The Importance of Social Justice in Education Essay

The Importance of Social Justice in Education - Essay Example This paper illustrates that scholars have attempted to describe the phenomena in light of factors like political orientation, religious background, and political and social philosophy. However, in the modern society, social justice is the acknowledged as the ideas of ‘equal’ justice and opportunity for every member of the society transcending beyond a courtroom or the judiciary. It involves providing an equal footing to everyone in all the social strata existing, from the very rich to those below the poverty line. The idea of social justice, while hailed by many supporters as the only moral way to run a society is almost impossible to implement in its pure form as many different factors come into play in deciding the life quality of an individual in a society and controlling all them is not only difficult but leads to further debates about the ethical implications of said control. There are two opposing political stances on the issue. The leftist stance which shares some traits with socialism supports the idea of government involvement to ensure social justice through control of the resources present in the society and equal distribution through legislation pertaining to taxation and programs to help to less privileged. Social justice should mean that basic necessities like food, shelter, and education are provided to all at the expense of the privileged few. The right-wing school of thought accepts the idea of social justice but doesn’t support existing government legislation as no one should be ‘forced’ to provide equal opportunity for others- it should be fostered instead by mutual consent and philanthropic response. Healthcare, employment, education, shelter and child protection are just some of the sectors where there is a lot of pressure to ensure social justice as an economy and society can potentially benefit from a healthy and informed population equally provided with all the resources and the prospect to grow and stren gthen. While social justice aims to uphold basic human rights on the basis of a moral and ethical obligation, there is no denying that social justice can also be thought of a practical solution to boost an economy or general profitability of a nation; this may not be one of the more humane reasoning behind the system but it is a rational one. One of the areas which has benefitted from this school of thought is education, where there has been significant movement to ensure some degree of social justice as a well-educated population is a necessary asset to ensure a competitive edge of any nation in terms of technological advances and improved sectors of military, services, sustenance, resource management, and others. It is also necessary as education is one of the major equating factors which decrease the divide existing in a society and the effects trickle down into other areas, effectively impacting lifestyles and a greater possibility of social justice. Education is also one of the tools through which tolerance is spread in society; as shared knowledge and enlightened minds are much more accepting of diversity and merging cultures. By providing the same learning environment, resources and opportunities for higher learning to children coming from different backgrounds, societies have a much better chance of getting rid of negative social developments like racial and sexual discriminations and prejudices. Thereby creating a more equal and collaborative economy which will have an impact on overall productivity as well as social well being of the population.