Social Responsibility (EDUC 639)

 
If you conduct a Google search of social responsibility, there are hundreds of million results which led me to think more about social responsibility in my terms.  Social responsibility, in my opinion, is doing sustainable, consistent actions that will impact and equip others to flourish in life. As educators, it is our responsibility to model social responsibility for all learners. That means being committed to being a lifelong learner, being transparent, being a leader, being courageous to challenge the status quo for the sake of our learners.  It means being critical thinkers and being inquisitive and hungry for truth no matter the cost.  It means being innovative and looking for new and exciting ways to challenge our learners (Camerino et al., 2019; Davis et al., 2017).

​Modeling the behavior we want to see in the world is imperative to influence young minds, because they grow up to be adults who will influence the world.  As educators of young people, a teacher's role is probably one of the most critical roles in a young person's life. Many of us remember at least one teacher who has inspired us in and outside the classroom. It may have been a formal teacher in a school or a community teacher such as a scout leader, pastor, or Sunday school teacher. 
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Christian educators should play an even more significant role because we have the playbook to guide us, written by the best teacher who ever lived, Jesus Christ.  As we rely on Him and allow Him to guide us, He has given us the roadmap to navigate the world and has given us examples of how to do so socially responsibly.  Many of us do not allow Him to guide us and instead lean on our understanding instead of His. John 14:12-14 (New Living Translation) says that we should be doing even greater things, and I believe Christ knew the tools and resources we would have in 2021 to use in pursuing socially responsible behavior. I believe we can accomplish all the things that make teachers socially responsible if led by the Holy Spirit.
 
References
Davis, S. L., Rives, L. M., & de Maya, S. R. (2017). Introducing personal social responsibility as a key element to upgrade CSR. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC, 21(2), 146-163.
Camerino, O., Valero-Valenzuela, A., Prat, Q., Manzano Sánchez, D., & Castañer, M. (2019). Optimizing education: a mixed methods approach oriented to Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR). Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1439.