp is driven by the participants saying, ‘This is what we want,’ Manderino says. “They’ve also been forthright about,’ ‘We’d like to see more of the workshops we’re doing right now. We’d like to see more classroom-focused, interactive, extended time.’ That’s what’s really cool.”
Meanwhile, the presence of administrators at camp demonstrates systemic advocacy – something the four directors appreciate and applaud.
Research conducted by one of Flynn’s doctoral candidates has proven that teachers at the Social Justice Summer Camp are more likely to engage, and feel more supported, when their bosses are in attendance.
Among last week’s campers was Krystal Bush, principal of Elgin Larkin High School in School District U-46, who returned this summer after her first experience several years ago.
“Larkin will now have a school leader who understands this content and the paradigms that come with this content,” says Cohen, an alumnus of Larkin.
“People look at social justice and think, ‘Oh, well, you learn the content, and that’s the end of it.’ No. It’s absolutely a journey, and the more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know,” he adds.
“To me, as a lifelong learner, that’s exciting – and Krystal will be able to guide her teachers better, and will be able to make more of a difference for all of her students, because of being able to internalize, conceptualize and understand this content, this process and this journey. She’ll be able to be more productive and effective as a school leader.”
Flynn agrees, pointing to the above-and-below challenges of middle management.
“Having administrators here helps them to see, or hear, past political rancor and the ways that social justice and social justice education are talked about in media and popular culture. They can come in and see for themselves what it is we’re actually trying to help our campers and participants with,” Flynn says.
“I think it gets really easy and convenient to just kind of follow the political winds, and we can’t separate out the politics. That’s almost impossible,” he adds. “But for administrators, there are so many demands – lack of time, lack of ability to go in depth with things – that coming somewhere like here to experience what we do, and the methods and approaches and practices that we’re encouraging our campers to be aware of, is an important thing.”
Part Two of the equation is modeling that for their staffs.
“It’s deeply important that these administrators show leadership in that understanding culture, and trying to promote fairness, equity and justice in teaching, and in what we do as educators, is part and parcel to who we are,” Flynn says. “Administrators should be on the forefront of that.”
Read more about NIU’s Social Justice Summer Camp on the College of Education Newsblog.
