A teaching technique in which the instructor seeks to give each student what they need (possibly by slightly altering assignments or lessons) and in which understanding students' identities and backgrounds as well as their academic needs and abilities can help make it as effective as possible.
What is differentiation?
100
As students age, these people become more influential and are what individual students frequently compare themselves to.
What are peers/peer groups?
100
This theory promotes the idea that learning is closely connected to the contexts in which it happens.
What is socio-cultural theory?
100
McIntosh describes it as, "an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious." Students (and teachers) may have it based on race, as in this case, or based on gender, sexuality, social class, language, or ability.
What is white privilege?
100
This technique could help achieve the goal of equity in the classroom by allowing teachers to randomly (and fairly) select student volunteers to share an answer or complete a task.
What are equity sticks?
200
Ensuring that all students are treated fairly (not equally) and receive exactly what they need to succeed academically and develop emotionally and socially.
What is an equity pedagogy/equity in the classroom?
200
Advertisements, movies, magazines, and even stars that students idolize that can have a negative impact on students' self-image or injure them because they want to have or be things that for some reason they are unable to possess or become.
What are harmful media representations?
200
According to Gutierrez, equity must be considered through these to critique and understand contexts that influence student learning and achievement.
What are the four lenses: access, achievement, identity, and power.
200
Grant and Sleeter recommend utilizing the following building blocks to accomplish this: 1). Making student interests and background as a focal point in teaching; 2). Using student learning styles when planning instruction; 3). Making student language a valuable resource; 4). and Connecting with parents and community.
What is identifying assets that students bring to school?
200
According to Grant and Sleeter, lack of teacher knowledge, school organization or climate, prior academic preparation of students, students' perceptions, and teacher actions are all reasons reported by research studies.
What are causes of gaps in student academic achievement?
(We must find ways to combat and overcome these things to even the playing field and help our students succeed).
300
Race, gender, sexuality, language, ability, and social class are all pieces of this. They are important because they influence a students' academic, social, and emotional experiences in the classroom.
What are elements of student identities?
300
Teaching about and ensuring that there are adequate representations of each students' identity and culture in the classroom is one way to do this.
What is promoting understanding/acceptance/equity between cultures and identities in the classroom?
300
Community, language, family, prior knowledge and experiences, abilities, economic status, culture, and racial identity are all important elements.
What are influences on student learning and development?
300
Each student enters the classroom with this different understanding of the world around them and how they should behave and communicate with others. This understanding influences their school experience and their knowledge of the school system which is itself rooted in dominant ideologies.
What is cultural knowledge/cultural capital?
300
These can be led by students and are a great way to create a time and space where all voices can be heard to share news, give compliments, and work out problems of equity or interpersonal natures.
What are class meetings?
400
Each student has their voice heard with regard to academics as well as social and personal issues that are important to them.
What might equity sound like in a classroom?
400
An incredibly harmful activity that injures a student's sense of worth and identity and is usually engaged in by peers.
What is bullying?
400
In Kurt Vonnegut's socially critical tale, "Harrison Bergeron," the fictitious government seeks to establish this in all contexts and the reader sees that it is not what we should strive for.
What is equality?
400
These are things that teachers and students alike need to fight against. They can be some of the most harmful deterrents to a student's academic success and can often lead to self-fulfilling prophecy, where thoughts lead to outcomes.
What are low expectations?
400
This organization seeks to make school a safe environment for all students, regardless of gender and sexual identities. It is a great resource with handouts and information for students, parents, and educators.
What is the Safe Schools Coalition?
500
Students that belong to this group may feel out of place or under-represented in the classroom. They may belong to this group because any aspect of their identity (race, language, etc.) is outside of the "norm" or is less common.
What is a minority?
500
Adults, peers, and community members who engage positively with students and can help them overcome difficult issues of identity or equity, often because they themselves experienced something similar.
What are positive role models?
500
These have an immediate influence on our daily lives and experiences because of the identities and contexts that we inhabit, yet we are completely unaware that they even exist unless we are directly (and often, negatively) confronted by them.
What are invisible systems of dominance and privilege?
500
An awareness of these can allow teachers to create engaging instruction that meets students where they are and builds upon what they bring into the classroom.
What are student interests and prior knowledge?
500
In order to make changes and benefit students, these are the people who must believe, more than anyone else, that they can create equitable classrooms in which every student can learn, grow, and excel. According to Grant and Sleeter, they are "the linchpin of student achievement."