Be the Change is the theme of the 11th Annual Conference for Social Justice in Education at the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) campus, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. April 6.

The free conference is open to all, including faculty, students, parents and anyone else interested in how education can advance equality for all citizens, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that has historically divided us.

“In this era in which we’re living, we have such divisions in our country and so many people talk about it,” said conference planning committee member Charles Weis, assistant professor of education. “We believe we have to stop complaining and start acting.

“We can ask ourselves, What can I do to make a difference with all the people I interact with? We are inspired by the idea that one person can change the world and each of us can be that person.”

Be the Change: Social Justice In and Through Education in a Post-Truth Era includes a keynote address followed by a selection of 14 workshops with subjects ranging from Tackling the Scary Racism in the 21st Century to Mexican Midwifery Education as an Activist Intervention to How You Can Engage Vulnerable Kids.
 
This year’s seminar will also have a Spanish language session called Empoderamiento de Padres Maestros or Empowerment of Parent Teachers.
 
The event begins at 8 a.m. in CSUCI’s Grand Salon with check-in and remarks from Dean of Education Brian Sevier and President Erika D. Beck, followed by keynote speaker Danna Lomax, winner of the 2018 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Lomax, who teaches at Anacapa Middle School in Ventura, was among five teachers nationwide who won a 2018 Teaching Tolerance Award from the Southern Poverty Law Center for her work weaving peace and social justice issues into the curriculum at Anacapa Middle School.

She calls this body of knowledge “peace education.” “Peace isn’t just about personal serenity,” Lomax said. “It’s also about working for social, political and economic justice.”

For example, after the Thomas Fire in Ventura, Lomax had her students talk about their losses, then agree upon tangible action to help. There were 120 students and 20 faculty members who then helped to rebuild the ruined Ventura Botanical Gardens.

Education is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor, and Lomax believes education must be dynamic, creative and flexible, and not impeded by too many layers of standards and regulations.

“If we’re going to be the change, we have to level hierarchies in our systems, and that’s school systems as well,” she said. “We need to be teaching students standards in a creative environment. I think canned curriculum is the Big Pharma of education.”

Professor of education Kaia Tollefson has been helping to organize the conference with a planning committee for 11 years, and both she and Weis believe it’s time to take the next step from education to action.

“This year’s theme asks us to think about how the work we are doing in education is affected by a political climate in which the value of truthfulness is routinely destabilized,” she said.

“More though, it asks us to be active, to choose ourselves as the people who are needed to make sure that our schools and society are accountable for things like truthfulness, fairness and equitable opportunities for all youth,” Tollefson said.

Lunch will be provided at the event, but it’s necessary to RSVP by visiting https://education.csuci.edu/justice-conference.

— Kim Gregory for CSU Channel Islands.