Social justice for and through sustainable learning environments

Abstract

If our intention as parents, educators, educationists, researchers and community members is to create sustainability in the learning environments, then social justice is where we should start and where we should aim. Social justice implies that learners and teachers have to be treated fairly and with respect in terms of the distribution of educational and other supportive resources. It furthermore implies that teachers also have to be treated fairly and justly. Thus respect, mutual validation and beneficiation among all participants have to inform the relationships within such learning environments for them to be sustainable and free of inequities, strive, desperation, marginalisation, oppression and depression to mention a few. The above definitely lead to a socially just and democratic citizenry which is the outcome which all nations, especially ours, aspire for.