By John Patten, Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES)
Perhaps few visions stir the heart and energize action in teachers more than the hopes that their students learn at high levels and apply their knowledge in leading lives of service and contribution. To realize this picture, educators devote themselves to provide access to knowledge for all students. By access to knowledge, we mean furnishing rich subject matter, challenging and inspiring learning activities, relevant assessment, meaningful feedback, and targeted interventions and extensions—all in the service of developing skills and dispositions for lifelong deep learning.
Yet despite the most devoted and informed attempts to provide access to knowledge for all, so much can get in the way! We generally refer to the factors that interfere with a student’s ability to participate in the fullness of the educational experience as barriers to access. Some barriers spring from the lived experiences of students: traumatic events, a learning disability, and learning English as a new language, to name a few.
Other barriers reside in the educational system in the form of policies and practices that may limit learning for some. These include procedures for discipline (especially zero tolerance and suspension policies), tracking and ability grouping, advanced course offerings and admission procedures, special education identification, and curricular materials that lack cultural relevance and diversity.
The moral work of educational equity deserves high priority because providing equitable access to knowledge in K–12 education is one of the most effective ways to reduce inequality and create a more just society.
John Patten is the director of the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES), with a long history of teaching and school leadership. He is a former art/communications/stage craft/yearbook teacher who eventually served as a principal. He holds master’s degrees in art education and educational leadership from BYU and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of Utah. He spent 14 years as an administrator in the Alpine School District, eventually becoming assistant superintendent and working significantly with the BYU–Public School Partnership during that time. John and his wife, Arryn, live in Springville and, while crazy about their five children, especially enjoy adventures with their granddaughter. In his spare time, John can be found riding his road bike, playing games, watching a movie with family, or sewing his next cosplay creation.