Elevating Equity Literacy Project
Developing equity literacy is important to disrupt bias and move towards social justice, but where do we start this journey? We offer this resource as a tool to support individual reflection and group discourse for educators across the K-12 school system, or for those interested in or associated with education spaces.
While there are many entry points into this work, we have opted to use definitions pulled from Paul Gorski's Equity Literacy for Educators document, added below for context (Gorski, 2017), as an organizational frame for this toolkit. We certainly invite you to use the actions, knowledge, and skills introduced as a launch point for your own learning.
Source: Gorski, P. (2017). Equity literacy for educators: Definitions and abilities. Education Change and the Equity Literacy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.edchange. org/handouts/Equity-Literacy-Intro-Abilities. pdf.
Equity Literacy:
Definition and Abilities
Equity literacy is a comprehensive approach for creating and sustaining equitable schools. The foundations of equity literacy are (1) a commitment to deepening individual and institutional understandings of how equity and inequity operate in organizations and societies, and (2) the individual and institutional knowledge, skills, and will to vigilantly identify inequities, eliminate inequities, and actively cultivating equity. At the individual level, when we embrace equity literacy we learn to become a threat to the existence of inequity and an active cultivator of equity in our spheres of influence.
1. Ability to recognize even the subtlest biases, inequities, and oppressive ideologies
Equity literate educators:
notice subtle bias in learning materials and classroom interactions;
are curious about ways school policies and practices disadvantage some students in unintentional (or intentional) ways; and
reject deficit ideology, or the view that outcome disparities (in test scores or graduation rates, for example) are caused by the cultures or mindsets of students of color, students experiencing poverty, or other students from marginalized communities.
2. Ability to respond to biases, inequities, and oppressive ideologies in the immediate term
Equity literate educators:
develop the facilitation skills and content knowledge needed to intervene effectively when biases or inequities arise in a classroom or school;
cultivate in students the ability to analyze bias and inequity in classroom materials, classroom interactions, and school policies and practices; and
foster conversations with colleagues about equity concerns in their schools.
3. Ability to redress biases, inequities, and oppressive ideologies in the long term by addressing their root causes
Equity literate educators:
proactively advocate against inequitable practices and policies and advocate for equitable practices and policies, rather than responding only when individual instances of bias or inequity arise;
recognize and address the root causes of educational outcome and experiences disparities rather than addressing only the symptoms of these disparities; and
understand how biases and inequities operating in classrooms, schools, and other organizations are connected to larger societal conditions.
4. Ability to actively cultivate equitable, anti-oppressive ideologies and institutional cultures
Equity literacy educators:
instinctively apply an equity lens to every policy, pedagogy, practice, program, and process decision;
prioritize the interests and needs of the students and families whose interests and needs historically have not been prioritized; and
understand that equity is a baseline commitment that should inform everything, not a program, strategy, or event to layer on top of all of the other programs, strategies, or events.
5. Ability to sustain bias-free, equitable, and anti-oppressive classrooms, schools, ideologies, and institutional cultures
Equity literate educators:
understand that equity progress often elicits concerns and complaints from people who are accustomed to a disproportionate share of access and opportunity, and are able to recognize these concerns and complaints as an indication of progress, not as a reason to roll back progress;
know how to communicate with certainty and confidence a commitment to equity even in the face of these concerns and complaints; and
are cautious of the constant barrage of popular programs and strategies that often pose as “equity” but have little to do with equity and stay committed to embracing a long-term transformative approach based on evidence for what makes an institution like theirs more equitable and just.
Empowering Equity Literacy in Education Toolkit Sections
Project Architects
Maya Garcia
Tami Caraballo
