Interrupting the Spiral of Injustice (PD)

This professional development course prepares K–12 educators and school leaders to explore the Spiral of Injustice as a framework for understanding how patterns of injustice develop and can be interrupted. Participants examine how subtle acts of bias, exclusionary language, and social avoidance can escalate into institutional discrimination and systemic harm. Through in-depth case studies featuring individuals, community leaders, and organizations working to interrupt these cycles, participants explore how targeted intervention and collective advocacy can disrupt patterns of injustice and consider how these approaches apply within their own school communities. By the end of the course, educators will be prepared to translate this framework into a comprehensive, standards-aligned unit of study grounded in Universal Design for Learning principles. Participants will develop essential questions, assessments, and strategically sequenced lessons that engage students in examining injustice and the ways it can be interrupted. The courseunit also incorporates a service-learning project through which students apply their understanding to real-world challenges and consider their own agency as contributors to a more just world.

• 45 contact hours
• 1 section available