Welcome to Our Seminar! Please help yourself to some refreshments! Don’t be shy! Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the packet Please Answer Questions 1 and 2 on the half sheet in the left side of your packet

Fairness and Equality Seminar Team: Jesse Allen, Sarah Anne Baxter, Nina Di Pietro, and Teresa Funes

What are we aiming for in the differentiated classroom? Equality Fairness

Alexis de Tocqueville – “an abstract word is like a box with a false bottom; you can put in it what ideas you please and take them out again unobserved” – “This abundance of abstract terms in the language of democracy without reference to any particular facts, both widens the scope of thought and clouds it. They make expression quicker but conceptions less clear."

St. Thomas Aquinas “Since man by nature is a social animal he needs assistance from other men in order to obtain his own end. Now this is most suitably done if men love one another mutually.”

American Declaration of Independence (1776) “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ”

John Locke in his Second Treatise (1689) “…there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection…”

Aristotle “…if they are not equal, they will not have what is equal, but this is the origin of quarrels and complaints--when either equals have and are awarded unequal shares, or unequals equal shares.”

Key Concepts from the Texts Teaching in a fair and developmentally appropriate manner Differentiated instruction does not mean we make learning easier for students but provides an appropriate challenge Requires us to do things differently for different students when the general classroom does not meet the student’s needs

Key Concepts from the Texts (Cont.) “Fair is not always equal, and our goal as teachers is to be fair and developmentally appropriate, not one- size fits-all equal”

Is there a common understanding of equality? Modern Thought “One-size fits- all equality” The differentiated classroom Ancient Thought Aquinas, John Locke Thomas Jefferson Aristotle

What is the relationship between fairness and equality?

Education and Instruction in The Heterogeneous Class “One potential lesson that can be learned in school is that each person is a unique individual with merits and deficiencies who deserves to be treated in a respectful and equitable manner” – Yisrael Rich “One potential lesson that can be learned in school is that each person is a unique individual with merits and deficiencies who deserves to be treated in a respectful and equitable manner” – Yisrael Rich

Dignify each learner with learning that is meaningful Continuously assess student readiness and interest Extend student exploration when indications are that a student or group of students is ready to move ahead. Dignify each learner with learning that is meaningful Continuously assess student readiness and interest Extend student exploration when indications are that a student or group of students is ready to move ahead.

Content/ Process/ Product Content: Should address the same concepts with all students but be adjusted by degree of complexity for the diversity of learners in the classroom. Process: Based on the content, project, and on-going evaluations, grouping and regrouping must be a dynamic process Product: Incorporating pre and on-going assessment informs teachers to better provide a menu of approaches, choices, and scaffolds for the varying needs, interests and abilities that exist in classrooms of diverse students.

“In education today there’s a widespread notion of “fairness” in some cosmic sense— not in the sense of treating everyone the same, but in the sense of trying to redress pre-existing inequalities.” - Thomas Sowell

Scenarios

Underachiever  Do you allow him to remain at this level of performance or is there something you, as the instructor, can do?  How can you do this while keeping an atmosphere of equality amongst the other performing students? Under Achiever Movie Clip

OverAcheiver  What do you think would be the best way to discipline each of the students?  Should teachers have consistent methods of discipline?

Child with Learning Disablities  Is it the teacher’s responsibility to accommodate Keith’s learning disability?  Why or why not?  How would you accommodate a child with a learning disability without lowering the educational standards of the whole class?  Would you lower your expectations for that one child?

Average Student  Was the group participation part of the criteria for a grade?  Were students aware of this?  How often did the teacher observe and document?  Do you think this is the most effective way to get Nick to do more in class?

How to Nurture Success in All Children! Does differentiated instruction help to ensure fairness and equality in the classroom? How?