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: Communicating Classroom Standards
It is an educator’s responsibility to set the standards for the way a classroom will run, which must be done both very clearly and very early on in the learning process. In order to promote equity in the classroom, there are a few very specific and significant standards educators should aim to set. Learning in Discomfort
Attwood explains that in order to practice the act of “calling in,” students need to build their capacity to learn in and through discomfort. It is in this state, she says, that students can actually be most open to new ideas, including those that may challenge how they previously looked at a certain aspect of the world. Respecting Everyone’s Voice
It’s important that each student in the room feels that they have both the power to speak their mind and that their words will be used productively in conversation. 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.”