Home Culture to School Culture

Equity in Education

"Equality is giving everyone the same pair of shoes. Equity is giving everyone a pair of shoes that fits."— Author unknown

Being an urban educator for the past 21 years in Providence, I have worn many differerent hats. I began my career as a 6th grade math teacher at Gilbert Stuart Middle School. I was then moved to ASF@Broad St. elementary school, where I have remained for the last 18 years. While at my school I have taught 2nd and 5th grade. My most recent role has been a math coach. These past 8 years as a math coach, I have had the opportunity to work directly with teachers and administrators. My role has been to support teachers with best practices that align with school and district goals. I would model, co-teach and meet with teachers to reflect on the lesson and identify what worked well and what could be tweaked to make the lesson more successful. One thing that was discussed often was equity in the classroom. How can we meet the needs of all students? What supports are being provided to students in order for them to be successful? How do we, as educators promote equity in our classrooms? How can we bring home culture into the classroom? This school year, I will be returning to the classroom as a 5th grade teacher. I will now put my own beliefs into practice. In this blog, I will focus on effective strategies that will help promote equity in our classrooms.  

Three key practices that promote equity in the classroom:

1. Getting to Know Our Students

One of our first goals as an educator is to get to know our students. Where was the student born? What language(s) does the student speak? Who does the student live with? What traumas (if any) has the student faced? Does the student have food security? As an educator, we need to know the whole child; that is life in and out of school. It is important to build positive relationships with our students and families. When students feel safe and respected they are more willing to take risks. Being familiar with our ELs cultural traditions and values will allow teachers to build upon our students´ background knowledge and foster a sense of respect in the classroom. There are many reasons it is important to be familiar with our studentś first language. We can learn about this by looking at their Home Language Survey (HLS).  Districts use this to gather information about a student’s language background (e.g., first language learned, language the student uses most often, and languages used in the home). The HLS identifies those students who should be referred for an English language proficiency (“ELP”) assessment to determine whether they should be classified as EL students, who are entitled to language assistance services. (Dear Colleague p.10)  This will also allow us to learn more about a childś linguistic and cultural background. This will give an opportunity to have books in the classroom library that are native to the students. Teachers should also provide different topics from multiple view points so students do not become closed minded or make assumptions. I never really thought about the importance of this until we watched the Ted Talk and the speaker was saying how people view all natives of Africa a certain way. This made me realize that I will need to add books to my classroom library. My goal is to create a classroom that is equitable to all students, where everyone is valued and respected. 

2. From Silence to Conversation:

If all classrooms actively engage all students in conversations that value all voices, schools will realize deep shifts in student learning, motivation, and capacity for collaboration in a global world. A collective focus on how our classroom conversation practices impact English learners is imperative to transforming teaching for equity. (p. 89 Breaking Down the wall)   Students learn language by using language. For this reason, all students, especially ELs should engage in peer conversations on a daily basis. This will promote language develpment, thinking and collaboration skills. In order to move EL silence into EL cosnversation, we need to look at our classroom design. Are students sitting in rows or are the desks set up in such a way that promotes academic discussions? The teacher at times needs to step back and facilitate the learning and let the students do most of the work. ¨The person talking the most is learning the most¨ (p. 92 Breaking Down the Wall). Rather than the teacher doing most of the talking, or calling on individual students, teachers need to provide opportunities for  small group or peer discussions. There are many benefits of peer conversations, such as increasing the percentage of active engagement between both ELs and non ELs. Doing this increases opportunities for deeper thinking and provides students an opportunity to discuss their thoughts and ideas before they present them to the class. I have seen how difficult this can be for some educators. Many teachers in my school have a hard time stepping back and letting the students engage in academic conversations. They feel that the students will not focus on the lesson and talk about other things. When I return to the classroom in September, I am going to make it a priority to design my classroom in such a way that promotes academic discourse (if covid allows). I will also group students so that EL learners are paired with native speaking students. This will hopefully provide a safe place for students to to take risks and particiapate in conversations with native language learners. 

3. ELL Shadowing

Shadowing an EL can be extremely powerful. Shadowing ELs in other classrooms leads many teachers to an ah-ha moment in which they reflect on what they, themselves, need to change to ensure equity and access for ELs. (p.92 Breaking Down the Wall)  Shadowing creates an urgency for change on behalf of ELs within a system and allows educators to realize that they must change their instructional practices in order to meet the academic language development needs of this group of students. (p.94 Breaking Down the Wall)  I was fortunate enough to work with Highlander Institute (pre-covid) where stakeholders had an opportunity to shadow students for an entire day. The stakeholders included parents, teachers, administrators, district liasons and coaches. For an entire day they shadowed a student; including lunch and specials. This was an eye opener being able to ¨be a student for a day¨.  This gave us insight into the struggles and accomplishments students face on a daily basis. It also gave us an opportunity to see how the student responds in academic and social settings. I found this to be very interesting. As a team, the stakeholders met after the shadowing to discuss thier findings. Unfortunately, we were only able to do this one time due to covid. It is suggested that different strategies be introduced over several months In order to improve students'academic language . These strategies include Think-Pair-Share; focusing on speaking and listening, Frayer model, for vocabulary and building background knowledge and Reciprocal Teaching, for group discussions. I would love for this to happen in my school district. 

Call For Action:   

All students deserve a proper education and we as educators need to ensure all students get what they need in order to succeed. We need to look at the whole child inside and outside of school if we want our students to reach their highest potential. There needs to be respect between teacher, student and family in order for success to happen in the classroom. The key practices listed above are only a few of the ways we can promote equity in the classroom. Getting to know our students, shifting from silence to conversation and shadowing are critical to ensuring the success of our English Language Learner students. We need to begin putting these practices to use in our schools immediately.