Designing Equitable Learning Environments

Designing Equitable Learning Environments

With racism and COVID-19 at the center of our society’s troubles, the time is now to reimagine education and create a more equitable classroom experience for our students.

Life as we knew it no longer exists. Many of us are grappling with finding a new normal, adjusting our mindsets from teaching in-person to co-creating a virtual setting with students, or dealing with the realities of teaching in person during a global pandemic. Plenty of educators are grieving in all sorts of ways and for a variety of reasons.

Not only are we dealing with a global pandemic, but also our country’s history of racial injustice has been brought to the forefront of our awareness, thus challenging us to reckon with and navigate many harsh realities. No longer can we unsee what we now see, unlearn what we have learned, and ignore what we know to be true. The same is true for our students. Our students are grappling with understanding what is happening, figuring out where they fit in all of this mess and trying to learn like before. “Before” is such a time-constrained and interesting concept: before COVID-19 before racism was discussed as openly as it is now before we were forced to face realities that we kept hidden and forgot about.  

MORE ...