The 180 Podcast | LaShawn Routé Chatmon and Kathleen Osta: What Is an Equitable Learning Environment and How Can Your School Build One?
We hear a lot today about the importance of creating equitable learning environments for all young people—providing each child what they need to learn, develop healthily, and thrive, which means some might need more than others depending on their starting point. From classrooms to local school board meetings, the issue—if not battle—over what it means to create an equitable learning environment, what to teach, and how has taken center stage. So in a social context where the definition can vary from community to community, how does it get implemented? Does an environment that is equitable for one child necessarily mean it becomes unequitable for another? Where is the balance, and how does it get struck?
LaShawn Routé Chatmon is the founding Executive Director, and Kathleen Osta is Managing Director of the National Equity Project. National Equity Project works with education leaders across the country on these very questions – helping design and implement community-driven approaches to equitable learning. Both have worked in schools—LaShawn as a teacher and leader, Kathleen as a social worker—and, offer practical guidance on how to build and implement approaches that work.
Also listen to the Podcast here.
