Education Marks Anniversary of Forums on Educational Transformation and Social Justice

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, The Canevin Center for Educational Transformation and Social Justice of the School of Education, is hosting nearly 75 regional leaders at its third community forum on transforming K-12 education in the Pittsburgh area. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will help the attendees frame the night’s conversation.

Through an educational grant from The Heinz Endowments, the School of Education leaders, faculty and staff have been working together for more than a year on the adoption of a new communitywide focus on social justice in education.

At the forum, Dr. Gretchen Givens Generett, director of the Canevin Center and associate dean, will share five new guiding principles for the School of Education, how community organizations have helped to develop them, and how they will be threaded through the trusting relationships among individuals, the School of Education and other members of the academy, schools and communities.

The School of Education views social justice work as impacting the lives of all of the region’s youth, not as a single topic isolated within a few areas of a program, department or courses taught.

The Canevin Center—which was officially launched in May to coincide with the School of Education’s 85^th anniversary—links scholarship, resources, community partnerships and educational leadership in an environment that champions equity and social justice for all youth. The school’s faculty and staff are working within this epicenter where educational stakeholders in the Pittsburgh region and beyond can share ideas on the transformation of public education to capitalize on work being done within the region.