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Accommodations & equity in covid times:.
The closest personal comparison I have to the kind of circumstances that would warrant significant deviation from the norm for equitable outcomes is my experience in high school.
The closest personal comparison I have to the kind of circumstances that would warrant significant deviation from the norm for equitable outcomes is my experience in high school.
I've posted before about my time in govt care, but as a bit of background, I was under the old child welfare regime where you aged out at 18, and intervention was only considered for those 15 and under.
What this meant for me, is that when I turned 16 and the decision was made for me that I was "independent & self sufficient enough" I was moved from the foster home I was thriving in, to an independent living program and was given ~$600 to support myself each month.
On this program, I needed teachers and employers to sign an attendance log and was limited as to what I could earn in addition to that living allowance before I had the benefit clawed back dollar for dollar. This meant I was expected to live on ~ $800/month.
The first time they clawed back over half the benefit, I withdrew from receiving it, though I remained in the program until I aged out at 18.
This meant that at the age of 16, I was working a full time job, plus a part time job, plus attending high school full time (plus trying to be 16, too).
To make this work, I needed to be done school by lunch time. So, I took some classes by correspondence, and added early morning gym to my schedule. My day looked like
In person School: 6am to 12pm
Work: 1pm-10pm
Correspondence classes: 11pm-1am
I always took Sundays off
In person School: 6am to 12pm
Work: 1pm-10pm
Correspondence classes: 11pm-1am
I always took Sundays off
Interestingly, this has been ingrained in me and I am practically incapable of anything on Sundays to this day, but I digress.
You can see from the above schedule, that I had no room for extracurriculars or volunteering. You can see I didn't even have time to do homework.
You can see from the above schedule, that I had no room for extracurriculars or volunteering. You can see I didn't even have time to do homework.
Without me even asking, the vice principal knowing my situation, spoke to my teachers about grading me only on the work I could complete. This wasn't a perfect solution, bc of how education is set up (ahem* diplomas), but it's definitely the reason I passed many of my classes.
I went from being an honors student, to being an average student during those years, but I have no doubt that I technically would have flunked out of highschool without the vice principal's decision to give me an equitable accommodation based on my unique circumstances
For a long time I felt like this set me up for failure, because when I reached post-secondary no one cared that I was destitute and working multiple jobs, wondering how I would eat and keep my heat on while trying to get the skills to move beyond that.
But I realize now that the vice principal had it right. My learning wasn't sacrificed by the equitable accommodations I received. In fact, I was still able to learn and complete high school SOLELY because of those accommodations
Conversely, it took me 15 years to earn my undergraduate degree, because in "the real world" we expect people to "rise to the task" no matter what place they are starting from. I had to prioritize basic financial stability, over skill development and working toward my goals.
We live in a world designed by the privileged, who are often blind to the advantage that provides. When we don't offer equitable accommodations, we actively oppress those who weren't lucky enough to be born into that privilege.
Accommodating different circumstances doesn't let people off easy. I don't for one second look back on my high school experience and think "that was easy". It merely acknowledged that my circumstances required the traditional model to adapt for me to have similar opportunity.
We are in a pandemic. I can't even think about all the possible things people are trying to deal with on top of work or school right now. But I can assure you that we can simply change how we evaluate productivity or learning outcomes. People will be fine, and probably better off
To really put this into perspective. The choice my vice principal made, had little impact on her, the school, my teachers, my classmates. But it had a significant life altering and permanent impact on my future. Had she chosen differently, I wouldn't have graduated high school.
If you have authority to make accommodation decisions & are considering whether to give different treatment to different circumstances, consider the future of the person your decision directly impacts & contrast that against the impact on you & those not in need of accommodation.
