Let’s talk about the GAP now
I’m sure you were not expecting this.
So, many of you might think that it’s a fashion article flaunting the trends of the time. Let me tell you-you’re almost correct. Today I’m going to talk about a trend. A trend that’s not might be a fashion statement but has been being practiced for ages. And that is called the achievement gap.
While we’re reaching for a greater number of school enrollments, we also can’t deny the existence of the income and education gap. That’s a worldwide problem and while I’m writing this from a country called Bangladesh, the problem gets bigger.
For any nation, Education is the absolute ticket to prosperity. If we talk about the basics, it’s also one of them. Which makes it accessible for everyone in the equal quantity. But in reality, the situation is far from being equal. In fact, research indicates that it is even much less an equalizer today than it was in the past.
If you’ve reached this part of the small article then I believe you’re that one gifted individual who still cares. Who cares to know more about it, who cares to act on it. Rather than talking about the problem itself I would talk more about the solution. Since we all know the existence of the income gap in education but very few of us know what to do about it.
A common myth about reducing the gap is to reduce the classroom size. In fact, those few studies that do show increased achievement for smaller classes generally reveal that rich students benefit more than do poor ones (Jackson & Page, 2013; Li & Konstantopoulos, 2017). Perhaps reduced class size leads teachers to spend even more time with the high-achieving students while still neglecting the needier ones. The main action of mending the gap a classroom is to make the child feel cared for and accepted regardless of his/her socioeconomic background. Which can be done by the “Inquiry-based teaching” method. It is aimed at bringing students’ own questions to the forefront and taking students’ ideas seriously. When done well, it engages all students, including those who would otherwise be the most disengaged. Several studies have indicated that this style of teaching helps previously poor performers improve even more than it helps previously high performers, and thereby reduces the achievement gap (Marshall & Alston, 2014; Dickinson, 2016). Also, the School environment has to be created in a way that every child looks forward to attending classes every day. The staff and teachers need to understand the importance of creating an environment for not only teaching but also for nurturing the future plants of the nation.
In short, the more rigid, authoritarian, and narrowly task-and test-driven the school program, the greater is the achievement gap between rich and poor. The more friendly, trusting, and empowering the program, the smaller is the gap.
Remember, there’s a table for everyone. Where you can sit and speak. Make sure you have spoken the right thing at the table next time. I hope this article would help you in case of that, very soon!
