As teachers we want to believe we love all of our students equally and treat each and every one of them the same. We know that equality and equity are not quite the same things.
This graphic has been helpful to me and my students in understanding that each of us may need different resources to gain equal access to learning. If equality is the end, equity is the means to get to that end. What we hope to achieve is a society where each and every member has an equal voice, their needs are considered with equal urgency and concern, their lives are valued equally and they have the same rights and privileges for participation. Equity is how we get there. Equity is recognizing that we do not live in a world that has always believed in equality, that some of us are not starting at the same place as others because of hundreds of years of inequality. Equity means that we recognize the beautiful diversity of our communities and appreciate the various ways we learn and express ourselves, even when it comes to showing love and respect.
So is it possible to love all of our students the same? Is it true that we treat each and every one of them the same? It depends by what we mean by love.
If love means seeing strengths in each and every one of our students, if it means going to bat for each and every one of them, to value their contributions equally, to forgive their infractions equally, to respect and try to get to know and understand their families, their cultures, their languages and their religions equally, then yes, we can love them equally. If treating everyone the same in the classroom means we have high expectations for each and every one and we scaffold each and every one differently to meet those expectations, then, yes, we can treat them equally.
Equality is a state of being. Equity is a way to practice. If we want equally successful, well-adjusted, happy students, we have to get better at teaching with equity in mind.
Photo source: "Equality vs Equity." Diffen.com. Diffen LLC, n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2020.
< https://www.diffen.com/difference/Equality-vs-Equity >
So is it possible to love all of our students the same? Is it true that we treat each and every one of them the same? It depends by what we mean by love.
If love means seeing strengths in each and every one of our students, if it means going to bat for each and every one of them, to value their contributions equally, to forgive their infractions equally, to respect and try to get to know and understand their families, their cultures, their languages and their religions equally, then yes, we can love them equally. If treating everyone the same in the classroom means we have high expectations for each and every one and we scaffold each and every one differently to meet those expectations, then, yes, we can treat them equally.
Equality is a state of being. Equity is a way to practice. If we want equally successful, well-adjusted, happy students, we have to get better at teaching with equity in mind.
Photo source: "Equality vs Equity." Diffen.com. Diffen LLC, n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2020.
< https://www.diffen.com/difference/Equality-vs-Equity >
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