‘Teachers are kind to those who have good marks’: a study of Japanese young people’s views of fairness and equity in school

Gap between Expectations and Experiences of Equity in Public Schools: A Pupils’ Perspective

“…What happens in school can impact on life outside and beyond school (Gorard 2011). Smith and Gorard's (2012) discussed the criteria of justice in terms of pupils' opinions about fair schooling system, judgments on the equity of the educational system in terms of students' expectation of equity, and a feeling of being treated with justice in terms of students' comportment about their equity experiences in their own school. Punishments, rewards, and marks awarded to pupils are also been discussed within equity in school.…”

“…According to Riley (2004), suggests that pupils perceive equality of treatment as highly unfair and show disruptive or rebellious behaviour. Smith and Gorard (2012) explained that there lie complications in deciding whether pupils are treated fairly or unfairly. Smith & Gorard (2012) concluded that pupils' feelings of injustice are important for moral, academic, educational and civic reasons.…”

“…Smith and Gorard (2012) explained that there lie complications in deciding whether pupils are treated fairly or unfairly. Smith & Gorard (2012) concluded that pupils' feelings of injustice are important for moral, academic, educational and civic reasons. They further elaborated that every pupil's development and achievement is equally important for the school system and unfairly treated pupils react that consequently can impair their learning process.…”

“…In schools where much injustice exists, pupils can learn less. Smith and Gorard (2012) found that unfairness with pupils may harm the personal development and can lower self-esteem. Equity can be considered to represent sense of fairness.…”

“…Equity can be considered to represent sense of fairness. "Where equity is denied, negative consequences follow" (Smith & Gorard, 2012). "If we view schools as micro-societies we might surmise that the learning of justice and fairness in school will help shape young people's notions of justice and equity outside school" (Smith & Gorard, 2012).…”