Imagine if we were all forced to wear the same shoes as everyone else. Pretty sure my 25 year old football playing son would not like his 23 year old sister’s fluffy stilettos, although my husband would probably secretly enjoy my pink nana slippers.
Growing up I was always taught that we had to be fair, and fair meant that everyone got the same thing and no one missed out. When I had my own kids (one of each, the pigeon pair, a boy and girl), I quickly realised this model didn’t fit and it actually wasn’t that fair at all. And, my kids didn’t neatly fit the model of needing or wanting the same things.
Sure they both wanted shoes, but my son wanted footy boots and his sister wanted tap shoes. The differences didn’t stop there. Tap shoes were twice the price of footy boots and sometimes there was also the need for ballet shoes and acro shoes and jazz shoes. The list went on and on. Is this fair? And what about the season when we went through three pairs of footy boots during preseason because his foot grew that fast?
It got me thinking about school. What is actually fair?
Let’s keep the shoe analogy going. Picture this: everyone getting a pair of shoes is equal, right? So, diversity is getting a different type of shoe, and equity is getting the shoe that fits you. Acceptance is understanding that we all need different shoes and a different number of shoes.
Here’s the cracker though – belonging is breaking out your Crocs and wearing them without fear of judgement.
So what does this look like at school?
I reckon everyone getting recess is equal, we’ve all got the chance to have a break, eat, play with our friends and go to the bathroom.
Diversity is allowing students to play in different areas around the school: the oval, the courts, the library and the slide.
Equity though, is allowing that one kid who needs an extra recess because his brain is neurologically wired differently to the rest of the class.
Acceptance is knowing this is for the benefit of him, the teacher and the rest of the class and maybe, just maybe, belonging is adjusting the classroom environment to suit the needs of the student so he fits.
What do you reckon? How will you adjust your classroom to make sure everyone gets a pair of the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) shoes?
Check out other articles Candice has written here.