(a) How do you think ‘equity’ is different to ‘equality’? Give an example from your professional experience.
(b) In your local, regional or national context, what would equity in teacher professional development look like?
(c) Think of a successful TPD programme that utilises ICTs, that you know of. How could this model be implemented further, for more teachers in other locations, where conditions are different? What would need to be changed or adapted, and why?
(d) Think of a successful TPD programme that does not currently use ICTs. Could this programme be expanded to more teachers with the use of ICTs? What type of ICT might be appropriate, given what you know about teachers’ access to connectivity and
to digital devices? How could ICTs make the programme more equitable, efficient, or higher quality?
‘Equality’ tends to mean giving everyone the same thing. ‘Equity’ recognises that we do not all have the same needs or starting points. Individuals may need to receive something different (not equal) in order to overcome barriers to learning. ‘Equality’
can mean treating every student, or every teacher, the same. ‘Equity’ means making sure that every student, and every teacher, has the support they need to be successful.
Equity in education has two dimensions. The first is fairness: ensuring that personal and social circumstances – for example gender, socio-economic status or ethnic origin – should not be an obstacle to achieving educational potential. The second
is inclusion: ensuring a basic minimum standard of education for all – for example that everyone should be able to read, write and do simple arithmetic (OECD 2008).
When we focus on equality, we think of everyone having the same rights, opportunities, and resources. Equality is beneficial, but it may not address specific needs. For instance, giving every teacher a laptop might not help teachers who have very low digital competencies; giving teachers training resources in English will not help teachers who do not use English; training teachers to use single-grade lesson plans will not help teachers who have large, multi-grade classes.
Equity in teacher professional development means putting models and systems in place to make sure that every teacher has an equal chance to learn and improve. Equitable TPD programmes recognise teachers’ different starting points.
Information and communication technologies can improve teachers’ access, engagement, and learning outcomes. In the example from Honduras, field testing first identified the different levels of connectivity and the different technologies that teachers
have across the country. With this knowledge, a high quality TPD model could be adapted to be more equitable and efficient.
In Course 2, you will read about the very wide range of ICTs, online and offline, that are currently being used to achieve TPD@Scale across the Global South.
