Teachers' conceptions of classroom justice: An empirical study

Upholding justice in classrooms is a major concern for teachers and students, leading to a growing body of literature over the last 50 years. By contributing to this growing body of literature, this study aimed to examine high school teachers' conceptions of classroom justice through the lens of social psychology theory. Purposeful sampling was used to select 27 high school teachers for semi-structured interviews on the issues pertinent to classroom justice. Findings indicate that teachers conceived of classroom justice based on a constant dialogue between two overarching themes: their individuality and the social context. Teachers' individuality included subthemes such as teacher philosophy of justice, teacher philosophy of education, teacher caring, teacher background life experiences as student, teacher education, and teaching experience. The social context included the social, cultural, and economic structures of the society and the educational structures. The results suggest that social psychology theory needs to be expanded to account for drivers of teachers' conceptions of classroom justice. The findings have implications for teacher education and policy-making to promote justice in classrooms.