The goal of education isn’t merely to learn the core subjects, but rather the goal is to

ensure that every student has opportunities to excel regardless of ability educationally, socially,

behaviorally, or financially. My goal as a teacher is not to provide every student with the same

opportunities to excel because we know that not every student needs to be provided with the

same resources to succeed (Safir, 2016); my goal as a teacher is to provide each student with an

equitable experience in my classroom, meaning that each student has access to the necessities

that they need to achieve their full potential. As a teacher, I will provide students with a safe and

empowering environment that allows them to experience the curriculum hands-on, create

friendships, and prepare them for life outside of school.

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to know where every one of my students are

educationally, socially, behaviorally, and socioeconomically. By knowing this, I will be better

equipped to serve my students and provide them with the environment that they need to learn and

to succeed as individuals. From a content perspective, it is important to know where my students

are developmentally so that I can tailor instruction to better suit the majority of the students as

well as provide individualized instructions as needed. A classroom is a community of learners, so

it is also important to know where students lie on the social and behavioral continuum. Dewey

(1974) believes that a strong community outside the classroom is just as important as community

in the classroom, which is why I strive to incorporate community interactions into my classroom

through real life experiences out in the community. It is important to know the students’

socioeconomic status to provide students with physical resources that they might not have access

to outside of school such as toothbrushes, snacks, and hygiene products. Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs states that students must have their most basic needs such as food, water, safety, and a
sense of belonging before they can progress on to self-actualization, which includes learning and

personal growth (Cherry, 2018).

Knowing all these aspects of my students will help me be an equitable teacher who

provides support for those that need it, but allows students who need less support the

independence to take risks and experience the curriculum. Being an equitable teacher is

important to me because I grew up in an era of teachers who provided the same experiences and

the same supports to everyone in the classroom. I have seen how this is ineffective and now I

know how to change it; by providing the students in need more supports and different

experiences and the students with less needs different supports and different experiences.

Beyond the curriculum, it is important for students to form friendships and become

prepared for life outside of school. I believe that this is done through creating a cohesive

classroom community that allows the students to take risks regarding their friendships, but also

their course work. My lessons will cover more than just content they will cover character

education and real-life experiences to better prepare the students for the democratic society that

we live in.

Although education’s primary goal is to teach students core subjects, to me it is more

than that. As a teacher, I will create a classroom community where students can feel safe to take

risks with their coursework and friendships regardless of their place on the educational, social,

behavioral, or socioeconomic continuum by providing an equitable classroom where students get

the supports and experiences based on their needs.

References
Cherry, K. (2018, November 11). The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760
Dewey, J. (1974). The child and the curriculum and the school and society. Chicago, IL: Univ.
of Chicago Pr.
Safir, S. (2016, January 21). Equity vs. Equality: 6 Steps Toward Equity. Retrieved June 21,
2019, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/equity-vs-equality-shane-safir