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
Download Our Free Guide to Earning Your EdD
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: Without this standard in the classroom, it is only natural that the most outspoken voices will try to lead the conversation while quieter voices fall behind, when often it’s the quieter voices that most need to be heard in discussions of equity. Listening
Attwood believes that students who are able to listen and process others’ perspectives without feeling the need to jump in and defend their own views can learn the most in an equitable environment. Setting Personal Teaching Standards
Alongside setting standards for how the students in his or her classroom should act, a teacher must also take the time to address and live out their own personal teaching standards. Educators set these standards by communicating personal traits like openness, fairness, and approachability so that students who do partake in these often difficult equity-related discussions feel comfortable doing so. Attwood explains that it’s important she can “communicate being approachable and willing to listen to some students who are feeling that something’s not working in that climate of the classroom.” This, she stresses, is a key factor in creating the open dialogue needed to address these delicate issues. 3. Setting the Tone for Learning
Whereas setting classroom standards is about developing how students will react and engage with discussions in the classroom, setting the tone for learning is about starting students off with activities, exercises, readings, and discussion questions that bridge these difficult topics right from the start. “I often do exercises at the beginning of a class to present an opportunity [for students] to explore for themselves—then share with each other—who they are and the backgrounds that they bring. I share mine [too],” Attwood says. “