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Equity in Education
18th November 2024
Recently I embarked on an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion project with SAfE. This has provided an opportunity to reflect on how we focus on those pupils deemed ‘disadvantaged’ – or to use the term that many educationalists prefer, ‘underserved’.
My own interest in equity in education came from my father’s experience growing up in the 50s on the west coast of Scotland. He lived in a two-room tenement flat with a toilet shared with the rest of the families in the block. His parents slept in the kitchen whilst his bed was in the lounge. In the summer months, to make ends meet, they used to rent out one room to families from Glasgow wanting a holiday and all three would live in the kitchen. My father was determined to pick a different path in life and realised early on that education was the answer. He was lucky that some teachers recognised his potential, and encouraged and supported him to have high aspirations. He ended up being the first member of his family to attend university and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, striving for equity in education is more vital than ever. Thanks to Covid, the gap between underserved students and their classmates has widened further and we must now work creatively and tirelessly to level the playing field for our children.
In ‘Equity in Education: A practical guide for teachers’, Lee Elliot Major and Emily Briant talk about four key principles of equity in education:
- Children who face extra barriers to learning outside of the school deserve more of our attention in the classroom
- Have a capacity mindset – focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t
- Develop authentic individual relationships
- Value the plethora of human talents in the school classroom
For any colleagues with a particular interest in this area, I thoroughly recommend that you read this book.
I also recommend Katriona O’Sullivan’s remarkable biography ‘Poor’ if you want to see the important part we play as educationalists in the lives of our underserved pupils.
Recently I embarked on an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion project with SAfE. This has provided an opportunity to reflect on how we focus on those pupils deemed ‘disadvantaged’ – or to use the term that many educationalists prefer, ‘underserved’.
My own interest in equity in education came from my father’s experience growing up in the 50s on the west coast of Scotland. He lived in a two-room tenement flat with a toilet shared with the rest of the families in the block. His parents slept in the kitchen whilst his bed was in the lounge. In the summer months, to make ends meet, they used to rent out one room to families from Glasgow wanting a holiday and all three would live in the kitchen. My father was determined to pick a different path in life and realised early on that education was the answer. He was lucky that some teachers recognised his potential, and encouraged and supported him to have high aspirations. He ended up being the first member of his family to attend university and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, striving for equity in education is more vital than ever. Thanks to Covid, the gap between underserved students and their classmates has widened further and we must now work creatively and tirelessly to level the playing field for our children.
In ‘Equity in Education: A practical guide for teachers’, Lee Elliot Major and Emily Briant talk about four key principles of equity in education:
- Children who face extra barriers to learning outside of the school deserve more of our attention in the classroom
- Have a capacity mindset – focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t
- Develop authentic individual relationships
- Value the plethora of human talents in the school classroom
For any colleagues with a particular interest in this area, I thoroughly recommend that you read this book.
I also recommend Katriona O’Sullivan’s remarkable biography ‘Poor’ if you want to see the important part we play as educationalists in the lives of our underserved pupils.
