Lack of Social Justice in Special Needs Education

Running head: SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
Special needs education
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
1
To
The Principal
Flax Hill State School
Queensland 00000
Subject: Lack of social justice within the school administration
Sir,
It has come to our notice that the school is unable to cope with the needs of a special
child with disability issues. A recent incident has been observed in the case of Patrick and
Denise, who are the parents of Zoe. They have remarked that the Flax Hill State School have
suspended Zoe because of her inability to properly conduct herself in the class. As a result of
such an emotional outburst in the part of Zoe, the school administration has issues a letter of
suspension to Zoe without. This has put a lot of stress in the minds of the parents as they are of
the idea that it might be difficult for them to find another school for their child on such a short
notice. They have thus, taken up the initiative to try and find out a better resolution with the
current school of Flax Hill State School.
Being a social justice ally, it is my responsibility to ensure that the vulnerable and weaker
sections of the society are properly cared for and looked after. The role of a social justice ally is
to look after the adherence to the values of human rights as existing in the society and to direct
the activities of the privileged members of the society to work for the less privileged and
vulnerable individuals of the same community (Sleeter, 2015). The model of social justice ally is
considered to be invaluable for maintaining the values and customs of the society since it aids in

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
2
the elimination of the various social injustices which are present in the society (Case, 2016). In
executing such work, the five ethical guidelines for anti-oppressive practices are adhered to. We
try to ensure that the vulnerable people do not face much of social differences and that the
impact of the interaction of social systems do not affect their psychological in an adverse manner
(Estrada, Singh & Harper, 2017). Furthermore, the history of the different social groups is
carefully analyzed along with the position they hold on the society. The vulnerable people are
encouraged to understand their own social location and analyze if they have a possibility of
communication in this regard (Rojas & Liou, 2017).
To better understand the needs of the school, it is first important to understand the
concepts of social justice and the related idea of cultural safety. Social justice refers to the equal
accessibility of the people to the aspects of opportunities, material wealth and that of privileges
within the broader frame work of the society (Evans et al., 2017). However, it is necessary to
understand that not every individual in the society are similar to each other. The mental state of
the people differ from people to people while the physical ability of the people also differ widely
(Shyman, 2015). The main objective of social justice is to establish a fair relation between the
society and the individuals. In this regard, there is a need to treat the unequal people in an equal
manner (Shriberg & Clinton, 2016). The adherence to such an idea of social justice is essential as
it aids in the growth and development of cultural values (Pantić & Florian, 2015).
In the situation of Zoe, it can be seen that the cultural environment of the school was not
facilitating in nature. The school did not provide for any special assistance or provisions for the
people with special needs and vulnerability. Zoe suffered from autism and yet, the principal did
not provide with a stable teacher aid who would be responsible to look after her needs. One of
the instances of gross cultural insensitivity was that of understanding that Zoe’s motor functions