Students on Equity in Education
Many students have expressed the importance to them of having school staff who share, or at least understand, their backgrounds. This allows for learning opportunities to be aligned to their own experiences and for staff to be more relatable to them.
Jaliyah: It’s important for me to learn in an environment that prioritizes cultural diversity and inclusion
“It’s important for me to learn in an environment that prioritizes cultural diversity and inclusion. During Hispanic Heritage month, my school put up flags from different Spanish-speaking countries to show that they were prioritizing diversity, but in reality, the kids get picked on for being different and the school doesn’t do much about it.” — Jaliyah
Alexis: I know my teachers are well intentioned
“I know my teachers are well intentioned when listening to my concerns, but when they don’t understand or know my experiences, student voice – my voice – becomes endangered. The effects of this failure to genuinely understand students falls particularly hard onto marginalized students–Black, Indigenous, and people of color (or BIPOC) and LGBTQ students—at my school.” — Alexis
Chris: It would help if teachers understood the needs of students of color
“It would go a long way to help if there were teachers from the community who could understand the needs of students of color.… I feel like if more teachers understood our backgrounds, things would go better because teachers would know how to talk to students and have relationships with them.” — Chris
Chelsea: Supportive adults share our experiences, treat us as equals
“They [supportive adults] often share our experiences, treat us as equals, prioritize our well-being, and know how to gain our trust so that we can access the learning we so badly want. Those who can connect with us understand the unique challenges of our diverse and often disadvantaged student body.”
— Chelsea
Focus Group: Racial makeup of staff should be representative of student body
“I think that issue of [relatability] and the area that people come from, the areas they grew up in, the demographics or the racial makeup of the [staff] should in some ways be representative of the student body.”
— Focus Group Report