Leading for equity

Introduction

Equity has finally caught up with excellence in the minds and priorities of policy-makers around the world. Manifestos, papers and directives are increasingly being littered, like confetti, with the word ‘equity’ and it is likely that this policy zeitgeist is not going to disappear any time soon. Grand claims are made for education systems that are pursuing equity, inclusion and justice. A recent OECD (2018, 4) report notes that:

Clearly, the most impressive outcome of world-class school systems is that they deliver high-quality education across the entire school system so that every student benefits from excellent teaching. Achieving greater equity in education is not only a social-justice imperative, it is also a way to use resources more efficiently, and to increase the supply of knowledge and skills that fuel economic growth and promote social cohesion. Not least, how we treat the most vulnerable students shows who we are as a society.

The OECD too are now flying the equity flag, first and foremost. Even though their assertions about the relationship between equity, excellence and world-class systems depend upon how high performance is defined and measured. Phrases like ‘achieving greater equity in education’ are quite simply, hard to disagree with or to contest. Such aspirational language tends to accompany much of the policy discourse about educational equity and equality (Harris and Jones 2019).

Equitable education essentially means that any differences in learner outcomes do not result from socio-economic differences but reflect differences in ability, skill or aptitude to learning. A school system that is truly equitable therefore is essentially one where all students reach their full potential, irrespective of their starting point or background.

Leading for equity

Moving away from the language of policy to the reality of making it happen means looking far more closely at the work of those who lead in schools. With those who lead in schools are found the most important insights about how inequity can be tackled head on, at the grassroots level. No elaborate language or grandiose promises will work if children come to school hungry, afraid or neglected. Leading for equity is more than just a strapline in schools and communities where the level of challenge is palpable and the threat to equality of opportunity is the greatest.

The cocktail of disadvantage is a powerful precursor to, and predictor of, the persistent gap in educational outcomes between pupils in low poverty settings and their wealthier counterparts. In schools located in areas of acute disadvantage, students; behaviour can be more challenging; teachers find they need to deal with more social and mental health issues; and there is less home support for learning (Social Market Foundation 2017).¹

For leaders of schools in areas of high poverty, their daily challenge is to try and alleviate or offset some of the negative influences that disadvantage and deprivation place on the shoulders of young people. The job of these school leaders has never been tougher or more important.

Improving the effectiveness of schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas is far from an easy job but it is a critical one, if equitable education is the core aim. Leadership at all levels, in the school, must be fundamentally geared to help young people to succeed against the odds. But what exactly does it take to lead for equity?

International evidence points to a few critical features of leading for equity. A relentless focus on improving teaching and learning is without question, a key characteristic of leading for equity. We know that effective school leaders, in all contexts, focus their attention on academic achievement and improving instructional practices (Sharratt 2018). Those leading in schools in the most challenging circumstances, also place a firm emphasis on valuing all pupils and making them feel part of the school ‘family’. It is this sense of close belonging that can make a significant difference to young people and can change their lives for the better.

Building positive relationships with parents/families and involving them in their children’s education is also a strong feature of leading for equity (Goodall 2018). Many parents/families may have experienced their own time in school negatively and therefore need to be supported to engage with the school. Leading for equity is so intensely and intricately bound up with building positive trusting relationships within and beyond the school. The core work of leading for equity is generating positive, cultural capital through communication, confidence and connecting with the community in authentic and lasting ways.

Creating an inclusive school culture is one of the most widely cited elements in securing equitable educational outcomes (Ainscow, Slee, and Best 2019). Holding consistently high expectations for all students has also been shown to be critically important lever in raising aspirations and securing higher attainment.

Comment

While it cannot be denied that there is a strong negative correlation between most measures of social disadvantage and school achievement, this is not to suggest that it is impossible to buck this trend. Many schools facing difficult and challenging circumstances add significant value to levels of students’ achievement and learning.

In order to achieve and sustain such improvement, the leaders in such schools usually exceed what might be termed as ‘normal efforts’. Teachers in such schools also tend to work harder than their peers in more favourable socio-economic circumstances just because of the emotional and behavioural difficulties that follow young people into school.

Leading for equity means that those in formal leadership roles often work in communities that are culturally and contextually very different from their own. Consequently, creating cultural harmony and reciprocal community trust is a major task for school leaders who tackle inequity wherever and whenever they encounter it.

While we wait for change at the system level to dismantle the structural barriers that promulgate inequity, we would like to thank the school leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, community organisations, parents groups and University centres that are leading for equity every minute, every hour and every day.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Michelle Jones http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7098-8814

Notes

1 http://www.smf.co.uk/publications/commission-inequalityeducation/