Use an "equity pause" to infuse equity consciousness into continuous improvement team processes¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

An equity pause is a practice in which, at a chosen moment in a discussion or process, "participants refect on their team dynamics, question how a team is addressing equity, and critically examine their own assumptions." Interviewees described it as interrupting the team's habitual thinking, slowing down to interrogate hegemonic practices, and creating space for dialogue about whether the system is changing rather than molding children to fit it. It was piloted at High Tech High Graduate School of Education within its improvement networks.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Team members must be willing to stop and engage in dialogue about equity even when unanticipated

Constraints¶

• Typical uses of many continuous improvement practices and tools do not encourage explicit attention to equity issues and can reproduce the status quo

Target Learners¶

• Educators and improvement team members in schools and districts

Target Learning Goals¶

• Infusing equity consciousness into improvement work and challenging norms that contribute to inequity

Related Strategies¶

• Structure R&D teams for student critical mass, processing time, and collaboration to dispel intimidation
• Use structured power-analysis journaling at the start and end of field placements to build critical consciousness
• Context-Specific Journaling
• Creating Space for Student Reflection in PBL
• Political Education

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Valdez, A., Takahashi, S., Krausen, K., Bowman, A., & Gurrola, E. (2020). Getting better at getting more equitable: Opportunities and barriers for using continuous improvement to advance educational equity. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED606089