What Informs and Inspires the Work of Equity Minded Teachers

Abstract

This article explores teachers' reasons for engaging in equity work. Although multiple bodies of literature discuss teaching for equity from different perspectives, little empirical data exists about what informs or motivates people to teach for equity. This study aims to help fill that gap in existing research with the purpose of informing professional development and training for practicing teachers hoping to or attempting to engage in equity work, and for encouraging and motivating other educators in beginning to engage in equity work. Data was gathered through interviews with 15 teachers from three large school boards in Southern Ontario. Findings illustrate that participants were motivated to engage in equity work because of personal experiences with inequity, witnessing other people experience inequities, and learning about inequities in school. Three key findings stand out with regards to their utility for professional development and training: all participants spoke of critical incidents which compelled them to do equity work; emotional struggles were associated with their work, yet they remained hopeful in the possibility of change regardless of what they had experienced; finally, the nature of the equity work that participants chose to undertake was directly related to the nature of their experience with in/equity.

Supports for Implementing Equitable Practices in the K–12 Classroom: A Qualitative Study of Teachers' Perceptions

“…According to Nadelson et al (2019), educators must embrace practices associated with education equity, including student-centered learning, culturally responsive teaching, inclusion, and other actions that provide students with the oppor-tunity to learn in ways that correspond with their knowledge, background, and the resources they need. Other aspects of equity within the classroom include differentiating instruction and materials based on student needs; providing an academically rigorous environment that facilitates critical thinking; and ensuring that students can see themselves, their backgrounds, and their beliefs reflected in their education (Tuters, 2017).…”

“…According to Allen and Penuel (2015), sensemaking involves "resolv[ing] ambiguity and manag[ing] uncertainty within their environment and mak[ing] retrospective, as well as prospective sense of change." For teachers who have chosen to adopt an equity lens in their instruction, research has shown that some of the main motivations for doing so include personal experience with inequity, witnessing other people experience marginalization, and being exposed to education about inequities and diversity through their upbringing or formal schooling (Tuters, 2017). All these factors suggest that the messages teachers receive about how to teach diverse student populations might shape how teachers incorporate equitable practices into their instruction.…”

“You did incredibly well!”: teachers’ inflated praise can make children from low-SES backgrounds seem less smart (but more hardworking)

“…Around the world, children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are far more likely to underperform in school than their high-SES peers 1 , 2 , even when they have the same level of ability 3 . Teachers are motivated to combat these inequalities 4 , 5 . We theorize, however, that teachers may sometimes engage in well-intentioned practices that inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities.…”

Cultivating Equity Consciousness: A Small-Scale Case Study Exploring Perceptions on Equitable Teaching Approaches Among Recently Credentialed Teachers

“…Exploratory qualitative research uses inductive open coding followed by structured coding based on the interview questions and a coding chart with focused coding to select a subset of codes that illustrate the profile, experiences, thoughts, and beliefs of recently graduated novice teachers (Braun & Clarke, 2013;Creswell, 2006Creswell, , 2012Silverman, 2005). My coding methods followed these coding methods along with my conceptual framework to guide the coding process (Charmaz, 2017;Saldaña, 2009;Cranton, 2016;Ladson-Billings, 1995b;McKenzie & Skrla, 2011;Mezirow, 2000;Souto-Manning, 2019;Tuters, 2017).…”