A Theme for November: But That’s Not Fair! Educating children about the difference between fairness and equality can be challenging. How often are we confronted with the “but that’s not fair” attitude in the media, on the street, and in our families? Further still, many people interchange the words fair and equal, but they are far from the same. Fair speaks of freedom from obstacles while equal dictates measurable amounts of same value. In the classroom, the words fair and equal have their place as well. We speak often about these concepts over a wide range of subject matter. From the beginning, we talk about even and odd numbers in mathematics, and equality as we solve for x in algebraic equations. When creating images in art, we discuss equality in balance, proportion, pattern, and color. We touch on equality in science and geography as we use the triple beam balance to measure for density or as we test the degrees of a solid’s rigidity. In geometry, we tie in equivalence to different polygons taking up the same amount of space or when we work with equilateral triangles (the strongest of all shapes). We discuss equality in nature with how petals and leaves are arranged on plants and as we find the formula for spirals (which are found throughout nature). Music, too, has equality in the number of beats in a measure or within the sound of an octave. Equality directly relates to our history work when we talk about Civil Rights, Women Rights, and all rights in between! I find it interesting though that it isn’t until we talk about topics related to humans that fairness comes into discussion. Was it fair that certain groups of people were kicked out of their homeland or not allowed to practice their faiths as they once had? Was it fair that certain people lived a short life when they were making a difference for the betterment of others? How is it fair that we can’t say all of the words in the English language (a child asked me the other day about the purpose and presence of swear words and why we shouldn’t say them in public)? Fairness is a concept that hits right at the heart of humanity. It’s a skill often left under nurtured, but how much of that is because the concept of fairness is a hard one to understand without experience getting hurt. Fairness is not always obvious, observable, or calculable. Perhaps it is just as impossible for any one person to say with certainty that something is or isn’t fair, good or bad, positive or negative. Life experience provides the potential for people to gain empathy and it is empathy that helps people to better see where someone else is coming from, but even then how can a person be qualified to determine fairness? Our children refer to fairness constantly throughout their elementary years, not because they are incapable in solving their own problems, but because they are trying to understand what fairness is and is not. And no wonder our children struggle with these concepts. As with anything, practice and experience helps to cultivate the understanding of concepts and where if any are the boundaries. Fair and equal also creep up and entangle their way into the development of justice and a sense of morality. This is the work of the elementary child. I would like to share this visual that I saw from some magazine (the name of which I cannot remember). The image was divided into two cells. Within each cell, there were three people (short, medium, tall). All three people were behind a fence and a baseball game was visible beyond the height of the fence. In the first cell, which depicted equality, each person stood on the same size wooden box. This made it possible for the tallest person to see well over the fence, the middle person see just above the fence, and the shortest person still couldn’t see. Point made. Within the second frame, same concept with the three people behind a fence looking towards the baseball game. But here, the tallest person has no box to stand on, the medium person has one box to stand on, and the shortest person had two boxes to stand on. In this way, all three people stood at the same height making it possible for everyone to enjoy the game. This is fairness. Fair is not equal. So, I often share this visual with the children when they say, “hey, that’s not fair that so-and-so gets to do that!” Usually, my response is something akin to the following: “I can understand how you may feel that way, but remember that fair does not mean equal. Like, that time when I let you go with Mr. Brian to help him make copies so that you could take a break? Did everyone get to go with you? No, that would be silly. I gave you what you needed to be successful and that is what I am doing right now for him.” But here are a couple of questions to gnaw on: If fairness refers to freedom from obstacles, what are our obstacles and how do we overcome them? What are our children’s obstacles and how do we help our children to overcome theirs?
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:39:51 +0000
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