learning is most powerful when students feel valued, honored, and empowered

the teachers who leave the greatest lasting impact on their students are the ones who see them for who they are, often before the students even see this themselves. these teachers uplift their students by developing their interests, celebrating their uniqueness, and challenging their assumptions about the world and themselves. prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion when personalizing learning is one way to this, and it is not the only way. culturally responsive education, transformative justice practices, and anti-racism are other critical components of this work.

in naming that diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to personalizing learning, we are taking the stand that instructional tools and models are not enough to empower our students. we cannot focus simply on the “how” of instruction. we must address the systems that were designed to fail millions of mostly black and brown students. prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion is one important way to redesign our educational systems to empower every student.