Empowering Little Justice Leaders with Dr. Shelby Kretz

How do we shape tomorrow's social justice champions today! Join us as Dr. Shelby Kretz, founder of Little Justice Leaders, reveals how empathy, storytelling, and education can ignite the transformative power of young voices in a divided world. Don't miss this chance to be inspired by the leaders of tomorrow, today.

Summary: 

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Shelby Kretz, founder of Little Justice Leaders. We delve into the crucial role of social justice education in creating a just and equitable society. Dr. Kretz shares her journey from studying psychology at Ohio State to earning a PhD in urban education from UCLA. Her passion led to the creation of an collaborative initiative that equips educators and parents to engage young minds in discussions about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Through empathy, storytelling, and playfulness, Dr. Kretz reveals how young people are driving social change today, standing as beacons of hope for a brighter future. We also explore the challenges of creating accessible social justice content in a complex political climate, emphasizing the importance of true collaboration with diverse content creators, self-care for overwhelmed citizens and advocates, and the inspiring role of youth in leadership.

Chapters with Timestamps:

00:44 - Shelby Katz's Origin Story and Little Justice Leaders' Mission 

03:17 - It Takes a Diverse Team To Put Out Compelling Content

06:04 - Connecting to Children's Books to Deepen Diverse Understanding

08:58 - Calling In and Calling Out: Creating Communities of Openness and Learning

11:57 - Harnessing Empathy and Play in Social Justice Learning

14:26 - Breaking News: Responding to Current Events vs Planned Content

0:18:09 - Being Intentional When Overwhelmed and Facing Challenges

0:21:19 - Finding Hope in Youth Leading Social Change 

Links:

Little Justice Leaders Website

Little Justice Leaders Instagram

For more information and resources, don't forget to check out the links in our show notes. Stay inspired and keep empowering the next generation of little justice leaders!

Transcript

00:03 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
so you know that time when you discover an instagram site that you just can't let go of. I found that with little justice leaders. I have fallen in love with this website because you know that I love to connect multicultural picture books to the work that we do in the classroom with stem and steam. We are so fortunate to be able to talk today to Dr Shelby Kretz and be able to learn more about this site, why it's more important than ever now and how you can follow them and support their work. Shelby, welcome to the show.

00:38 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
 Thank you so much for having me. Diane, I am so happy to be with you today. 

00:44 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself, your adventures in learning and what sort of brought you here? 

00:50 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Absolutely so. I had kind of a traditional experience in education and learning and got to really like have my mind opened by some amazing mentors and friends and just guides along the way. And so a little bit about my background. I got my undergraduate degree in psychology at Ohio State. I went into after-school programming after that and then briefly in school counseling and then ended up going back to UCLA to get my PhD in urban education and that's where I really started to get interested in the work that I'm doing now around social justice in schools. 

01:35 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And can you talk a little bit more about how your account, your website, came to be and what your mission and focus is for those who don't know it? 

01:45 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Absolutely so. 

01:46
For those who don't know, little Justice Leaders helps families, educators and schools develop a culture of social justice and talk to kids about topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice, and I got started with this work in 2018. 

02:04
So it's been about seven years now, and the reason it came about was I was hearing from a lot of teachers that I was working with, and just friends and parents in my community, that they didn't know how to engage with young people in conversations about some of the political and social issues that they were hearing about. 

02:24
So we know our kids have more access to information than ever before, and in 2016, as everyone remembers, that was a time when there were a lot of very controversial issues being talked about in the media, a lot of narratives that hadn't been publicized as much before, and so many teachers and parents just had no idea how to navigate that terrain with young students. And that's when I thought you know what, like my focus is on social justice and education. I've worked with young people, I've worked in curriculum design. Maybe I can do something that can help, and I actually started with the Instagram and I just started posting, you know, resources and content that I thought might be useful for families and for educators, and it's grown from there and now we serve schools, educators and families and help by providing resources, support and curriculum around justice topics. 

03:17 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And you've got a very diverse team that you work with as well. Can you talk about sort of how you surrounded yourself with people and how you all go about deciding what issues you want to talk about and how to present it so that it's usable, because it's very user-friendly? 

03:34 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Yeah, we try, so I appreciate that. It was very important to me very early on to make sure that we had a lot of voices in the space. We're talking about social justice. There are so many different issues and topics and identities that come into that. So we're thinking about race, we're thinking about gender and gender identity, lgbtq plus identities, immigration and refugee experiences, disabilities and neurodiversity, and nobody has expertise on every single topic and nobody has lived experience on every single topic. So we knew that meant like we're going to have to bring lots of folks in and even you know, one person with a disability, for example, has one perspective and that does not represent the perspectives of everybody with disabilities. 

04:18
So we knew like, okay, we really want to be able to bring in lots of different folks. So we actually started as a subscription box organization and each month the box covered a different theme, and so what we started to do was bring in what we called our box leaders, and those were three to five different people who had expertise on that topic and lived experience on that topic, and so they were able to bring, you know, this diversity of thought into every single topic we covered and into all of the curriculum that we've been creating over the past seven years. So that's kind of how we've done that and we connect with those folks, like organically. We ask our community, we, you know, reach out to people on Instagram or other platforms who we admire and just ask them if they'd like to be part of the work in the movement, and so that's kind of how it's grown and built. And over the years we've worked with hundreds of experts in, you know, different areas of education and activism, and so we've been very lucky in that sense. 

05:15
We think about making the resources you know actionable for families by also pairing with education experts. So we have a lot of folks who know a lot about schooling and teaching and parenting and they take all the content that we get from our content leaders and make it kid-friendly, right and make it actionable so that it's not so scary and overbearing. We try to turn it into scripts like here's exactly what you can say, or activities Like here's something you know fun and interesting you can do. That's also a learning experience, or just simple tips, like things to keep in mind. Education for the adult is important, so we try to like think about a mix and a lot of us just asking our community what they want and then we've learned, you know over the years what they find most helpful and you know what we can provide for them. 

06:04 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
When you said something that really resonated just a moment ago where you talked about avoiding the single story, because, as you're right, you know, we all have different experiences and no one person represents a particular culture or experience, and I've been drawn to that when you make your book recommendations, for example and like this past month has been Disability Pride, and there were so many different books that were represented and suggested throughout that it really made it easy for a family to dive in and be able to start exploring, and I just wanted to bring up I think that's super important. I'm wondering you know what's the process for, sort of how you vet the books and bring in books to show windows and mirrors for kids? 

06:49 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Yeah, good question. So we try to think, you know, as much as possible, like challenge ourselves, to like just deepen our sense of diversity, right? I think, generally in our culture, you know, we think of like representation in children's books. We hear a lot about this and we know what's really important and, like many you know, families and teachers will maybe, you know, get a couple of books that feature, you know, protagonists of color and then that's it Right, and that's the extent of the representation. 

07:18
What we're constantly asking ourselves is like, how can we, how can we dig deeper, like, how can we do more? How can we push to different topics, different identities that aren't represented? So, and that goes within each topic too so when we're thinking about disability, pride, you know we don't want to recommend 10 books that feature a character in a wheelchair because there's so much diversity within disabilities, and so we want to think about, okay, how can we make sure that, like as many different disabilities, as many different perspectives on disabilities, some of them are going to be activism related. So let's learn about, like, the history of activism around disabilities and like fighting for change, but some of them are just kids with disabilities living their lives like having joy, having, you know, freedom, doing, doing whatever it is that they they want to do, representing like just normal kids, because it doesn't always have to be about activism and change making right. 

08:09
We have young people with disabilities, you know, going with this example, who are just living their lives and they deserve to see themselves represented in books. Just living their lives too right, like not fighting for justice, not fighting for inclusion, just just being, and so we try to think about kind of all of those different things and and, and it's always a push for us and our community calls us in and our community says like, hey, you know, what about this, what about that? Can you do this, can you do that? Our community is amazing and kind and forgiving with us over the years and willing to educate us and willing to support us, and that, you know, that allows us to have hundreds and thousands of people who are holding us accountable and telling us perspectives that we're missing, which I think is really important, because no one can be an expert on all of these things. 

08:58 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
So I want to go there for just a second, because you said something that strikes me as being really important for how we live in this country today. It's no secret that we're incredibly divided as a country in terms of perspectives, and it feels like a lot of that is manufactured, that maybe, if we get down deep into it, we have more in common than we think we do. How do you navigate that line of being open, and incredibly open to being called in and to learning from others, without you know, without letting your ego get in the way, to be willing to say oops, I messed that up and to, or I didn't know that, and now I do and I can do better. So how do you? What's gone into that for you? Cause I think that's something we all need to learn to do a little bit better. 

09:48 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Absolutely. I think it's so important. I think there's a few things right. I mean, our egos can be hurt sometimes, right, getting called in, called out, being told we didn't do something in the right way, like it stings for a minute. So sometimes, just like, let that sting for a minute, like, just feel it, it's okay, take a breath. 

10:06
We don't respond right away, right, and then it's, you know, being grateful, like, oh, I can be better at this work because folks are willing to us and can do this in a kind way. 

10:35
Right, because there's ways to call folks out and sometimes these tactics are needed, but sometimes it can really shut people down. 

10:39
It can make people not want to be involved in the work if they feel attacked and you know, just like, really, I guess, yeah, just attacked for what they're trying to do and for a mistake that they've made. 

10:52
So we try to engage with people in a way that is open, honest, like we communicate, we show gratitude, we are trying to bring humanity to like online interactions, which I think can be very much missing, right? So even if you know someone posts a comment that is not particularly kind in its approach, we try we're still human but we try to be kind, be thoughtful, be open in our response and almost always that shifts the tone of the conversation and that person comes back in and is like you know, oh, I'm sorry I came off this way, like so many of us are on edge, right, we're on edge with our online communication and when we bring this like humanity oh yes, I'm only human like I'm doing my best, we're trying like I didn't know that, whatever it might be, it shifts the narrative and I think we've just created a space where that that is the norm of like just kindness, gentleness, accountability absolutely, but with a gentleness that is like respect and appreciation for each other. 

11:57 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that. You know a lot of what I've been doing with teachers. My work has shifted a little bit as the world has shifted and trying to help connect these very important books with science and STEM. But more importantly, I'm realizing it's not so much connecting it content wise, it's helping teachers find ways to allow kids to learn through play, to develop that empathy that they need to be able to be collaborative, creative problem solvers, and that means letting go of old ways of doing things which can be really, really hard for people. How do you all? Because I've noticed there's a strong thread of sort of empathy and playfulness in the way that you do this. I'm assuming it's intentional, but can you go a little bit deeper into how you do that? 

12:46 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Yeah, so it's definitely intentional, so I'm really glad that it comes through. We tackle really difficult topics, really hard charged topics, and we're here Thinking like from a child lens, in a way which I think many of us could benefit from just bringing that to our work. In general, when it comes to empathy, empathy and critical thinking are two of our core kind of pillars and beliefs around social justice education. We think that teaching kids about social justice fosters empathy and kindness and humanity, which I think most of us want for our young people, and because they get to learn about stories and people who are different from them and build their own opinions and ideas about the world around them in a very real way. And it fosters critical thinking because it encourages us to think about what kind of world do we want to live in? 

13:54
How is this fair? Is this right? What does fair mean? What does this all mean? And age appropriate ways right. And so we, you know it's just a matter of like centering that and all the content we create constantly coming back to like how can we foster empathy? How can we like root this in storytelling? Stories are such a way that young people learn all people learn and so, like how do we root this in story, how do we make this a little bit fun, like it doesn't need to be heavy and sad all the time. So yeah, just kind of like keeping those things in mind. 

14:26 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I like that. So as you guys are sort of planning out your content, that so as you guys are sort of planning out your content, I assume you probably have like a year sort of planned it out by the year, but then current events happen. And how does that look when something happens that you go, Ooh, we really do need to respond to that right now. 

14:46 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Yeah, this is something we're still figuring out. I think probably that's the case for, like a lot of folks who create content. We have things planned in advance and when something happens, the team will just get together and be like, hey, should we create something about this? Like, here's what we're thinking. We brainstorm out some ideas, we have some folks we really trust that we can quickly go to to have them review. 

15:08
We're always trying to balance, like, we want to get content out fast, we want it to be useful, and for it to be useful, it needs to be there when people need it right, and we don't want to move so fast that we lose our intentionality, and so for us it's a back and forth of like, okay, let's make this fast, we get all of our team to weigh in on it, we have some trusted folks that we can go to for quick reviews and then we just get it out. Like you know, it's really, it really is that simple of a process and we're refining it, though, because sometimes we end up, you know, days or a week later than it should be, because people have real lives and we, you know, we don't want to rush things out if folks haven't had time to look at them and think about it and reflect on it. So, yeah, it's a process, we're figuring it out. Hopefully we will continue to get better at that, especially as we have more and more breaking news, that is, you know things that kids are hearing about. 

16:05 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Well, and that was going to be sort of my next question You've been doing this since 2018 in this format. How has it gotten easier? How has it gotten more challenging? 

16:16 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Yeah, it's definitely gotten, I will say, easier, in the sense that, like, we have some systems now, we have some processes. Right when I started in 2018, it was me and Instagram and just whatever I could think of in my mind and I was putting it on there. Right now, we have calendars and we have a team and we have content creators, we have scripts and, like video editors and and all of those, you know, things that make the work easier. 

16:47
I think our, you know, current political climate makes things in many ways, more difficult, because we have always adhered to this like belief of drawing people in and being and being a space where, like, justice is made accessible and made open for everyone who may be curious, no matter what your backgrounds and beliefs may have been or may be or may be evolving to be, and so, you know, trying to find the line of we stand where we stand and we have very strong beliefs on a lot of things, and we want this to be a space that's open for folks. 

17:27
We want this to be a space where people can, you know, dip their toe in, like maybe they've not had the best experiences in social justice spaces, which I think is the case for a lot of people and we want this to be a space where they can step into and be willing to learn, be willing to be called in because they feel emotionally safe. So walking that line, but also, you know we don't want to be, you know we don't want to be soft quote unquote soft on the issues that really matter, right, and so at some point we draw a line in the sand on like this is what we believe, this is where we stand and we want to be a space where people can learn and explore and ask questions and be curious without shame. 

18:09 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I like that. That makes a lot of sense to me. So let's say that somebody isn't familiar with your work and they're feeling overwhelmed by the news and all the stuff that's going on. Where would you tell them to start? 

18:25 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
come to our Instagram, come to find our work. But if you're feeling overwhelmed, I think a few things like taking a break, like sometimes, like we're human, like we've never had this much access to information and news before in our lives, it is okay to take a break. It can feel like unethical in ways to take a break, so I want to acknowledge that, like it can feel like we shouldn't deserve a break, because there's so many terrible things happening in the world and so many people who have it, you know, a million times worse than we do, and still like we cannot move forward, we cannot make progress, we cannot make this world better if we are drained. And that's part of the point that the intentionality of these constant stream of news it's intended to keep us feeling hopeless and feeling overwhelmed and feeling powerless, and so we can't let that happen. So take a break, take care of yourself. 

19:24
Like do what you need to do, whether that's meditation, going on a walk, getting outside, having a snack, like whatever it is, whatever it is, and you know, come back to it with fresh eyes, you know and or you know, set boundaries so you're not like always, always, always coming back to it. Because I think there is this very intentional effort for us to become overwhelmed and to feel powerless. If you're looking for resources for kids, like we have, like these very or, you know, for engaging with kids or even for adults, to be honest, we do have very intentional resources and guidance and support, but I think sometimes what we really need is just to close the phone, like close the computer and step away from all of it. 

20:01 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I think that makes a lot of sense, and then, once you've stepped away, you've found yourself again come back and check out the things that you have with Little Justice Leaders, because, as you just said, yes, it's geared for kids, but for adults out there as well, it's a really comfortable way to begin your learning process. 

20:23 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Absolutely. We try to make it easy. So many people will tell us, you know like we actually just use your resources for adults, or I learn more from this than my kids do, and I love those comments because you know, when it comes to justice, we're all beginners, and so starting from square one makes sense for a lot of us. 

20:41 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
So I want to finish with a question that I like to ask everybody, and given the current political climate, it's an even more important question than ever, I think. What? What brings you hope? 

20:52 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
kids bring me hope. Seeing young people who care about making better, um, who care about their community and you know, sometimes that might just be being kind to the people around them, being kind to other students in their class, um, you know, doing acts of service around their community, being in community with each other and like just spending time together and having meeting and gathering spaces. Like young people are transforming our culture in so many ways and thinking deeply about what does it mean to live in a society that's just and equitable and where people feel a sense of belonging? And as much as there is like so much terrifying and devastating news and events happening in the world, I think always when you look to young people, like it can be this beacon of hope for like what is to come and what can change. 

21:49 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that. Well, Shelby, thank you so much for joining us on the Adventures in Learning podcast. I will drop links to your website and to the Instagram account in the show notes and I encourage everybody to check out Little Justice Leaders. 

22:03 - Dr Shelby Kretz (Guest)
Thank you so much for having me, Diane.