Title: 4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom | Northeastern University
Headings: 4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom
4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom
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What is Equity in The Classroom?
The Relevance of Equity in the Classroom
4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom
1. Promoting the Act of “Calling In”
2. Communicating Classroom Standards
Learning in Discomfort
Respecting Everyone’s Voice
Listening
Setting Personal Teaching Standards
3. Setting the Tone for Learning
4. Analyzing the Unique Makeup of Each Class
Beyond the Responsibility of Educators

Content: “There are certain guidelines and practices that are more promoted within the discussion [of equity in education], but there’s not a magic recipe for how you do this,” she says. Instead, she explains that there are some basic approaches to developing a tone of equality in a classroom that teachers should follow in order to get their students in the right mindset to bridge such sensitive topics. These practices—alongside each teacher’s own experiences, background, and personal strengths—will create an equitable environment in which students can learn. 1. Promoting the Act of “Calling In”
This method of promoting equity in the classroom is derived from the idea that teachers must always be listening for and identifying moments of bias, oppression, and other subconscious, identity-based assumptions and ideas that students bring up in the classroom. In these instances, Attwood says, it’s important that “rather than call people out on what they don’t know or where you disagree… [educators should, instead], call in …” and address the issue head-on so that students can “learn from and through their differences, even when [it’s] challenging.” An example of a situation where the act of “calling in” may be utilized, is if a student was to make an insensitive comment about someone’s gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. during a group discussion. In this scenario, Attwood believes in stopping the discussion and identifying that the comment was insensitive. She stresses that this does not mean making the commenter feel bad about what he or she has said but, instead, simply involves calling attention to the comment, explaining why it demotes inclusivity, and dissecting, with the rest of the class, what about the commenter’s experiences and background may have instilled these biases.