Christel Grall

We all come from different places and spaces. We all have independent learning styles, have contrasting means of expression and communication styles. There is no one child that is the same; we learn this from a very young age. So, when it comes to being an educator and ensuring every child gets the best version of school possible, we need to embrace all those differences and make learning fun for all students, and most importantly, impactful for each of them. We cannot offer equity in the classroom if we are using the same, old, rigid style of teaching. That is like trying to fit a square into a circle. I believe we can offer equity in the classroom by incorporating culturally responsive instruction into the curriculum. Culturally responsive education requires stepping outside of the typical education box and finding the things that make your students feel connected to the lesson and engages them on a more personal level. This style of teaching will allow me to go even further in...

Schooling is not equitable here in America and I don't believe it is equitable anywhere else in the world either. One reason is the existence of systemic racism. It exists just about everywhere humans inhabit.  Some places are better than others, for sure, but it is woven into societies across the globe. How can something be fair, when the very society that it is built on is constructed with only part of the story, or a story that is assigned to someone, doesn't actually belong to them. Chimamanda Ngozi's video “The Danger of a Single Story” (2009), explained this idea so well. Our societies are built on assumptions of other cultures that are not as prevalent in our own. I think if we looked for the similarities we all had, vs. the things that make us different, we would see that many our assumptions as a society or group of people are indeed invalid. Honoring individuals backgrounds and culture by incorporating them into lessons is truly where that 'single story' a...