TeachingRE Issue 4.pdf - the Second Level Support Service

WHY CARE? NewStudent-Friendly Jesuitwebsite for Social JusticeBy Eoin CarrollSOCIAL JUSTICE – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?Eoin Carroll is theAdvocacy and SocialPolicy Research Officerin the Jesuit Centre forFaith and Justice.TheCentre undertakessocial analysis andtheological reflection inrelation to issues ofsocial justice, includinghousing andhomelessness, penalpolicy, asylum andmigration, health policyand internationaldevelopment. Thanks toEoin for letting us knowabout this excellentwebsite, which will be ofgreat help to teachersand students alike.SYLLABUS LINKLEAVING CERTIFICATESECTION FSocial Justice is about fair distribution of advantages across society, but what do we mean by “advantages”? 1 Is iteconomic advantage, the distribution of wealth and income; social advantage, access to healthcare, education,employment, or housing; or is it about access to fair trial and humane conditions in prison? Simply put, it is about allof these.It is a concept that moves beyond the notion of “justice” as the administration of law and order, Gardaí arrestingsomeone for stealing, or the judge handing down sentence for wrongdoing, but where justice is achieved in allaspects of society. Social Justice can also be seen as distributive, for example: nation states receive taxes from itsmembers.This is then redistributed for the provision of social services – schools, hospitals, for the benefit of all insociety.However, it gets somewhat more complicated when society tries to figure out what is “just” and what is “unjust”.We all, as individuals, institutions and Governments make judgements about what is just and what is unjust.This variesacross cultures and over time – for example, access to free education or child labour – the major difficulty isagreeing on ‘definitions of right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust’ 2 .This is often a moral question. Whoseresponsibility is it? Why should we care?“WHY CARE?” – SOCIAL JUSTICE UNIT FOR SCHOOLS“Why Care?” is a new web-based initiative of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. It has been developed topromote exploration by second level students of some aspects of ‘what is social justice?’ Focusing on housing andhomelessness, and crime and prison, the unit provides a useful step-by-step introduction to these subject areas.The first section of the unit,‘Social Justice’, introduces students to the various meanings, and the historical origins, ofthe term ‘justice’, a term which focuses on the relationships between society and individuals and individualsthemselves. From this a question is posed:‘what if the society itself is unjust?’Where there are high levels of inequality,for example access to healthcare based on ability to pay rather than on need, or where human rights are beingeroded by the state; and where the fruits of society are not being distributed fairly. It is the concept of Social Justicewhich challenges structures in society where individuals and groups experience unfair treatment and an unjust shareof the benefits of society.This section also brings in references to Social Justice in religion - giving examples fromJudeo-Christian, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.Also included are references from prominent historical figures suchas, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.This section should begin students asking questions: ‘Is social justicerelevant to Ireland?’,‘are there social injustices in Ireland?’TOPIC 1.1Social analysisTOPIC 1.2Social analysis in actionJUNIOR CERTIFICATESECTION FPART 4Religious morality in actionTEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ISSUE FOUR SEPTEMBER 200921