My positionality: To preface this post, I am engaging in this work as a co-learner rather than an expert. As a racialized woman and a life-long learner, my role as an anti-racist teacher involves knowing the students and families in front of me to create equitable learning experiences to ensure students feel a sense of belonging and community. This means doing the heart and hard work of learning and unlearning.
Cultivating an equity mindset isn’t a checklist—it’s a lifelong journey. It involves continual reflection, deep listening, and a commitment to shifting how we see and support our students. In this article, we’re exploring two powerful shifts that can transform our practice: Asset-Based Thinking and Lifelong Learning and Unlearning.
Shift # 3 Asset-Based Thinking
An asset-based approach starts from a place of strength. All students enter our classrooms with valuable assets:
- Linguistic assets – home languages and unique ways of communicating
- Cultural assets – traditions, values, and worldviews
- Social-emotional strengths – resilience, adaptability, empathy
- Transferable Skills – curiosity, problem-solving
As equity-minded educators, it’s our responsibility to see, name, and nurture these gifts. When we shift our thinking to “What strengths does this student bring?”, we reframe our role. This habit of mind pushes against deficit thinking and reframes the narrative from one of struggle to one of potential. When we view students as capable and whole, we create space for their brilliance to shine.
Read this article here where I go deeper into it.
Shift # 4 Lifelong Learning and Unlearning
It is important to commit to growing our lenses by learning from and about individuals with diverse identities, lived experiences, and perspectives so that we can notice more.
We need to continually build awareness related to aspects of our identities where we experience comfort because of power and privilege.
An equity mindset recognizes that we are always learning and unlearning. This means staying open to:
- New research and evolving best practices
- Voices and stories from those with lived experiences different from our own
- Feedback that challenges our assumptions or biases
- Unlearning – this in particular, can be difficult. It involves letting go of ingrained beliefs or practices that may unintentionally cause harm, even if they were once well-intentioned. This takes vulnerability, humility, and courage.
Equity Habits of Mind is a life long journey. While it is uncomfortable, it helps us create to classroom communities where every student is seen, valued, and empowered. When educators commit to developing these habits, we move closer to educational spaces that are truly inclusive, just, and transformative.
