How many times as a kid did you say the words, “that’s not fair” or some variation of? In our society we are hung up on a sense of fairness. But the point that is usually being made is actually, “that’s not equal”. For some reason we equate fairness with things being equal. And that’s a shame.
As a teacher, I get a lot of opportunities to distinguish between fair and equal. I have a classroom with up to 20 kids who each learn differently and each deserves the opportunity to achieve success using their natural abilities and the tools I can provide. (SIDEBAR: Anyone out there reading this who just did a double-take that I only have 20 kids in my class instead of the usual 30-35 you hear about in news stories, well, that’s the advantage of a small district. And I love it. My classes range from 12-20. We call it Paradise for a reason. And before you get any notion about packing up and moving out here…stop. Except H.E.E., you have already bought land. You bring those sweet kids and let me get a crack at ‘em. Everyone else stay put. If you all move out here, I will have 30 kids in my class) So, a room full of kids who each learn differently. What do you do? How do you treat them fairly? Well, first of all, you acknowledge that fair is not always equal.
There is a thing in education called “accommodations”. Some students receive these by law because they have a diagnosed learning difference and these accommodations help them to master the learning standards and skills. If you are old like me, you might remember being in elementary school and looking around and realizing that your friends in class were grouped by “ability”; the smart kids in one group, the average kids in another, and then the students that had the most difficulty were in the final group. We don’t do that anymore. Teachers can have lots of individual learning accommodations in one classroom. It is challenging work. It is rewarding too. I think I find it most rewarding when you have students that might be struggling and they don’t have any mandatory accommodations, yet you find the way that they learn and you help them. But wait? Is that fair? To give a student help that is not mandated on a piece of paper in your file? Absolutely. It’s fair. It’s not equal. And there is a big difference.
Several years ago, I was actually called out by a student about another student receiving a different assignment. They wanted to know why they had to do “more” work. This was a perfect time for me to explain the fair and equal principle, without embarrassing any of the students involved. The story goes… Imagine you have been outside riding your four-wheeler (hey, we are in Paradise, it’s what kids do) and you have an accident. Your parents need to take you to the hospital. They have a choice: Hospital A where every patient is treated fairly or Hospital B where every patient is equal. (You already see where this is going don’t you?) You insist on going to Hospital B because you want the same treatment everyone else gets (because as a kid you think fair means equal). You get to Hospital B and they look at your injuries and give you an aspirin. That’s what they give everybody at Hospital B. The problem is you broke your arm and an aspirin doesn’t quite fix that. But, you were treated equally with every other patient that came in. Obviously, your parents whisk you away to Hospital A where the treatment is fair and you get your arm put in a cast. The kid in the room next to you is getting stitches on his forehead and another patient down the hall is getting antibiotics for an infection. All of which is fair, because each patient has unique symptoms.
I have shared this analogy (variations of) many times throughout my career. Which is not to say that I don’t have my moments when I have to remind myself that fair does not always mean equal. I think it is something that we need to remind ourselves of when we are faced with applying rules/standards/expectations and we try to make it “one size fit all”. Life is gray. There are times when black and white standards/rules must apply but there are times when you have to look at the big picture and be fair.
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