Reflect & Connect 5
What have you learned about equity this semester and how does that understanding impact your ability to create equitable learning experiences for your students?
This semester, I have learned a lot of equity. The first fact that I learned this semester is that everyone has biases. Deep rooted biases can ruin our best intentions for our students, but if we can face them and admit they exist, we can learn to prevent our biases from affecting our judgement. When we work in isolation, it can be difficult to see our own biases. It is helpful to have trusted colleagues help you find your unconscious bias and address them (Fiarman, 2016). This way all students learn in an equitable environment and classroom.
The second fact that I learned is that educators need to stop accepting the myths that involve the culture of poverty. It can be easy just like any other bias to generalize all children that live in low socio-economic status homes into one category, but this bias should be avoided at all costs. Accepting the myths of poverty can be very detrimental to students because it limits them from growing and learning in an equitable environment. One example of a myth that is commonly accepted of people who live in poverty is that they are unmotivated and have weak work ethics (Gorski, 2008). This could negatively affect students because not all students are unmotivated with weak work ethics. It is not the teacher’s place to assume a students’ motivation in the classroom. It is the teacher’s place to ensure all students have equitable opportunity to grow and learn.
How does getting to know your students, their families and their cultures help you to ensure equity for your students?
Getting to know your students, their families, and their cultures helps ensure equity in the classroom because then all cultures are celebrated. A true equitable classroom reflects families’ cultures all in their classroom (Minkel, 2017). With all cultures celebrated a discussed, all students feel like they belong and have a part at the school. When teachers respect the cultures of their students and their families, the students will put in the effort to learn (Kohl, 1992).
It is also good to get to know the families of students because when you make connection with the families, the get to be a part of their child’s education. Always try to bridge the gap between teachers and parents by reaching out in multiple forms. When the teachers make an effort to communicate and be understanding, the parents appreciate all the effort teachers put into their children’s education. Parents will also want to become more involved when teachers are approachable. Teachers spend so much time getting to know their students, they should do the same for the parents (Minkel, 2017).
This summer when you are teaching in an alternative setting or country, how will you apply what you've learned this semester to create student-centered learning experiences for the students you will encounter?
When I studied abroad in Costa Rica, I encountered a lot of new experiences and cultures. It was definitely a worthwhile experience for me as a future educator. I learned somewhat about equity beforehand, but the readings I have done over the course of this semester about equity definitely has broaden my views. I will continue to apply what I have learned in my future field placements to create student-centered learning experiences by being an advocate. In one of our articles it talked about white privilege and knowing when you have privilege compared to others (McIntosh, 1989). For some of my students, they may lack privilege based on their ethnicity, race, economic status, gender, etc. But as a white female, I can admit my own privilege and use it to be a voice for those who are underprivileged. By being a voice for my students, I can create an equitable classroom because all students will have equitable opportunity regardless of these factors that would normally hold them back.
References
Kohl, H. (1991) I won’t learn from You! Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions
Fiarman, S. E. (2016). Unconscious bias. Educational Leadership. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Gorski, P. (2008). The myth of the “culture of poverty”. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Minkel, J. (2017). Welcome families by focusing on strengths. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege: a personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College, Center for Research on Women.