Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 13

delineate the difference: Imagine you are in
a crowded room and one person collapses
and you rush to administer CPR to this person, including mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Due to your quick thinking and knowledge of first aid, this person lives.
The concept of fairness requires that you
then give CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to each person in the room; you gave
support to one person, so to be fair you must
give it to everyone. The concept of equity
states that you provide the support that each
person needs. The others do not need CPR
and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to continue breathing, thus there is no need to give
it. One person received extra attention and
support, and in this example, would have
died without it.
I once saw a cartoon that depicted three
boys trying to look over a wall. Each boy was
a different height. The first picture labeled
“fair” showed each boy standing on the
same size box; the tallest boy could easily see
over the wall, the medium-height boy could
barely see over the wall, and the shortest
boy could not see over the wall. The second
picture labeled “equity” showed each boy
standing on boxes of different heights and
they could all see over the wall.

Conflicts become barriers to learning
We need to provide more support to those
who need it. These metaphorical examples
clearly delineate the terms “equity” and
“fair;” however, in education the key is not
in the theory, it is in practice and implementation.
Lack of equity creates conflict. Conflicts
arising from cultural differences are commonplace for students and adults in our
educational paradigm. If we do not embrace
the diversity and work to understand and
support the diversity through equity, these
conflicts become barriers and not learning
experiences.
There is a distinct institutionalized culture in schools. Some families come to us
knowing how to navigate the institution
of school and some do not. Likewise, some
prospective administrators come knowing
how to prepare for the promotion and others
do not. Effective administrators are able to
identify the conflicts, reflect on and identify

There is a distinct
institutionalized culture in
our schools. Some families
come to us knowing how to
navigate the institution of
school and some do not.

always did in my American suburban hometown. The favelado – Brazilians who live in
the favelas – identified my native walking
style with money and physical weakness,
whether I felt that way about myself or not.
The moment the walking style changed
– hips thrust forward, head back, no smile,
arms swinging largely from side to side – I
was no longer viewed as an outsider, but one
of the favelado. Even though I still spoke
with an American accent, once my gait
changed the favelado no longer saw me as an
outsider.
Indeed, as a survival skill, I quickly
adapted to the lifestyle in the favela. In addition to walking, while learning Portuguese
I developed a manner of speaking and vocabulary patterned after the favelado, as they
were the people with whom I had the most
interactions.

ձ