Is schooling equitable? You can ask many teachers this question and the majority will say "no". Schooling is not equitable everywhere at every school for many different reasons. Schools in low-income areas get the short end of the stick, they are probable in a bad
area of town with a high crime rate and with children being exposed to that every day, it might bring them down and not want to focus on school. With schools being in the "bad areas" they are subject to lower teacher incomes and lower access to technology and new advancements which can affect the learning, unlike a school in a rich neighborhood, which put them at a disadvantage. With some kids having family members involved in crime that might be all the kid knows which can lead to disciplinary actions which can just lead to far worse outcomes, in the article "How school systems make criminals of Black youth", she stated, "Multiple studies link disciplinary exclusion to dropping out - or what others have better described as being pushed out - and future incarceration." which eventually will lead to. For schooling to be equitable it isn't just about the income or neighborhood it is located in, it is also about putting students with different abilities on the same level such as giving the same energy to disadvantaged students, so they get the opportunity to be on the same level as non-disadvantaged students. With that being said, schooling is not equitable, but it is the goal.
Hi Rachel couldn't agree more with your argument, student should all be treated with higher education and equally as other students. Students in these areas are constantly being sterotyped based on how they look or where they are from and it puts them at a disadvantage. For us educators it's important to take into account each student's situation. We can operate our classrooms equitably by paying close attention to each student as an individual and knowing that some students may require different or more personalized help depending on their past educational experiences and their learning styles and abilities.
ReplyDeleteHi Erianah, Thank you for your input. It is very important for us future educators to realize every student will have a different situation and how we can accommodate to that.
DeleteHi Rachel! I love that your last sentence was 'schooling is not equitable, but it is the goal'. I think equitability is a very important concept but to me seems like it will take forever to be reached. I loved the examples you gave of students in lower income schools getting a lower valued education. Lower income students being put into a classroom all together is not helping the case. I agree with you that these students need to be mixed with non low income students in order to see a change. In order to stop this from happening I think not only do these students need teacher like ones that teach in richer areas but ones that are even better. These students ultimately need so much help in schooling and no one wants to put in the work. Making schools more equitable can be a difficult task but if teachers come together one by one and slowly make changes it is completely possible.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaci, Thank you for reading my blog! I think an answer to making schooling more equitable is to mix low income students with non low income students so they are not being punished for their families state of money.
DeleteHello Rachel. I enjoyed reading your post because it explained the point of view of poorly funded and highly funded school. The line you put at the end of your post, "schooling is not equitable, but it is the goal," speaks to me, but I feel the only way this is possible is if teachers leave their beliefs at the door, and treat each of their students the same. Treating students the same and giving them the same punishment shows students that what they do they will be treated and punished the same with no favorites. I know everyone has favorites and it cannot be helped, but teachers do not need to make students feel that they are unimportant to them. Students in poorly funded schools have a harder time in giving students the education they deserve resulting in some of those students going down the wrong path. Whereas students from better funded schools get a better chance through the system, but every student should receive the same chance.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel! I really enjoyed your blog post. You talked about some hard situations that some students are in, and I know those topics can sometimes be hard to talk about, but you did a wonderful job and wrote about it with such care. We as educators can not fix all of the problems that our students will face, but we can try to do as much as we possibly can to ensure that our students are happy and healthy and getting a good education. I think one of the best way to do this is to connect with our students on a personal level. Rita Pierson talked about the importance of the relationship between the students and their teachers. It is basic human nature to want to learn from someone with who you feel close to instead of someone who feels like a stranger. There is a level of trust that teachers must build with their students before their students will learn anything from them.
ReplyDeleteHi Kassi, thank you for commenting! I agree that these topics are hard to talk about and can be uncomfortable, but we need to get around that as best we can to help our future students!
DeleteHello Rachel, I enjoyed reading your blog over this subject. Something to note from your blog is that a lot of the things you had stated were based on opinion and I wish that you would’ve added a bit more research into your post. For example, in your blog you stated, “Schools in low-income areas get the short end of the stick, they are probable in a bad area of town with a high crime rate and with children being exposed to that every day, it might bring them down and not want to focus on school.” Is this based on fact or is this what you believe is happening in low-income areas? This statement may be true, however, since you did not really present any research on whether this may be true and how true or false it may be. The reason this is so important, especially with topics like these is because, it sort of ends up sounding these statements are only being based on or from certain stereotypes. Overall, I understand where you are coming from, and I am very much for voicing your own opinion, but always make sure to separate opinion from fake facts.
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