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To me, social justice is a simple concept.
对我来说，社会公正是一个简单的概念。
It's the notion that all people in a society deserve fair and equitable rights, opportunities and access to resources.
这是一种观念，即一个社会中的所有人都应该享有公平和公平的权利、机遇和享有资源。
But it's become controversial and nebulous,
但这变得有些争议性和模糊性，
because we've stopped talking about what working for social justice actually looks like.
因为我们已经不再谈论为社会公正工作的实际情况了。
Working for social justice can look like this ... or this.
为社会正义而工作的人可以是这样的...或者这样的。
It can look like this ... or it can look like this ... or my favorite ... it can look like that.
它看起来像这样...或者看起来像这样...或者我最喜欢的...它可以是那样的。
Those are my students, and whenever I'm asked to articulate my work or my priorities as a teacher,
那些是我的学生，每当我被要求阐明我的工作或我作为一名教师的优先事项时，
I explain that I believe education can be a tool for social justice.
我解释说，我相信教育可以成为社会公正的工具。
But a few months ago, I logged onto Twitter -- as I do -- and I saw that a fellow teacher had taken issue with that belief.
但几个月前，我登录Twitter，就像我做的那样，我看到一个老师对这个信念产生了怀疑。
"Teachers," he said, "should not be social justice warriors, because the purpose of education is to educate."
“教师，”他说，“不应该是社会正义的战士，因为教育的目的是教育。”
And he ended his argument by saying, "I teach my subject."
他以这样的一句话结束了他的论述：“我教我的课程。”
But I reject that simplification, because teachers don't just teach subjects, we teach people.
但我反对这种简单化，因为教师不只是教课程，我们还教人。
When our students walk into our classrooms, they bring their identities with them.
当我们的学生走进我们的教室，他们带着自己的身份。
Everything they experience in our rooms is bound up in historical context,
他们在我们房间里所经历的一切都是在历史的背景下进行的，
and so if we insist that education happens in a vacuum, we do our students a disservice.
所以如果我们坚持教育是在真空中发生的，那么我们的学生就会受到伤害。
We teach them that education doesn't really matter, because it's not relevant to what's happening all around them.
我们告诉他们，教育并不重要，因为它与周围发生的事情无关
And what's happening all around them? Well, racism for one.
他们周围发生了什么事？好吧，种族歧视。
According to results of the Implicit Association Test,
根据内隐联想测验的结果，
fully 88 percent of white people harbored subconscious biases against black people,
百分之八十八的白人对黑人怀有潜意识的偏见，
believing them to be less intelligent, lazier and more dangerous than whites.
认为黑人相比起白人来更愚笨、更懒惰、更危险。
And that's just one concrete example of the insidious effects of historic and systemic racism on our country.
这只是历史性和系统性的种族主义对我国的潜在影响的一个具体例子。
For more evidence, we could look at incarceration rates;
为了获得更多的证据，我们可以看看监禁率；
we could look at statistics on police violence against black people;
我们可以看看警察对黑人的暴力行为的统计数据；
we could look at the opportunity gap in education -- so yeah, social justice belongs in our schools.
我们可以看到教育中的机会差距--所以，社会公正应该属于我们的学校。
Social justice should be a part of the mission of every school and every teacher in America,
社会公正应该是美国每一所学校和每一位教师的使命的一部分，
if we want "liberty and justice for all" to be more than a slogan ...
如果我们想让“人人享有自由和正义”不仅仅是一句口号...
because schools are crucial places for children to become active citizens
因为学校是孩子们成为活跃公民的重要场所，
and to learn the skills and the tools that they need to change the world.
是学习他们需要改变世界的技能和工具的场所。
So what are those skills? OK, here's a secret:
那么这些技能是什么呢？好的，这里有一个秘密：
many of the skills that people need to orchestrate the kinds of change that will lead to justice are already built into the work of schools.
许多需要人们精心安排、将导致正义的改变的各种技能，已经在学校的工作中建立起来了。
Things like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, perseverance -- none of that should be revolutionary on its own.
像解决问题，批判性思维，协作，坚忍不拔--这些都不应该是独立的革命性的。
Combine that with the ability to understand history not as one static and objective narrative on which we all agree,
把这一点与理解历史的能力结合起来，不是作为我们都认同的一个静态和客观的叙述，
but as a series of intertwined events about which there can be countless interpretations.
而是一系列相互交织的事件，其中有无数的解释。
If we deliberately choose to explore history with our students rather than just teach it,
如果我们刻意选择与我们的学生一起探索历史，而不仅仅是教授，
we help them understand that history is ongoing and that it's connected to current movements for justice.
那我们帮助他们理解历史是持续的，它与当前的正义运动有关。
And we help them see themselves as potential players within a living history.
我们帮助他们将自己视为一个亲历历史中的潜在玩家。
So those are the skills I'm talking about when I say that education can be a place to help kids learn how to work for justice.
所以当我说教育可以是一个帮助孩子学习如何为正义工作的地方，这些就是我谈论的技能。
But maybe the reason that my Twitter critic wasn't happy with that idea is because he doesn't agree with my definition of justice.
但是，也许我Twitter的批评者对这个想法不认同的原因，是因为他不同意我对正义的定义。
Fair enough. Maybe he and I don't see eye to eye, politically.
足够公平。也许他和我在政治上意见不一致。
But here's the thing: our aim is to encourage students to articulate their own opinions,
但事情是这样的：我们的目标是鼓励学生表达他们自己的观点，
not to coerce them into agreeing with us, so it actually doesn't matter if he and I agree.
而不是强迫他们同意我们的观点，所以他和我能否达成一致，这并不重要。
What matters is that we're helping students have those conversations with each other.
重要的是我们正在帮助学生们进行这些对话。
And that means that as adults, we need to learn how to become effective facilitators of our students' activism.
也就是说，作为成年人，我们需要学习如何成为我们学生积极性的有效促进者。
We've got to help them learn how to have really tricky conversations, we have to expose them to different opinions,
我们必须帮助他们学会如何进行真正棘手的谈话，我们必须让他们接受不同的意见，
and we have to help them see how what they're learning in school connects to the world outside.
我们必须帮助他们了解他们在学校学习的方式与外界的联系。
So here's an example of that.
这里有一个例子。
Every year, my students study the history of apartheid in South Africa as a case study of injustice.
每年，我的学生都将南非种族隔离的历史作为一个不公正的案例进行研究。
Now for those of you who don't know, apartheid was a brutally racist system,
现在对你们这些不知道的人来说，种族隔离是一个残酷的种族主义制度，
and the white-ruled government in South Africa imposed racist laws to oppress people of color,
南非的白人统治的政府强加种族主义法律，以压迫有色人种，
and if you resisted those laws, you risked jail time, violence or death.
并且如果你抵制这些法律，你就有坐牢，暴力或死亡的危险。
And around the world, other countries' governments, including ours in the United States,
在世界范围内，其他国家的政府，包括美国的政府，
hesitated to sanction South Africa, because ... well ... we benefited from its resources.
对制裁南非犹豫不决，因为...嗯...我们得益于它的资源。
So in 1976, the South African government passed a new law
所以在1976年，南非政府通过了一项新的法律，
which required that all students in South Africa learn in the language Afrikaans, which was a white language,
要求南非所有的学生学习南非荷兰语，这是一种白人语言，
and many black South Africans referred to that language as the language of the oppressor.
许多南非黑人把这种语言称为压迫者的语言。
So not surprisingly, students of color were outraged at this law.
所以，不出意外，非白人学生对这项法律很愤怒。
They already attended segregated schools with overcrowded classrooms, a lack of resources and a frankly racist curriculum,
他们已经进入了教室过于拥挤、缺乏资源和有明显种族主义课程的种族隔离的学校，
and now they were being told to learn in a language neither they nor their teachers spoke.
现在他们被告知又要学习一种自己和老师都不说的语言。
So on the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of kids from the township of Soweto walked out of schools.
因此，1976年6月16日的上午，索韦托镇的数千名儿童走出了学校。
And they marched peacefully through the streets to protest the law.
他们在街上和平游行，以抗议该项法律。
At an intersection, they met up with the police, and when the kids refused to turn back,
在一个十字路口，他们遇到了警察，而当孩子们拒绝返回时，
the police officers set dogs on them ... and then they opened fire ... and the Soweto uprising ended in tragedy.
警察竟然放狗攻击他们...然后他们还开了火...最终索韦托起义以悲剧收场。
Apartheid itself didn't end until almost 20 years later,
直到20年后，种族隔离才结束，
but the activism of those kids in Soweto profoundly changed the way the world viewed what was happening in South Africa.
但索韦托的那些孩子的激进主义，改变了世界看待南非发生的事情的方式。
News outlets all around the world published this photo of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson,
全世界的新闻媒体都刊登了13岁的赫克托·皮特森的这张照片，
who was one of the first people killed by police in Soweto,
他是被索韦托警方杀害的第一批遇害者中的一位，
and it became nearly impossible to ignore the brutality of the apartheid regime.
而无视种族隔离政权的暴行几乎不可能。
In the months and the years that followed the Soweto uprising,
在索韦托起义之后的几个月和几年里，
more and more countries exerted political and economic pressure on the South African government to end apartheid,
越来越多的国家对南非政府施加政治和经济压力，要求结束种族隔离，
and it was largely due to the activism of those kids in Soweto.
这在很大程度上要归功于索韦托的孩子们的积极行动。
So every year my kids learn about this.
所以每年我的孩子们都会学习这一历史。
And invariably, they start to draw connections between those kids in Soweto and themselves.
他们总是会在自己和索韦托事件中的孩子之间建立联系。
And they start to ask themselves what kind of political power and agency they have.
他们开始问自己，他们拥有什么样的政治权力和机构。
They ask themselves whether there would ever be a reason they would risk their lives
他们扪心自问，是否会有一个理由能让他们冒着生命危险，
so that a future generation could live in a more just world.
让未来的一代人能够生活在一个更加公正的世界里。
And most profoundly for me, every single year, they ask themselves whether adults will ever listen to their voices.
对我来说，每一年，他们都会问自己，大人是否会聆听他们的声音。
A few years ago, my principal got an anonymous email from one of our students.
几年前，我的校长收到了一封来自我们一名学生的匿名电子邮件。
It informed him that the following day, the students planned to walk out of school.
该邮件告诉他，学生们计划第二天走出学校。
This was in the wake of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri,
这发生在迈克尔·布朗在密苏里州弗格森市去世后，
and the students were planning to join a walkout and march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
学生们当时计划要参加一场罢课和游行，以支持“黑人的命也是命”这一运动。
So at this point, the staff at the school had a decision to make.
因此，学校的工作人员作出了一项决定。
Would we use our authority and our power to try to control the students and prevent them from leaving,
我们会动用我们的权力和力量去控制学生，防止他们离开吗？
or would we support them as they put into practice the principles of social justice that we had taught them about since the ninth-grade year?
还是我们会支持他们实施我们从九年级开始就教导他们的社会公正原则吗？
So the next morning, the kids left school en masse and they gathered on the lawn.
第二天早上，孩子们集体离开了学校，他们聚集在了草地上。
And one of the seniors jumped up on a picnic table and went over safety expectations.
其中一个高年级学生跳上了野餐桌，超出了安全预期。
And the younger kids took it very seriously.
比较小的一些孩子则十分严肃。
And as teachers and as staff we told them, "OK, be safe," and we watched as they marched off.
作为老师和职工，我们告诉他们，“好，注意安全”，然后我们看着扬长而去。
The kids who chose to stay spent that afternoon in class.
而那天下午选择呆在教室里的孩子们，
They debated the merits of protest, they talked about the history of the Black Lives Matter movement, and they went on with classes as scheduled.
他们辩论了抗议的是非曲直，他们谈论了“黑人的命也是命”的历史，并按课程表继续上课。
And those who chose to leave participated in a citywide student walkout and raised their collective voice for justice.
而那些选择离开的孩子，参加了全市范围的学生罢课，并提高了他们对正义的集体呼声。
But no matter where they chose to spend the afternoon, our kids learned valuable lessons that day.
但不管那个下午他们是选择在哪里度过的，我们的孩子们在那天学到了宝贵的经验。
They learned that the adults in their lives would support them even as we worried for their safety.
他们了解到了，即使我们为他们的安全担心，但他们生活中的成年人也会支持他们。
And they learned that they didn't need us to tell them how or when or even why to protest.
他们了解到了，他们不需要我们告诉他们如何或何时，甚至为什么要抗议。
They learned that they were members of a community of young people with a shared vision of a more equitable society,
他们了解到了，他们是一个拥有一个更公平社会的共同愿景的年轻人社区中的成员，
and they learned that they had power within that society.
他们了解到了他们在这个社会中拥有的权力。
They learned that events like the Soweto uprising are not ancient history, and they don't have to end in tragedy.
他们了解到了像索韦托起义这样的事件并不是古代历史，他们不必以悲剧收场。
And that's what education as a tool for social justice can look like.
这就是教育作为社会公正的工具应有的样子。
And here's the thing: our kids are ready for this kind of work.
还有一点：我们的孩子已经为这项事业做好准备了。
So in 2015, incoming college freshmen were surveyed,
在2015年，即将入学的大学新生接受了调查，
and 8.5 percent of them said that there was a "very good chance" they would participate in a protest sometime during their college career.
其中8.5%的人表示，他们在大学期间会有“很好的机会”参加一场抗议活动。
That might not seem very impressive, but consider the fact that it's the largest number of students to say that since 1967.
这似乎不太令人印象深刻，但考虑到这是自1967年以来人数最多的学生。
And 75 percent of those kids said that helping other people who are having difficulty was a "very important" or "essential" goal for them.
75%的孩子表示，帮助其他有困难的人是他们“非常重要”或“重要”的目标。
Again, the highest number of people to say that since the late 1960s.
这是自20世纪60年代末以来，表达这一想法的人数最多的一次。
And research shows us that working for justice doesn't just follow from building all those skills I talked about earlier
研究告诉我们，为正义而工作不仅仅是学习我之前谈论过的所有技能，
it actually goes the other way, too.
事实上，它也有另一种方式。
So working for justice, engaging in activism, helps students build skills like leadership and critical thinking,
因此，为正义而工作，从事积极活动，有助于学生学习如领导和批判性思维这样的技能，
and it correlates positively with their political participation and their civic engagement and their commitment to their communities later in life.
并与他们的政治参与和公民参与，以及他们对社区的承诺有着积极的关系。
So in other words, students are telling us that social justice matters to them
因此，换句话说，学生们在告诉我们，社会公正对他们来说很重要，
and researchers are telling us that it helps students learn.
而研究人员在告诉我们，这有助于学生学习。
So now it's up to us to listen, and that might not be easy.
所以现在我们要去听，这可能不太容易。
In 1976, one of those kids who participated in the Soweto uprising,
1976年，参加索韦托起义的一个孩子说，
he said that that event represented divorce between black children and their families,
这一事件意味着黑人儿童和他们的家庭的分离，
because their families had grown up under apartheid, and they knew how dangerous it was to speak out.
因为他们的家人是在种族隔离制度下长大的，他们知道说出来会是多么危险。
They wanted their kids to lay low and stay safe.
他们希望他们的孩子保持低调，安然无恙。
And when our kids threatened to walk out, a lot of the adults in our community were really conflicted, too.
当我们的孩子威胁要罢课时，我们社区的很多成年人也很矛盾。
Some of us worried that they might encounter violence.
我们中的一些人担心他们可能会遭遇暴力。
Other people worried that they would walk out but they wouldn't really know why they were protesting.
其他人担心他们会罢课但却不知道自己为什么要抗议。
And some, including some students' families, were really angry that the school hadn't done more to prevent them from leaving.
一些学生，包括一些学生的家庭，对学校没有做更多的工作来阻止孩子们离开而非常生气。
And all of those fears that adults have about getting this stuff wrong -- all of those fears make total sense.
而所有的恐惧都是成年人所担心的，所有这些恐惧都是有意义的。
But despite those fears, we have got to prove to our students
但是，尽管有这些恐惧，我们还是要向学生证明，
that we will listen to their voices and that they do have the power to effect change.
我们会倾听他们的声音，他们确实有能力影响事情的变化。
It's our responsibility to equip our students with the tools and the skills that they need to insist on a more equitable world
用这些工具和技能装备我们的学生是我们的责任，他们需要坚持一个更公平的世界，
and then sometimes, to get out of their way, and let them apply those skills to things that they care about.
并且在有的时候，让他们摆脱他们的方式，让他们把这些技能应用到他们所关心的事情上。
Living up to that vision is going to require that we are flexible, and it's going to require that we're creative.
实现这一愿景将要求我们具有灵活性，要求我们具有创造性。
It's going to require that we're brave enough to stand up in the face of people who try to silence or delegitimize dissenting voices.
要求我们勇敢地站起来，面对那些试图沉默或是对反对的声音进行压制的人。
And hardest of all, it's going to require accepting the fact that sometimes we will be the ones our students will rebel against.
最难的是，需要接受这样一个事实：有时我们会成为我们的学生反抗的对象。
Sometimes they're going to point out ways in which systems that we have created, or in which we are complicit, contribute to inequity.
有时他们会对我们所创造的系统，或是我们共识的、导致不公平的系统，指指点点。
It's going to be uncomfortable, and it's going to be painful as they push us to question our own assumptions and beliefs.
这会很不舒服，会很痛苦，因为他们会驱使我们去质疑我们自己的假设和信念。
But what if we change the way we think about rebellion in our kids?
但是如果我们改变我们对孩子叛逆的看法呢？
When our kids rebel -- when they thoughtfully push back against our ideas or the way that we do things,
当我们的孩子叛逆时，当他们深思熟虑地对我们的想法或我们做事的方式反击的时候，
what if we chose to see that as a sign that we're doing something right and that they're becoming liberated?
如果我们选择把这看作是我们在做正确的事情的一个标志，孩子们正变得开放，将会怎么样？
I know it would be easier if their critical thinking skills manifested in more convenient ways
我知道，如果他们的批判性思维能力表现在更为方便的方式上
on their essays or their standardized tests -- I get it -- but convenience and justice do not often go hand in hand.
在他们的论文或标准化考试中--我理解，但方便和公正并不总是亲密关联。
And when our kids learn to think critically about the world around them,
当我们的孩子学会批判性地思考他们周围的世界时，
they become the kinds of engaged citizens who will recognize and question injustice
他们就会成为那种会辨识和质疑不公正的人，
when they see it and work to do something about it.
当他们看到这一点时，他们会努力去做一些事情。
Welcoming rebellion into our schools is going to require some rethinking about what teaching and learning look like,
对我们学校的反抗持欢迎态度，需要对教学和学习的样子进行重新思考，
because there's this misconception that if we give students any wiggle room,
因为有这样一种误解，即如果我们给学生一些余地，
they're going to walk all over us and classrooms and dinner tables will devolve into total chaos.
他们将骑到我们的头上，教室和餐桌将变得异常的混乱。
And if we expect kids to sit silently and passively receive knowledge from us, then their voices will always feel overwhelming.
如果我们期望孩子们安静地坐着，被动地接受来自我们的知识，那么他们的声音就不会让人那么抗拒。
But if we accept instead that learning is sometimes messy,
但是如果我们接受学习有时是混乱的，
that is requires opportunities to brainstorm and mess up and try again,
那就需要有机会去集思广益，然后再尝试，
that our kids dislike chaos and want to learn when they come to school,
我们的孩子不喜欢混乱，想在他们上学的时候学习，
then we can set up schools to facilitate that kind of learning.
那么我们就可以建立学校，以促进这种学习。
So do me a favor and close your eyes for a second and imagine schools where teachers are thought partners,
所以，帮我一个忙，闭上你的眼睛，想象一下学校里的老师都是学生的合作伙伴，
letting students grapple with complex, hard issues and not necessarily giving them the right answers.
让学生们处理复杂的、棘手的问题，而不一定要给他们正确的答案。
And imagine schools where we let students make choices
想象一下我们让学生做出选择的学校，
we trust them enough to do that and we let them experience the consequences of those choices.
我们相信他们能做到这一点，我们让他们体验到这些选择的后果。
Imagine schools where we let students be humans, with all of the messiness and the uncertainty that is bound to come with that.
想象一下我们让学生人性化的学校，所有的混乱和不确定性必然随之而来。
Whatever you just imagined, it's not mythical, it's not unrealistically idealistic,
不管你想象的是什么，这不是虚构的，也不是不切实际的理想主义，
because teachers all over the country are already pushing the boundaries of what teaching and learning can look like with amazing results for kids.
因为全国各地的教师已经在挑战教与学的界限，让孩子们获得惊人的成果。
They're doing that in all kinds of schools, and there are countless models for teachers
他们在各种各样的学校里这样做，并且有无数的模范教师
who want to get better at helping students learn in a way that's more authentic and engaging and empowering.
希望能更好地帮助学生以更真实、参与度更高、得到更多许可的方式学习。
I was a reading a book recently, it's called "The Students Are Watching," and it was by Ted and Nancy Sizer,
我最近读了一本书，叫做《学生们在看》，是由特德·赛泽尔和南希·赛泽尔写的，
and in that book, they said that the work of education is often described as a series of nouns, like "respect," "honesty," "integrity."
在书中他们写道，教育工作经常被描述为一系列名词，如“尊重”、“诚实”、“正直”。
And they say those nouns sound really impressive, but often, they fail to actually mean anything in practice.
他们称，这些名词听起来确实令人印象深刻，但通常，他们在实践中没有什么实际意义。
But verbs, they say, are "active, no less demanding but requiring constant engagement.
但是他们表示，动词是“主动的，要求不低，但需要不断的接触。
Verbs are not structures but, rather, engines."
动词不是结构，而是引擎。”
And so as I read that, I wondered:
因此，当我读到这一点时，我想知道：
How do we make justice into an engine driving our work as teachers? What's the verb form of justice?
我们如何把正义变成一个引擎，驱动我们教师的工作？正义的动词形式是什么？
I think there might be an answer to be found in the words of Cornel West,
我认为在康奈尔·韦斯特的话中可能会找到一个答案，
who famously said that "justice is what love looks like in public."
他曾说过：“正义就是爱在公众面前的样子。”
And all of my nerdy English teachers in the crowd know that love can be a noun and a verb.
我所有的像书呆子一样的英语老师都知道，爱可以是一个名词和一个动词。
School has to be bigger. It has to mean more than "I teach my subject."
学校必须更大。它的意义不仅仅是“我教我的课程”。
School has to be about teaching people to change the world for the better.
学校必须要教会人们如何更好地改变世界。
If we believe that, then teaching will always be a political act.
如果我们坚信这一点，那么教学将永远是一种政治行为。
We can't be afraid of our students' power. Their power will help them make tomorrow better.
我们不能害怕学生的力量。他们的力量将帮助他们使明天更好。
But before they can do that, we have to give them chances to practice today.
但在他们能做到这一点之前，我们必须给他们今天的练习机会。
And that practice should start in our schools. Thank you very much.
而且这种做法应该从我们的学校开始。非常感谢。
