多年来，教师们一直努力将公平和公正的做法带到课堂上. Many have worked to provide equal opportunities for all students, but is equality the correct goal? 在过去的几个月, I have heard more and more people expressing how providing students with equal resources does not mean that they will have equal outcomes. 不幸的是, 我们生活在一个充满种族主义的世界, 性别歧视, 残疾歧视, 恐同症, and countless other prejudices that put many people at a disadvantage from the second they are born. Providing the same resources to someone who is privileged as to those who have been at a disadvantage their whole life will not produce the same outcomes. 而不是仅仅关注平等，给予学生完全相同的支持, 教师需要通过为学生提供成功所需的东西来关注公平.
因为我现在在学校想成为一名老师, 我经常被关于课堂上什么应该是重要的信息轰炸. 有时候，把股权放在次要位置似乎更容易. 但公平应该是我每一次关于教育的谈话的首要议题. It should be a teacher’s number one priority to give every student the individualized support that they need to succeed. So, we should shift from talking about whether we should work for equity to discussing how we will achieve that goal.
最近，我有幸参加了一个由Noyce Project SERVE主办的研讨会, “克服STEM课堂中的不平等”. 在这次会议上, we heard from panelists Josh Males (K-12 Math Curriculum Specialist at 林肯 Public Schools), Dr. Sharmin Sikich(十大网络娱乐平台注册化学副教授), 和埃米琳·沃森(数学客座助理教授) & Engineering Mathematics at 十大网络娱乐平台注册) about their opinions on how to increase equity in our classrooms. 他们每个人都给出了一些很好的见解, 我将重点介绍他们提出的一些重要观点.
One of the first topics that the panelists spoke about was their vision for the ideal STEM classroom. Dr. Sikich and Professor Watson both talked about the importance of students not being scared to ask questions or share their ideas. 许多学生, 尤其是有色人种的年轻女孩, 害怕犯错误吗, 所以他们选择在课堂上完全不说话. 这些学生在很小的时候就已经相信他们的答案并不重要, 他们也无法在学业上取得成功. All students need to be told and shown that their voice is important and that making mistakes is ok and part of the learning process. We need to create a classroom environment that supports and encourages the diverse student population in our schools today.
We then heard from the panelists about who is really affected by inequities in education and how detrimental this can be. 埃米琳 drew from her own experiences of speaking English as a second language to share how difficult it is to navigate the educational system in a country set up only for English speakers. 这个国家几乎所有的东西都只用英语书写和口语. 甚至在网站上有翻译成其他语言的选项, 你需要懂英语才能找到那些翻译的地方. This makes it very difficult for students who are learning English to succeed when there are so many barriers to their success.
Mr. 男性还分享了一些非常有见地的想法，说明课堂上的不平等是多么有害. 他说，如果学生在学校有太多障碍, 他们会觉得自己不受欢迎. They will feel ostracized and isolated from the rest of the students who do not have those same barriers. Since school is such an integral part of our society, they will in turn not feel welcomed in society. This is an unfortunate but very real truth in our country and is yet another reason teachers need to work to overcome inequity in the classroom.
为了克服课堂上的不平等，我们必须能够认识到这一点. Each of the panelists shared some specific examples of how they have seen injustice in their own classrooms. Sharmin shared about how many students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds simply do not have access to the same supplies because their families cannot afford them. 她还提出了在以白人为主的学校关注“象征性少数族裔”的问题. Dr. Sikich指出了隔离这些学生的负面影响, 因为他们的种族，他们总是在聚光灯下. 埃米琳 brought up the inequity of treating students differently because of the ways they dress. 不同文化和种族的人通常穿着不同, 然而，学校通常希望学生遵守白人文化的规范. 在认为一套衣服会“分散注意力”之前, we need to consider that students should be able to express themselves appropriately through their choice of wardrobe. 最后，Josh谈到了课堂问题是如何分配给学生的. 太频繁, only the white male students are given the high-quality questions while the students of color and girls are asked simple questions that do not encourage them to think critically.
但是对于课堂上的这些不平等，我们能做些什么呢? 埃米琳, Sharmin, 乔希就如何减少课堂上的不平等提出了9个具体的建议:
- 增加提问的等待时间. This gives more opportunity for students who may be less confident or need more time for processing in order to answer questions.
- 提供重修考试的机会. 教学的目的是让学生学习和提高. Allowing exam retakes highlights this goal by enabling students to demonstrate their learning whenever that takes place. 这在STEM中尤其重要，因为许多主题都是相互建立的. So, students must acquire foundational knowledge of the topic before moving onto the next one.
- 使用基于掌握的评分. This method goes along with offering exam retakes because it focuses on student learning rather than grades.
- 进行实践活动. Students who may not do as well in typical academic settings often flourish when given more tangible and authentic activities to perform.
- 当学生寻求帮助时，倾听. 这一点似乎很明显，但却是至关重要的. We need to reinforce the idea that asking questions is ok and that teachers are here to help.
- 庆祝学习里程碑. 学生们需要意识到他们学到了什么，这样他们才能为自己感到骄傲. 当我们强调学生在课堂上学到的东西时, 这可以增强他们的自信心.
- 让学生参与当地问题. 这可能对每个学生都有影响，但对少数族裔来说尤其如此. 因为许多少数民族觉得自己不受主流文化的欢迎, involving them in something that connects them to their own community can produce positive and meaningful learning experiences.
- 对课堂程序和规范持批判态度. Most of the inequity that happens in our schools is not done with ill-intent by the teachers. 而不是, unjust practices are often perpetuated because the teacher did not consider that a classroom norm was unfair to a sub-set of their students. 我们需要对我们的课堂结构持批判态度, 管理的行为, 教学内容确保所有学生都能获得相同的结果.
- 是反思的. 我们需要不断思考自己的偏见，以及它们是如何影响我们的课堂的. 我们可能会无意识地受到我们甚至不知道自己拥有的偏见的推动.
学校要摆脱不公正现象还有很长的路要走. The recent Noyce Project SERVE seminar has provided some concrete steps that we can take to move closer to justice in our classrooms. The nine tangible suggestions provided by the seminar panelists provide a good place to start. Educators need to continue actively working to end inequity in schools and in our whole society. 虽然教师可能无法凭一己之力结束种族主义和偏见, I am confident that we will do our part to make our students feel valued and respected for their diversity and unique contributions. 这无疑会使我们的国家发生变化.
娜奥米·柯克沃尔德(21届)是一名 十大网络娱乐平台注册快速教师培训项目Noyce十大网络娱乐平台注册. 完成教师资格认证后, 她计划在一所高需求的中学教科学.
