Implementation of Equity

and Inclusive Education

Action Plan

Kathy Villarroel-Sponagle
 Today’s tasks

In order to combat this issue the government created the

Education Equity Action Plan 2017
 What is Ontario’s Education Equity
Action Plan?

It is the province’s roadmap to identify and eliminate the

following:

● discriminatory practices
● systemic barriers and bias from schools
● classrooms to support the potential for all
students to succeed

In order to accomplish this plan all levels of education

from board staff, trustees, principals, educators must
work together with the students and parents/ guardians
to bring the action plan to life.

Every learning environment should inspire children and

students to reach their full academic potential and that
all members students, parents/guardians and school
community members feel welcomed and respected.
 The Four Key initiatives of Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan
1. School
identifying existing systemic barriers and 2.
and Classroom Practices
removing them, and to make sure such
barriers do not exist when developing new
policies and programs.
3. Data
●
Collection, Integration and Reporting:
working with school boards to develop a
consistent approach to the collection of
voluntarily provided identity-based student data
● working with Indigenous partners to co-develop
indicators of Indigenous student success and
well-being
● providing support to school boards on sharing
knowledge and best practices when applying
student-identity data
● supporting school boards and labour partners in
undertaking workforce data collection and
analysis to ensure representative, equitable and
healthy work and learning environments.
Leadership, Governance and Human Resource Practices
● •strengthening accountability for equity and human rights
in performance appraisals for principals, supervisory
officers, and directors of education and in directors’
annual reports
● establishing ongoing equity, inclusion and human rights
training for staff and school and system leaders,
●
including school board trustees
enhancing diversity in the recruitment, hiring and
promotion of educators and school and system leaders
● working with school boards to establish formal
structures to promote and enforce human rights and
equity.
4. Organizational Culture Change
● Applying an equity, inclusion and human rights
perspective to internal organizational
structures, policies, programs and practices
will help to identify, model, frame discussions
about and work to support an inclusive and
diverse education sector.
Within your schools, are there any existing systemic
barriers? If yes, what are they? What does it look like?
 What is Culturally Responsive
and Relevant Pedagogy?
The Ministry of Education of Ontario describes
culturally relevant pedagogy as: teaching that
recognizes all students learn differently and that
these differences may be connected to
background, language, family structure and social
or cultural identity. (Ontario Ministry of Education,
2013)

Culturally Relevant and Responsive teachers,

provide a student-focused practice where
students’ cultural needs and identity are fostered
to promote student success. (Lynch, 2012)
 What does CRRP look and sound like in the classroom?

● Students actively engaged in their own learning.

● Examples and analogies being used reflect the students’ lived experiences.
● The curriculum resources reflect multiple perspectives relevant to your students.
● Lessons contain a cultural perspective representative of your students.
● A variety of assessments being used? ( ie: portfolios, exhibits, oral presentations,
debates...)
● The culture of the classroom is inclusive to all students.
● Community resources are included.
● Lessons and assignments are built around students’ interests.
● Students work collaboratively in mixed ability groupings and are encouraged to be
the experts in seeking out knowledge.
● A wide variety of instructional strategies are being used.
● Students listen carefully to ideas and opinions of others so they can understand
their thinking and reasoning.
● Classroom dialogue centered on student thinking and solutions.
 CRRP
Continuum

Look fors
within the
classroom
Seven key questions that should be asked regarding the
thinking/practice of equity.

Within this publication it covers seven

areas of equitable practice:

1. Classroom Climate and

Instruction
2. School Climate,
3. Student Voice and Space,
4. Family/Caregiver-School
Relations,
5. School Leadership,
6. Community Connections, and
7. Culture of Professional
Development.
 Equity Continuum
document can be turned
into a Google Form and
presented to the school
community to develop a
better understanding of
the needs of the school
and ways to remove
barriers that may exist
within the school.
Using the Indicators from the
Equity Continuum
to make a change
 Making a Classroom Inclusive
for all Students
Barriers will always exist if educators do not work as a team with an open mindset.
A great place to start breaking these barriers is with the classroom.

The goal of this publication is

to increase understanding of
different perspectives on
inclusive curriculum, highlight a
range of practices that teachers
explore to enhance learning for
all students, and illustrate how
teacher education programs
can better respond to learner
diversity in today’s educational
context (2017).
 Examples of Inquiry into Practice Completed
within the Publication

One Book, Two Books, Pink Books, Culturally Responsive and Relevant
Blue Books: Gender Issues for Teaching pg. 95
Primary Learners pg.72

Teaching Mathematics with a Social

Justice Focus pg. 81

Supporting Diversity Through

Afrocentric Teaching pg. 89
Supporting Struggling Learners:
Collaborative Problem Solving in
Mathematics pg. 101
How do you make your classroom an
inclusive space for all students?

Do you have a space to show

students voice or what does student
voice look like?
Resources