Amy Morgan
Teacher - Social Change Agent
A teacher- social change agent is defined as a person who thinks and learns on a global level to make a positive impact on our world’s economy, society and biosphere outside of a classroom (Schultz, 2018). Teachers are seen as a passageway between global issues and human engagement (Bourn, 2016). Therefore, they are given the opportunity to empower students to work towards the United Nations seventeen sustainable development goals. As referenced in The Global Goals (2024), our largest challenges are poverty, hunger, inequality, and climate change. By using a social change framework teachers assist students in using their knowledge to promote leadership and combat global challenges (Shultz, 2018). A teacher-social change agent uses Walden University’s 8 Features of Social Change in the classroom regularly to empower students to also become social change agents. Lessons focus on scholarship by researching current topics, applying systematic thinking to identify how life is connected, asking questions and learning from the past through reflection, creating a plan of action then executing through practice, learning how to collaborate and network to drive the organization, modeling how to raise awareness in society, interacting to gain political or stakeholder support, and ensuring the plan for change is ethical by benefitting others and our planet (Walden, 2018). Ultimately, providing opportunities for students to accomplish tasks beyond their potential (WRDSB, 2014).
Teacher – Social Change Agents work within their classrooms, throughout their schools and within communities by being global learners though professional development that increases knowledge. They develop strong ethical values committed to social justice and actively encouraging change (Bourn, 2016). Change Agents are open-minded, empathetic and conscious of varying perspectives while they seek to examine their own personal bias (Tichnor-Wagner, 2019). Teachers are aware that all individuals hold biases and facilitate conversations aimed at identifying how those biases influence the global world.
Conclusion
Society is ever-changing but teacher-social change agents can make a difference in the products we use, our planet and people. Actively discussing current global events in classrooms and providing students with real opportunities to make a positive impact on our world creates a ripple effect of future change agents.
References
Bourn, D. (2016). Teachers as agents of social change.Links to an external site. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 7(3), 63–77. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1167813.pdfLinks to an external site.
Global Goals. (2024, September 17). The 17 Goals. Global Goals. https://www.globalgoals.org/
Schulz, W. C. (2018). Towards social change leadership: Integrating UN SDG's & Walden's social change skills curricular framework. Walden University Center for Social Change, 1-14.
Tichnor-Wagner, A. (2019). Becoming a globally competent teacher. ASCD.
WRDSB. (2014, August 29). John Hattie - Teachers as change agents [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XWMAteuaksLinks to an external site.
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