an equity literacy workshop for educators

An Equity Literacy Workshop for Educators

By Paul C. Gorski

October 21, 2014

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I. Introduction: Who We Are

1. Who is in the room?

2. My background and lenses

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I. Introduction: Agenda

1. Introductions (in progress)

2. Do some exercises

3. Talk about some stuff

4. Deepen our equity literacy

5. Learn some strategies

6. Leave happy

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II. Some Initial Reflections

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II. Reflection #1

• What is the most important indicator of how successful a teacher will be teaching students in poverty?

• (Why are poor people poor?)

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II. Reflecting on Reflection #1

• The focus group and the diversity tie: Advantaged view vs. disenfranchised view

• Learning how to identify the problem: ideology and world view

• The problem with the problem—harder to change ideology than practice

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II. Reflection #2

• John and the “race” problem story

• Not about evil racist educators– About learning to see what we’re socialized

not to see

• So what we need: (1) humility, (2) willingness to grapple with cognitive dissonance

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II. Practice

• A Brief Multiple Choice Standardized Test

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Quiz

A Princeton study of elite universities found that legacy applicants—people, usually white and wealthy, with a parent or grandparent who attended the institution—are far more privileged by legacy status than applicants of color are by affirmative action policies. The study determined that legacy status was equivalent to how much of a boost to an applicant’s SAT score?– 20 points– 90 points– 160 points

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Quiz

A Princeton study of elite universities found that legacy applicants—people, usually white and wealthy, with a parent or grandparent who attended the institution—are far more privileged by legacy status than applicants of color are by affirmative action policies. The study determined that legacy status was equivalent to how much of a boost to an applicant’s SAT score?– 20 points– 90 points

–160 points

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Quiz

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan than white applicants, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors?– 30% more likely – 60% more likely – 90% more likely

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Quiz

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan than white applicants, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors?– 30% more likely –60% more likely – 90% more likely

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Quiz

A majority of poor people in the U.S. live in:

– urban areas– suburban areas– rural areas

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Quiz

A majority of poor people in the U.S. live in:

– urban areas– suburban areas

–rural areas

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Quiz

Who is more likely to be addicted to drugs or alcohol?

– Poor people– Middle class people– Wealthy people

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Quiz

Who is more likely to be addicted to drugs or alcohol?

– Poor people– Middle class people

–Wealthy people

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Quiz

What proportion of homeless men in the United States are military veterans?

– 1 in 20– 1 in 12– 1 in 4

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Quiz

What proportion of homeless men in the United States are military veterans?

– 1 in 20– 1 in 12

–1 in 4

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Quiz

The three richest people in the world have as much wealth as:

– the 8 poorest countries– the 48 poorest countries– the 308 poorest countries

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Quiz

The three richest people in the world have as much wealth as:

– the 8 poorest countries

–the 48 poorest countries– the 308 poorest countries

* * *

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Reflecting on Quiz

• Not that we should know the answers to these questions, but that we should reflect on the places our perceptions are confused.

This is the first step toward equity literacy: Recognizing that gross inequalities exist.

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MLK:

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the … Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice.”

Second step toward equity literacy: be willing to understand the root of the problem.

In other words:

Inequities in schools, and outcome inequalities, persist largely because of (1) inequalities and in access and opportunity, and (2) inaction (or misinformed action) and unintentional participation by well-intended people.

There is no progress to be made here without recognition of this reality.

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Gross Inequities

Compared with low-poverty U.S. schools, high-poverty U.S. schools have:

• More teachers teaching in areas outside their certification subjects;

• More serious teacher turnover problems;• More teacher vacancies;• Larger numbers of substitute teachers;• More limited access to computers and the

Internet;• Inadequate facilities (such as science labs);

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Gross Inequities (cont’d)

• More dirty or inoperative bathrooms;• More evidence of vermin such as cockroaches

and rats;• Insufficient classroom materials• Less rigorous curricula;• Fewer experienced teachers;• Lower teacher salaries;• Larger class sizes; and• Less funding.

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Gross Inequities (Seriously, I’m not making this up…)

• Loughrey, D., and Woods, C. (2010). Sparking the imagination: Creative experts working collaboratively with children, teachers and parents to enhance educational opportunities. Support for Learning, 25(2), 81-90.

• Palardy, G. J. (2008). Differential school effects among low, middle, and high social class composition schools: A multiple group, multilevel latent growth curve analysis. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(1), 21-49.

• Sepe, C., and Roza, M. (2010). The disproportionate impact of seniority-based layoffs on poor, minority students. Seattle, WA: Center for Reinventing Public Education.

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III. Conceptualizing Equity

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III. Introducing Equity Literacy

• Shift from focusing centrally on vague notions of “culture” to focusing centrally on equity

• Understanding culture or cultural diversity is not the same as understanding equity or inequity

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III. Introducing Equity Literacy

Four Abilities

1. Recognize inequity (even subtle)

2. Respond to inequity (immediate term, interpersonal or institutional)

3. Redress inequity (institutional or systemic)

4. Sustain equity

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• How do you define “equity”? What does it look like?

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Important Concepts• Equity vs. Equality• Deficit Ideology• Interest Convergence Theory• Hidden Curriculum

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Important Concept #1

• Equity vs. Equality

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The Big Difference



• Deficit Ideology

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The Three Ideologies

1. Deficit ideology

2. “Grit” ideology

3. Structural ideology

Low-income student not doing well in class. One evening you contact a parent who doesn’t respond. What are your assumptions?

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• Interest Convergence Theory– Why schools celebrate diversity but don’t

take on equity work

• What is your limit?

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• Hidden Curriculum

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The Four Curricula

1. Official2. Explicit3. Implicit or “hidden”4. Null

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The Official CurriculumWhat the institution publicly tells the

world about itself• Mission statements, vision

statements, syllabi, other official and public documents

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The Explicit CurriculumWhat is purposefully taught in the

curriculum or co-curriculum• The learning activities, readings,

assignments—that which is assessed

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The Implicit (or “Hidden”) CurriculumWhat is taught implicitly, usually without

conscious purpose, through behavior, policy, relationships, and social conditions

• Often hidden in “the way things are”--hegemony

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The Null CurriculumPart of the hidden curriculum—that which

is learned by what is omitted from the curriculum

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For your reflection:• What were examples of the hidden

curriculum of your schools? • What were the implications of this

hidden curriculum?

Equity literacy lesson: Inequities often are subtle, so we must learn to recognize them in order to respond to them.


Approaches to Equity

1. Heroes & Holidays (Food, Folks, and Fun)

2. Learning About Cultures3. Mitigative and Support Programs4. Equity (Transformative and Holistic)

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IV. Learning to Recognize Inequity

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IV. Learning to See

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IV. Learning to See

The Nature of Stereotypes

- in-group favor & diversity- looking for evidence to confirm existing

ideology- about interpretation (why parents don’t

show up)

What Do You See?

Challenges low-income students and families experience outside schools that affect their experiences in schools;

Challenges low-income students and families experiences in schools.

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Pre-School

• Less access• When they have access, it’s to lower-

quality pre-school

• According to brain research, this is critical because of the cognitive development that happens during pre-school years (Duncan, Ludwig, & Magnuson, 2007)

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Pollution

• Air and water in low-income neighborhoods more polluted

• More likely to live near hazardous production and storage sites (Walker et al, 2005)

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Neighborhood Factors

• Low-income neighborhoods more likely to have lower-quality social, municipal, and local services; greater traffic volume, fewer playgrounds; less green space (NCTAF, 2004)

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Health

• Less access to health care (Koenig, 2007)• Less access to preventive measures (Pampel et

al, 2010)• Less access to prenatal care (Temple et al, 2010)• Higher levels of chronic stress and depression

(Wadsworth et al, 2008)• Less access to healthy foods (Pampel et al, 2010)

In School, the “Great Equalizer”:

This opportunity gap is characterized by the lack of access to: Quality preschool Adequately funded schools School nurses, counselors, and other

school support services Affirming school environments (bullying) High academic expectations Higher-order, engaging pedagogies Opportunities for family engagement

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Also:

• Safe and affordable housing• An affirming society• Recreational opportunities• And on and on and on

Part of the problem with the “culture of poverty” model is that it is largely silent on these conditions—it distracts us from them…

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Thoughts…

These are the reasons for outcome inequalities, not cultural deficiencies (Depere et al, 2010):

“Thus, children raised in advantaged neighborhoods appear to receive higher quality child care and to attend more advantaged schools, even when family characteristics, such as the quality of the home environment, are held constant. In turn, access to advantaged institutions may explain why children in comparatively advantaged neighborhoods tended to have higher vocabulary and reading scores than their peers in less advantaged neighborhoods” (p, 1241).

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IV. The Five WHYs

Tammy is a low-income student. Tammy’s parents do not attend parent-teacher conferences as often as wealthier parents. Why don’t Tammy’s parents attend parent-teacher conferences as often as wealthier parents?

--Why, why, why, why, and why?

--(Do we consider school’s role?)

V. How We Get There: Enacting Equity Literacy

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Individual Principles

There exists no set of pedagogical strategies or program strategies that work for all, or even most, people when we identify them by a single dimension of identity.

We must stop leaning on “culture” as an explanation for everything.

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We must acknowledge and work to address our own biases and dispositions, even if we’re well-intended.

• Research on compliments• Research on informal conversations

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Remember: not all families have access to the same sorts of resources.

• From poster board to computers and Internet

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Institutional Principles

Equity advocates do not pick and choose who gets “included.” An institution is either equitable or inequitable.

So, I can’t say, “I’ll work on racial equity in my sphere of influence, but I’m not addressing class issues.”

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We never should mistake “learning about cultures” or “celebrating diversity” for equity. We never should spend our Equity energy or resources on cultural activities.

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We cannot fix inequity by fixing marginalized students; rather, we fix it by fixing the conditions that marginalize students.

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Finally…

It is not the responsibility of a educator to transform the world or even a state or a district. But it is our responsibility to define our own spheres of influence and make sure we do whatever we can to make those spheres equitable and just.

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V. Things We Can Do

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We Can

Identify the gaps in your knowledge about equity issues and pursue the information to fill those gaps

Point: I cannot create a gender-equitable classroom or school if I’m unwilling to deal with my own sexism (including internalized sexism)

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We Can

• Create opportunities for family involvement that

are accessible to all families, including those

with adults who work multiple jobs, work

evenings, can’t afford childcare, and so on.

We Can

• Incorporate the arts and movement into our

teaching, whatever we’re teaching, when it’s

appropriate to do so.

We Can

• Analyze all learning materials for bias, including

subtle bias.

• Again, learning how to see!

We Can

• Reach out to low-income families, ELL families,

and other marginalized families early and often

and persistently.

We Can

• Have high expectations for all students, and

demonstrate those expectations by offering

higher-order curricular and pedagogical learning

environments for all students.– And yes, research does show that they will work up

to the curriculum.

We Can

•Acknowledge that some students, and some of your colleagues, cross a cultural border when they enter school – imagine how hard that is

–We can commit to changing that reality, first by making sure we’re not participating and then by naming the biases we see.

We Can

Reject the deficit view. When you find yourself thinking in a deficit-laden way about a student or family, force yourself in the moment to think about a form of resilience or cultural capital or funds of knowledge instead

– Research tying student achievement to teachers' dispositions and interpretations

We Can

Consider the lenses through which we’re

interpreting what’s happening around us, and let

best practice rather than bias and ideology drive

our perceptions…

We Can

Make sure policy and practice initiatives are driven by a structural view of equity and inequity and not a deficit view or a grit view.

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We Can

Focus diversity-related PD on strengthening equity literacy, not just “cultural competence” or “appreciating diversity.”

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We Can

Push back against neoliberal school reforms that are doing great damage to our most marginalized students: hyper-accountability and hyper-testing, many school “choice” and voucher programs, placement of untrained teachers into high-needs schools…

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We Can

Analyze school, district, and state-level policy for hidden (or not-so-hidden) inequities and biases

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Closing Reflection

One thing you’ll take away…

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Thank you.

Paul C. Gorski

[email protected]

http://www.edchange.org

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an equity literacy workshop for educators

Documents

poor people poor

white applicants

applicants of color

legacy status

quiza majority of poor

legacy applicantspeople

latino mortgage applicants

richest people