Is Schooling Equitable?
Is school equitable… sadly, we all know the answer to that. We talked about this last week in the “do I have the full picture” module. There is a huge disparity inside of school districts, schools, and even classrooms. If schools were equitable, meaning they have an equal balance of power and fairness, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Educators aren’t making the right changes that they should be in this day and age; as I mentioned in last week's blog, “A crucial aspect of social justice education is learning to differentiate between intent and impact” (1). Black students are still receiving unfair punishments, not getting the correct education, and having unequal opportunities, “Racism is endemic – it’s always going to reinvent itself in creative ways” (2). It is obvious and out in the open how some students are being treated because of the way they look, their differences from their teachers, where they grew up, or what they believe in. Subini Ancy Annamma said that “Research has shown that when police are present, teachers and school officials will contact them for increasingly minor behavior, and security measures do not make schools safer” (2). These mistreatments are coming from long living stereotypes and stories that need to be forgotten. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, she talked about, as a born and raised Nigerian woman, too has believed these misinterpretations of stereotypes amongst other cultures. These stories “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become” (3). People and even young students are getting labeled by these false stories and are being treated as such; being treated as if that is who they are, as if all black people from Africa are poor, or as if all people from Mexico are immigrants. This behavior is disgusting and needs to come to an end, especially to educators who are shaping these young children and helping them find themselves.
References
Hi Mallory! I really enjoyed reading your blog post, it was incredibly insightful and intriguing. I fully agree with your statement, educators need to do more. There’s a lot of components that contribute to making schooling inequitable and you discussed a major one which is stereotyping and allowing racism to exist inside a place of education (or anywhere for that matter). Every child deserves a learning environment that embraces and accepts who they are wholeheartedly! Educators truly do shape their students, and I know this from experience. I was incredibly lucky to have supportive teachers growing up that encouraged me to go beyond my limits. I’m Hispanic and my first language is Spanish, and I often felt discouraged when I struggled with the English language. But I had great teachers that eventually helped me become fluent in the language and motivated me to keep learning. Their words and support matter so much more than we can imagine. Students spend a lot of time in the classroom, and they all deserve the same opportunities that’ll help them flourish in the present and in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi there! I’m so glad you got the help and support you needed throughout elementary school!
DeleteHello Mallory,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the quotes you pulled from the articles from this week's module. When reading Subini's article, that quote stood out to me as well. I always saw examples of the metal detectors and K-9s in movies but never experienced it throughout my school career. We did have one or two security guards in my high school, but I never really saw them get serious with students. I do have an understanding of how teachers abuse the security power and call them to take out students disrupting the class. I feel as if this makes things seem as a prison. As soon as someone acts up, a guard is called. Stereotypes are also a big deal. I'm from a border town so the statements they called jokes were "how fast did you have to run away" or "I assume you know how to swim", referring to crossing the border illegally. As educators, we could only do so much to stop these stereotypes but then they'd just learn it from somewhere else. It's become a problem and has caused a separation between students. I felt that the image you used was a very accurate one!
Hi Isabella! I can’t believe people said those things to you, it’s disgusting. Also, I agree, as educators we only hold so much power. We can at-least keep Our classrooms safe, respectful, comfortable, and equitable.
Delete