Tuesday’s session about equality and fairness in the classroom allowed me to experience how a child would feel whilst being at a disadvantage in the classroom. I personally was in the group that was given less materials to form the product, which in a classroom setting would give a child less opportunities to excel.
The resources we were given included:

• 1 pen
• 1 pencil
• 2 paper clips
• 2 elastic bands
• Blue tac
• A single sheet of paper

Other groups had more than enough resources and were spoilt for choice when having to come up with creative ideas for their product. This showed that a child from a potentially underprivileged background is already at a disadvantage compared to some peers. This emphasises the importance of the class teacher providing equal supplies on each table for the children.

As the tutor was discouraging my group whilst encouraging and praising others, it knocked my group’s confidence when creating our product. He ranked our product a 2/10 and called it rubbish. This made me realise how damaging this type of behaviour would be on young children and how it would badly effect their development. This knock of confidence on a young child will not only weaken their bond with their teacher, but make them less likely to ask for help when it’s needed. Not all children are supported adequately at home and with some coming from deprived areas the classroom needs to be a place where all children feel safe, included and free to be themselves.

Another thing I noticed during the task was that as my group were struggling due to being deprived of resources, the other groups were blissfully unaware. This is due to them having the support of the teacher and resources to help them. It shows how children may not notice others struggling due to them having positive experiences with the teacher and assuming that everyone was receiving the same treatment.

As society inequalities exist in every aspect of life, the task can be related to many of these. People who come from a more supportive background and not an area of deprivation, as unfair as it is, they are more likely to do excel in school exams and reach University. Often this is due to parents who push their children to always be the best version of themselves, however as not all children have this in their lives; their Classroom teacher is the next person who supports all their pupils in their education. Therefore this task really opened my eyes to how body language and positive praise is so important in the classroom, to keep encouraging children to do their best.