Equity

Today in my "Diversity and Equity in Math Education" class, we talked about the difference between equality and equity. One of the students in my class mentioned at quote she heard at a presentation as a metaphor for equality and equity:

"Equality is everyone getting a pair of shoes. Equity is everyone getting a pair of shoes that fits them."

I think this is an excellent way to look at equity in all aspects of life. In education, equality means everyone getting the same information. Equity means each student getting the information in a way that is meaningful for them. This is extremely important for all students, but I don't think that teachers do a very good job of it because they don't know how to implement equity strategies.

The class I'm taking right now is EXTREMELY helpful in allowing me to think about differences I may experience between my students and myself, and it gets me thinking about what I can do to use those differences to help students learn. Another graduate student in the Math Education program said that when she was beginning to teach, she assumed that all of her students would be like her. Then, when she got in the field, she was incredibly surprised when her students were so diverse. I think that all pre-service teachers should take a class like my Diversity and Equity class in order to prepare them for what they will encounter in the classroom.

Not only do teachers need to consider the issues of equity they will face, they need to be prepared to deal with them. Again, during their education, teachers should take a class like the one I'm in to help them prepare. In addition, schools should have professional development workshops for teachers to participate in to discuss equity issues they experience in their classrooms and learn from the experiences of others. Also, if teachers are required to present a workshop or do some research on a certain minority group and present the challenges they face when learning to their colleagues, they will learn from each other as well as learning from research they perform.

Equity issues occur in every classroom across the country. Teachers need to learn about these issues and how to alleviate them in their classrooms. This education should continue even when they are teaching in schools. With a continued education about equity issues, I believe teachers will be able to better handle them in their own classes.