SPARX Unit 4: Focusing Forward

Current Status
Ended
Price
Free
Unit ended

A life-long commitment to continuous learning supports our growth in future knowledge and actions, and past ignorance does not prevent future growth.

In this unit, you will learn about racial and immigration justice. You will explore how different groups have worked for justice, the history behind today’s differences, and the laws that affect us. As you move through this unit, think about how things you can’t control have shaped who you are and how you live.

Some of the content in this curriculum includes topics that could be uncomfortable for some. As you engage with this content, we encourage you to take care of yourself in whatever way works for you.

This unit aligns with the following standards and concepts:

Learning For Justice

  • Identity 3: Students will recognize that people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.
  • Diversity 8: Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
  • Diversity 10: Students will examine diversity in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or oversimplified.
  • Justice 13: Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.

Critical Consciousness
Critical Motivation: The perceived capacity to effect social and political change by individual and/or collective activism. It follows that people will be much more likely to engage in critical action if they feel that they can create change.

CASEL 5 Social Emotional Learning Competencies (Equity Elaborated)
Self Awareness: Involves understanding one’s emotions, personal identity, goals, and values. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations, having positive mindsets, possessing a well grounded sense of self-efficacy and optimism. High levels of self-awareness require the ability to understand the links between one’s personal and sociocultural identities to recognize how thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected.

Responsible Decision-Making: Requires the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make caring, constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse settings. It requires the ability to critically examine ethical standards, safety concerns, and behavioral norms for risky behavior; to make realistic evaluations of consequences of various interpersonal and institutional actions; and to take the health and well-being of self and others into consideration.