Promoting Equity in Schools

During interaction with the MA students in the Educational Sociology class, I asked them the difference between Educational Equity and Educational Equality. Even while evaluating the answer scripts of MA students I found significant number having no clear conceptual grounding when they are asked to differentiate between two concepts.

The content analysis of the answer scripts reveals that significant students do not take their studies seriously; they do not read basic texts and mostly rely on readymade cheap guide books. They are not in the habit of making detailed notes.

   

Due to superficial study they are not able to answer the very short answer type questions which demand definition of key concepts reflected in the syllabus. Even while answering the long answer type questions they are not able to stretch their memory and end their answer paper with just few irrelevant lines. While evaluating the answer scripts I rarely find any creative output.

The present education system needs to be revisited with more focus on skills than outdated theory-dominated syllabus. The content crammed for passing the examinations is just to get a piece of paper in the form of degree not related to solving the challenges of everyday life. The basic question is after spending years in college or university has this education brought a desirable modification in the behavior of the pass outs. 

I had an opportunity to interact with school teachers in a workshop; the theme of my extension lecture was “How to promote Equity in Schools in light of NEP 2020”. During pre -interaction session I asked the teachers to share their experiences on equity in classrooms, very few came forward with some limited experiences.

I shared a very comprehensive and quality book on “Educational Sociology” authored by Dr Mohammed Syed Bhat, Associate Professor at Central University of Kashmir which helped them to clear basic concepts in Educational Sociology.

This experience helped me to test the hypothesis that if teachers properly comprehend the concept of social equity in the contextual perspective it will help them fight the implicit bias.

Implicit bias is defined as the mental process that creates unconscious associations and attitudes toward a specific group based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, appearance, and sexual orientation.

No one is insusceptible from implicit bias, regardless of whether they subscribe consciously to stereotypes. Biases are hardwired into our brains, and they are more likely to crop up when we find ourselves in stressful conditions. 

This article is meant for all teachers and students who have to address the equity issue in their classrooms. One of the most common questions that teachers ask with regard to equity is this: What do we mean by equity? Working toward equity in education starts with the unpunctuated belief that all children are entitled to a quality education rooted in justice, free of racist and gender-exclusive practices and policies, as well as inaccurate historical representations.

Furthermore, teachers should strive for high levels of consciousness around racial literacy and gender equality. Achieving high levels of consciousness around equitable practices is not an easy job, but in order to fulfill the commitment of a free quality education, teachers must meet this challenge. Equality denotes a degree of equivalency.

It means that people receive the same resources, the same support, and the same opportunities. Working towards equity means removing the barriers that stand in the way between people and opportunity.   

Working towards equity means that results can no longer be predicted by one’s race, gender, or other sociocultural dimensions.  If teachers truly want equitable results, they cannot wait for them to come about by treating all students equally.

Teachers must accommodate different students’ learning needs, cultural backgrounds, circumstances, and aspirations. Diversified students need different support system and resources than others. Different students need different opportunities to thrive and bloom.

Furthermore, much school content is written without the narratives of marginalized populations in mind. While culturally relevant content is not the sole determinant of success in schools when it comes to the education of students from marginalized populations, it remains a key factor.

How Can we Promote Equity in Schools?

While it is true that change does not take place overnight, it all starts with one promising step—and there are lots of things that teachers can do to promote equity in education. For example:

•Sustainable learning environments that revolve around equitable principles have the potential to positively influence students inside and outside of classrooms. Teachers that are committed to equity have the ability to build equitable schools. Schools with a vision and mission statements ensuring equity can be the catalyst to change the educational ecosystem as a whole, so that student outcomes can no longer be predicted based on race, gender and socio economic status.

• Students coming from socio-economically- disadvantaged groups and struggling with learning disabilities require dedicated teachers who are able to use equity in classrooms to help them plug the gap. Teachers, who are able to give specialized attention, design individualized lesson plans, provide counseling with vigorous follow up can be boon for children struggling with learning and other social handicaps.

• By becoming more sensitive of issues that affect children such as poverty, ethnicity, gender,   teachers can create actionable plans that can circumvent the affects these situations can have on a child’s education. They may not be able to single-handedly solve these issues, but by understanding more about them through community involvement and outreach they discover how they affect a student’s learning capabilities, and correct them effectively.

• Learning and development gaps are identified in the earlier stages of development if the teacher is sensitive and aware of these gaps; a student has more opportunity to excel. This can include educating parents on the support systems that their student can take advantage of or helping them to navigate ways of finding and accessing those resources. Additionally, teachers can provide inexpensive learning resources, tutors, after-school programs, and many other opportunities that help lower barriers in the classroom setting. In instances where finances may be a challenge, teachers can also help parents find ways to afford the resources that can benefit their child. During my interactions with hundreds of students coming from socio-economically disadvantaged groups living in geographically challenged areas I took class 5th students as the sample.    

I had borrowed few standardized tests assessing the mastery over the basic tools of learning at primary level from one of my PhD colleague Dr Khalida who had completed her thesis on the topic “An Objective based Evaluation of Primary Education in Kashmir” under the supervision of one of the best researcher Late Prof N.A Nadeem.

On administrating  the test meant for class 3rd children to class 5th students I found significant number of class 5th students struggled in reading the basic text meant for class 3rd students and could not solve simple numerical word problems which demanded the basic mathematical operations particularly of division and multiplication.

I counseled the teachers to plug these learning crises on priority by holding remedial classes and cautioned them if left ignored these students will dropout in higher classes due to learning handicaps. 

In this direction New National Education Policy  is right in saying that attaining foundational literacy and numeracy for all children is an urgent national mission. The rest of the policy will become relevant for our students only if this basic learning requirement i.e. reading, writing and arithmetic at the foundational stage is first achieved.  

• Technology is a key aspect of a student’s educational program, but many do not have access to reliable internet or a computer that can support their studies at home. By providing access to reliable technology at the school, teachers can plug the issue of digital divide.

Teachers can help create equity around technology by ensuring students have access to affordable technology, utilizing it in classroom settings where all students can benefit, teaching parents how to work with technology at home.

Teachers may also find it useful to take additional classes or online courses to help get a better understanding of how to foster an environment of equity in the classroom. I share a case in one of the government schools in far flung area  the community had donated an old television set and a free dish floating educational channels to a school and there was an audio-visual period in the school timetable.

• Monitoring student performance on continuous and comprehensive basis is mandatory for a teacher for equitable intervention to accelerate the learning trajectory of a marginalized student.

• A very hard working non local lady from Calcutta is married in Kashmir. She sells fish and was accompanied by her minor son. I found this boy very sharp. I interacted with the lady, she said her son is a  school drop –out, she had visited school several times but was not allowed to meet the principal, she complained no one gave her a patient hearing. The boy was not ready to go back to school as teachers there treated and labeled him badly. After few interactions I admitted this child in another Government school and advised the teachers there to be nice with the boy. Meanwhile I directed few of my students from the catchment area to provide remedial teaching to the boy to plug his learning gaps.      

A common grievance among people who come from racially and culturally marginalized groups is that the dominant culture does not listen to them. When people of color point out acts of racism and injustice, they are many times met with cries of disbelief. When women speak of gender discrimination, they are often called names or deemed too sensitive or emotional.  

When teachers use listening as a culturally responsive skill, they are able to hear the experience of those who have not been listened to. Active Empathetic Listening as a culturally responsive skill creates the space for interrupting bias and fighting inequity and oppression.

As teachers grow in their listening skills, they become better practitioners of culturally responsive teaching and equity-centered coaching. Listening is at the core of each one of these accomplishments.

When we take the time to truly listen, it slows down our subconscious brain and creates the space for us to learn, challenge our assumptions, and find connections with those who are different than us.

Note: This article is dedicated to my teacher Late Prof A R Rather who taught me Educational Sociology in MEd programme 

Dr Showkat Rashid Wani, Senior Coordinator, Directorate of Distance Education, University of Kashmir

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.

The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.

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