Teaching Tolerance Examines Social Justice Educators’ Use of Social Media to Expand Reach, Offer Professional Development

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Social justice educators are shifting the narrative on professional development through social media where thought leaders who, historically, might have been marginalized, are finding a platform and a source of community and support from their peers, according to the latest issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine. 

“Educators and Their #Community,” the cover story for the Summer issue of the magazine, describes how social justice educators offer professional development to fellow educators by using social media to talk about issues of race and social justice – topics that are not widely offered in traditional PD settings. It also provides an opportunity for teachers to connect with their peers and model best practices. 

“The use of social media to advance social justice over the last few years has been widely successful,” said Maureen Costello, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project, which publishes the magazine. “Teachers are embracing this trend and finding ample support in return.” 

Other articles in the magazine:

• mark the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Inn demonstrations and provide educators with tips on how to give students a more inclusive and accurate portrayal of its role in the LGBTQ rights movement;
• feature an interview with Robin DiAngelo, New York Times best-selling author of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism; and 
• examine how tracking and ability grouping in schools across the country help contribute to segregated classrooms and opportunity gaps.

The 2019 Summer issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine is available at: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2019. 

Teaching Tolerance magazine, published three times a year, is the nation’s leading journal serving educators on diversity issues. It is distributed free of charge to more than 410,000 educators nationwide.

For interviews with Costello about the magazine or other topics related to social justice and anti-bias classroom practices, contact Ashley Levett at (334) 296-0084.