Excellence and Equity


The focus of my blog today will be my reaction to the podcast of Angela Watson: Engagement, Excellence,& equity: A conversion with Regie Routman.

https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/engagement-excellence-equity-conversation-regie-routman/

The podcast focuses on three major issues: Engagement, excellence, and equity. Regie Routman shares her experience of working with children and provide ideas on how to promote these issues. For instance, in terms of Engagement creating an authentic classroom where teachers are encouraged to share stories about themselves in order to encourage the students to talk about their feelings and experiences in order to create authenticity in the classroom. Also, teachers should highlight their student’s successes and focus on their accomplishments.


In addition, in terms of Equity, Regie Routman highlights the fact that curriculum should challenge students and teachers should treat their students as “intelligent”. Regie Routman shared one incident from her personal experience, of teaching a group of children a certain skill. When she reflected upon the activity, the teacher referred to one specific child and mentioned that she was surprised that the child could master the skills. Regie Routman’s reply was that she did not he cant. It was an essential reminder for us as professional educators to view all our students as capable, and instill confidence in all of them, in order to promote their self-esteem and emotional growth. For instance, teachers should display in the library of the classroom books of a variety of topics and levels to encourage students to challenge themselves and find a book that will meet their interests and challenge their learning and engagement.

Furthermore, Regie Routman shared a quote that she heard from Pedro Nogueira, which inspired me:” Equality and equity are not the same things. Giving everyone a shoe is equality, making sure the shoe fit, its equality”, (Regie Routman, n.d.).


Moreover, in terms of Excellence, teachers should focus on the student’s strengths and plan a curriculum that should reflect and connect to real-life experiences. The curriculum will inspire the students to think and reflect on their own lives. For instance, teachers should be encouraged to share information about a challenge and the people who solved that challenge. Then, the conversation about that issue should encourage children to think about other ways to solve the challenge, and how this issue relates to their own lives.


I was influenced by this podcast and by the ways Regie Routman addressed equity. Besides, I visited the web address of Angela Watson, the host of the podcast. Angela Watson is a national Board certifies teacher. In her website, she offers beside her podcasts, a blog about teaching, printables, and books that she wrote to inspire teachers.

You can find her address here:https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/

Comments

  1. Samantha M. GarciaAugust 1, 2020 at 4:59 AM

    Good morning Ilana,

    Your post reminds me to always consider our student's strengths. I love the shoe analogy.

    Samantha

    ReplyDelete

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