Social Justice in the Classroom

I don't usually define something at the beginning of something that I'm writing about, but in this case, I will. Social Justice is defined as "justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society." I found this definition through the lovely Google. Social Justice is what we've been talking about in the classroom. How to provide the opportunities for the students to explore their own learning and knowledge of the world. We've talked about how the "norm" of teaching is the teacher barking at the kids, expecting them to remember what has been taught and said. My question to those teachers: did you ever learn anything that way? I know I haven't in the last 23 years of my life. I know if I was given the opportunities to explore what was being taught through discussion or hands on activities, with less lecturing, I would probably learn more. I know that in my life I've been taught through discussion and the teacher letting the class apply what we were just taught to whatever project was at hand. Pausing and letting information be applied and processed can be more successful for most students. So my answer to the question: What is Social Justice? Letting the students truly explore their own thinking, knowledge, and skills to something that they can understand and something that sometimes we (as teachers) let them choose.