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History has demonstrated the importance of collective action in the journey toward justice. While many educators talk about issues of equity and inclusion, the extent to which this talk is explicitly aimed at confronting oppression and injustice varies significantly. The Identity, Power, and Justice in Education (IPJE) Concentration is a community of students and faculty across programs who want to actively challenge and disrupt different forms of oppression in education as a part of their current and future work. IPJE students will have the opportunity to explore critical theories that provide frameworks for analyzing oppression across multiple identities, develop key dispositions for holding space on topics of injustice, and build capacity to create education spaces that aim to eliminate oppressive conditions and inequitable outcomes.
As a student in IPJE, you should be prepared to think carefully about your social identities and lived experiences, both through personal reflection and in community with others. This concentration is intended as a community of practice and accountability for those committed to advocating for justice in education, regardless of their future role.
We anticipate that graduates may play several different roles in schools, community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, or government agencies. What will set you apart in the field is your explicit commitment to diagnosing and addressing issues of equity, injustice, identity, and power.
“James Baldwin reminds us that people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. In IPJE we work to understand the embodied, interpersonal, and systemic ways in which we, as educators, both uphold and resist systems of oppression.” Gretchen Brion-Meisels and Aaliyah El-AminFaculty Co-Chairs
“James Baldwin reminds us that people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. In IPJE we work to understand the embodied, interpersonal, and systemic ways in which we, as educators, both uphold and resist systems of oppression.”
Gretchen Brion-Meisels and Aaliyah El-AminFaculty Co-Chairs
Students will work closely with faculty associated with their area of study, but students can also work with and take courses with faculty throughout HGSE and Harvard. The faculty co-chairs for Identity, Power, and Justice in Education are below. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty.
Brion-Meisels' research seeks to explore partnerships between youth and adults that support both individual and collective development. She is particularly interested in using Youth Participatory Action Research to investigate and reform student support efforts.
Aaliyah El-Amin's interests include liberatory education models, social justice schooling, critical pedagogy and youth participatory action research.
Through our IPJE Concentration, you will become part of a community of educators who are committed to disrupting injustice in education through future roles as school counselors, classroom teachers, youth workers, artists, researchers, community-based advocates, school leaders, and more. You and your fellow cohort members will participate in yearlong learning experiences and events (approximately bi-weekly) such as workshops, short learning modules, discussion lunches, and shared speakers, with required opportunities for reflection and discussion. You also will participate in an end-of-the-year community event where you will present your yearlong learnings for the benefit of our collective development. We hope that participation in this community will provide you with critically oriented co-conspirators that are necessary for the collective engagement and re-imagination of educational spaces.
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