Can we really favor one over the other: Equity and Equality in the Classroom

For most of my educational studies, all I have ever heard was that as future educators the classroom needs to be a place where every individual must be treated equally.  But what exactly does it mean to treat everyone equally, and is that truly enough to promote educational growth in students and teachers alike?  To begin to recognize the significance of equality and equity in the classroom, it is crucial for educators to understand that the two terms are NOT interchangeable (and right now in our current educational system, many individuals are confusing the two).

            While equality often references the notion of everyone being treated equally or on the same terms (no one individual valued as more important than any other).  Every student has the right to receive an education, every student deserves respect in the classroom, every student should be offered the same opportunities in and out of the classroom, should they so desire to utilize them.  Equity, on the other hand, is the crucial factor in education today that is missing, for it is through equity that every student’s unique differences are addressed in one way or another in and out of the classroom.  By introducing equitable practices such as differentiated instruction, educators must realize that EVERY student’s specific learning abilities/strategies need to be addressed in the learning environment.  No one receives information or exhibits information in exactly the same way, and to assume that you can walk into a classroom and expect all learners to adhere to one method of teaching is ludicrous.  If we ignore the talents of our students, then we miss out on the opportunity to utilize their strengths for the benefit of all learners.
            Now with a clearer understanding of why it is necessary to provide equality and equity within the educational system, as educators we need to find the appropriate methods that will allow our students to excel in their own learning processes as well as to learn new approaches to comprehension and analysis.  Equity allows educators to “decrease [the] instances of oppression” (Alsup 98) in the classroom and also promotes the “enhance[ment] of equal opportunities for all students in our schools, regardless of ethnicity, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or social class” (Alsup 98-99).  By designing lessons that provide various approaches to a single question or context, we begin to adapt our lessons to the students rather than to the tests.  In this way, understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy and other methods of discerning learning ability in students can educators shape lessons to them and to their social constructs.
            Equality is the stepping stone towards equity (and accountability) in the classroom.  If everyone believes that they are being seen and treated as equals, then they will find that their specific needs are being addressed as well. (JS)

“We must merge our traditional sense of schooling with the real world. What we do in school must not insult the child's past but must build upon his past and encourage future learning.” -Sigmund Boloz

“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

 “An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't.” -Anatole France

 “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.” -Edward Everett Hale

 “The child becomes largely what it is taught; hence we must watch what we teach it, and how we live before it.” -Jane Addams

 “The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.” -Amos Bronson Alcott