Equity vs. Equality
In equitable schools and societies, everyone gets what they need. This is different from equality where everyone gets the exact same resources or opportunities. To achieve equity, we need to recognize that each person has a different set of circumstances or "starting lines." Resources are then allocated as needed to each person to achieve an equal outcome.
Illustration by Eliza M., Brooklyn L., and Finley W.
Grade 5 students participated in a simulation where teams of students were challenged to create the longest paper chain. However, they weren't told that different teams were given different sets of materials. For example, one privileged group had pre-cut strips of paper and multiple functioning staplers for the project. Another group was at a disadvantage only receiving whole sheets of paper and a glue stick. Quickly, students started to complain that the activity wasn't fair.
After processing why the paper chain activity wasn't fair, students watched a video showing a "privilege walk" where participants stand at a starting line for a race. In the video, a facilitator read a statement and participants took steps forward if it applies to them. The facilitator said statements such as: If one or both of your parents graduated from college, take one step forward. Another statement example was: If you almost always see members of your race, sexual orientation, religion, and class widely represented on television, in the newspaper, and the media in a positive manner, take one step forward. Before the race even started, it was clear that different people had different starting points.
Next, students discussed ways that society could make starting points more fair to achieve the same outcomes. This drawing illustrates the concept:
Source: Interaction Institute for Social Change
Returning back to the paper chain activity, students could then see that factors such as education levels, socio-economic status, first languages and other factors can cause people to start off at a disadvantage. These are factors that people don't have control over. Yet, they can affect achievement and opportunity. When you know this, you begin to understand that equitable doesn't mean equal. Equity means everyone getting what they need to achieve an equal outcome.
A real life example of equity could be: Computer labs in a lower-income school having more computers and extended hours for their many students who don't have access to computers at their homes. The outcome is the same: Students who have computers at their homes and the students who stay late at school to use school computers can still get their computer homework completed.
Finally, students produced posters to show the difference between equality and equity to teach others about this important concept.
Drawings by Emma D., Audrey, S., and Isabella S.
