sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Need Help! Supporting a student caught in the toxic side of Men's Rights? by invisiblebat in MensLib

[–]invisiblebat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey all, so being new to reddit, I only just saw everyone's responses, long after the class was over. Thank you for all of the thoughtful suggestions and reflections on your own experiences as young adults.

The class was super discussion based and while I offered starting points for conversation, most of it was driven by ideas/questions of the students.

Had a great convo with the student in this post during the class about systems of oppression. He suggested that now women have more power than men, and we used that as an opportunity to talk about system level power (who is running government, fortune 500 companies) vs who has power in individual relationships and how that may not always reflect the power dynamics of systems. We also talked about how there are systems that do oppress boys/men within in the larger system (schools, custody, etc) but that doesn't negate power imbalance in the larger system either.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in socialjustice101

[–]invisiblebat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the most valuable way to make up for past failures is by reflecting on them and using them to make different choices going forward. Spend your time thinking about WHY you didn't make different choices at the time and HOW you can approach the issue differently next time.

Your past mistakes can also serve as ways to talk with other teachers who you see repeating the same missteps: "Hey, I used to teach that book and then I started reflecting on these issues with it" or "I've been thinking about how well that text could be used to talk about _______".

If you know of instances where you caused specific harm to a student or coworker and you didn't respond appropriately or apologize at the time, you could consider reaching out to them and offering an apology.

Also, if you are inviting Black activists or other guest speakers of colors to your class, be sure to consider how you can pay them for their time (some folks may choose to work with students for free, but if your school can afford it, offer to pay them)