Inequality in Education: Communication Strategies for Equity

Introduction: The Roots of Educational Inequality

People often face inequality. Whether it is based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, class, or disability, students may feel stifled or stunted in their education due to feelings of inadequacy and experiences of inequality. For decades prior to the Civil Rights Movement, Black and white students were separated, with white children attending well-funded schools and Black children attending poorly funded and maintained ones. Although the United States has worked toward integration and a more common playing field for everyone, Black students still experience significant inequality — many face poverty, underfunded schools, overcrowded classrooms, and low-quality instruction.

It is therefore important to understand what kinds of issues children face today in terms of inequality by learning key principles, observing communication patterns, and implementing sound strategies. Ten golden nuggets drawn from course readings will be used to show that inequality can stem not only from racial or ethnic perspectives, but also from assumptions about intelligence and from environmental circumstances.

Instructors and teachers must communicate a sense of understanding and provide an even playing field for students who are underprivileged, of various racial or ethnic backgrounds, or have mental disabilities. Regular evaluation — at least once a week — can help monitor how students progress throughout a semester, especially when particular students are struggling. An instructor may experience miscommunication or a total breakdown of communication if students feel they cannot trust the instructor, if the instructor uses offensive language, or if students feel talked down to. Face-to-face conversations as well as online services such as email, forums, and chat can help shy or stressed parents and students reach out to instructors more comfortably.

Communication and Perceived Intelligence

The first golden nugget — "Communication Aha!: The way people talk about your ability affects how they treat you and then, how you succeed — no matter what is 'in your head'" (Chapter 6, Pollock 4) — provides an important lesson for developing a new communication infrastructure as it relates to inequality. Children and students are impressionable, especially during their formative years. If a student is told by an instructor that they are not smart, or if a student repeatedly receives low grades with little guidance on how to improve, that student will internalize a negative self-concept. They will begin to feel as though they are incapable and that no one believes in them. Students facing inequality in any form often need someone in their corner to believe in them and encourage them. That support gives them the motivation to continue. Without it, they may lack the self-esteem and drive to go the extra mile needed to succeed.

The second golden nugget is a strategy: "Say out loud that no group is 'smarter' than any other. Actively reject the myth that intelligence is distributed differently to 'groups'" (Chapter 6, Pollock 16). Intelligence is at times perceived as disproportionately distributed. Students in better-funded schools have more opportunities to advance. Those from higher-income families can dedicate most of their time to academics rather than part-time work or caring for family members. Many circumstances cause children and students to feel less intelligent or less equal to peers who appear to succeed without effort.

This golden nugget imparts a valuable communication lesson. Although it may seem to some as though white or Asian students in America are inherently smarter than Black students, this perception is false. Many factors contribute to differences in academic achievement, and these do not arise from genetics or brain capacity but rather from unfortunate circumstances and a lack of positive reinforcement and effective communication. The only instance in which a person may face genuine cognitive limitations is in the case of a neurological or developmental disability — and even then, that individual remains equal to others in his or her own unique way. As Shi (2012) explains, "Practical intelligence, the ability to adapt to everyday life by drawing on existing knowledge and skills, enables an individual to understand what needs to be done in a specific setting and then do it" (p. 461).

The third golden nugget reinforces this point: "We have no simple way to measure 'intelligence'" (Chapter 6, Pollock 5). Intelligence comes in many forms — spatial intelligence, social intelligence, and others. Some individuals possess great capacity across multiple intelligences; others may excel in just a few. Communicating thoughtfully with students to understand how they learn and adapt opens the door to identifying their personal strengths and preferred ways of acquiring information. When building communication infrastructures that promote equality, it is best to learn through careful conversation what each student excels at.

Multiple Intelligences and Equitable Communication

Some important questions to consider when addressing inequality through communication include:

How can instructors relate to young people? What are the current interests and trends among young people? Will awareness of those interests affect how young people communicate with instructors? And does understanding multiple intelligences help in creating an effective communication infrastructure?

Instructors can relate to younger students by developing an understanding of intelligence in its many forms. The fourth golden nugget — "Core Tension: While it's inaccurate to state that a person has only so much 'intelligence,' saying a person has only one form of intelligence is also inaccurate" (Gardner 7) — provides a deeper examination of how intelligence functions. It also highlights how knowledge of multiple intelligences can open better avenues of communication. When people feel unequal, they sometimes feel pre-judged or made to feel as though they do not belong among the average or above-average student. To limit a person to a single intelligence is to communicate that this is all he or she is capable of — which is not true. Students can learn new ways of gathering and analyzing information, turn weaknesses into strengths, and grow far beyond their initial limitations. This possibility is empowering for those who feel the effects of inequality.

As a concrete example: if an instructor meets a fifth-grade student who has ADHD and struggles with reading and mathematics, the instructor might administer an online learning-style questionnaire to assess how that student best acquires information. Through this process, the instructor might discover that the student learns most effectively through visual aids and hands-on experiences — and can then tailor instruction accordingly.

The fifth golden nugget adds further support: "PRINCIPLE: It's more helpful to students if we recognize that we each have many different skills we hone at different times" (Chapter 6, Pollock 8). Everyone has something to offer, and that something can take multiple forms. Consider a painter, for example. Even if a painter struggles in a subject like mathematics, he or she may possess strong spatial intelligence and a highly developed visual learning style — skills that become apparent simply by observing the act of painting and recognizing the cognitive processes it demands.

The sixth golden nugget was chosen for its honest self-reflective quality: "Communication Aha! When reading Mica Pollock's 'From Shallow to Deep' article (2010), I realized I've often thrown around big statements about which groups 'care' more about school, without really having enough evidence" (Chapter 6, Pollock 3). People often make communication mistakes, and identifying those mistakes is the first step toward more effective dialogue. Everyone is susceptible to saying the wrong thing out of ignorance of the situation or the moment — what might be called "foot-in-mouth" errors. When communicating with students, it is especially important to recognize this tendency and avoid reinforcing stereotypes or flawed assumptions. As Murrell (1990) emphasizes, understanding diverse cultural perspectives is essential to responsible professional practice in education.

To revisit the earlier classroom example: if an instructor accidentally tells a student that he cannot learn as quickly as his peers, that student will feel discouraged from continuing to communicate. To remedy this, the instructor can speak with the student's parents, offer an apology, suggest extra credit opportunities, or recommend additional online resources to help the student maintain his grades and deepen his understanding of the material.

Conclusion: Building an Equitable Communication Infrastructure

Students, teachers, and parents must all have a part to play in the establishment of a sound communication infrastructure. Having email communications and even online chat options may provide alternatives for students or parents who are too busy or too shy to speak out. The internet offers a new frontier for educational communication and should be used thoughtfully and responsibly. At the same time, classic face-to-face communication remains essential for gauging a student's home life and overall well-being.

The stakes are high. Black students are suspended disproportionately — sometimes as early as preschool — for behaviors that white students engage in without the same consequences. Administrators, security guards, and instructors frequently overreact to Black boys or students with disabilities in American schools, labeling them "threatening" or "unteachable," in part because of biased and often unconscious mental associations rooted in histories of slavery, segregation, and stigma around mental illness (Lewin, 2012). Changing this reality requires individuals at every level of the educational system to commit to open communication, self-awareness, and a genuine effort to transform what is unfair and unequal into what is encouraging and just.

Works Cited

Knight, David. "Don't Tell Young Black Males That They Are 'Endangered.'" Washington Post, 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Lewin, Tamar. "Black Students Face More Harsh Discipline, Data Shows." Nytimes.com, 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Murrell, Peter. "Making Uncommon Sense: Critical Revisioning Professional Knowledge About Diverse Cultural Perspectives in Teacher Education." Eric.ed.gov, 1990. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Rist, Ray. "Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education." Harvard Educational Review 40.3 (1970): 411. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

Shi, Zhongzhi. Intelligence Science. Singapore: World Scientific, 2012. Print.