Awareness of Inequality

Without awareness of a problem or its underlining causes, it is impossible to help make improvements. In the first four chapters of our book, Darling-Hammond makes all of us aware that there is a great deal of inequality within American education. Additionally, she lays out the major reasons why these inequalities exist. Regardless of your role in education, it is important to recognize the existence and severity of this problem, as this awareness is the necessary first step towards meaningful change.

From a teacher’s perspective, it is important to understand that our students are products of a system that is not equitable. I believe teachers often view achievement and motivation as fixed abilities that are predetermined in our students by natural ability or other circumstances beyond teacher control. I have heard teachers say countless times that “some students just don’t want to learn” or, even worse, “will never be able to get it.” They need to understand that “good” students have had very positive experiences with our education system and will most likely be successful regardless of the product a teacher provides. Other students, however, are on the downward spiral of education’s version of the Matthew Effect. Such students may have started out slightly behind at a young age and this initial disadvantage may have grown immensely by the time they reach our door. (Most often) They are not bad kids or lack the cognitive capacity to learn. Instead, they are simply the product of our educational system that promotes inequality.

This awareness should not cause teachers to hold struggling students to lower standards. Instead, it should help teachers better meet the emotional needs of students who have not traditionally been successful in school. If teachers understand that student resistance or apathy is the result of their past experience with schooling, they stand a better chance of adjusting their practices to help kids find success.

My first principal once said, “no kid wakes up in the morning wanting to fail.” Once we all believe this and become aware that our education system can often be the very thing that holds certain students back, we can finally begin to change for the better.