Whom Must We Treat Equally?

I found the reasons put forth in Whom Must We Treat Equally interesting. This reading made me think of something my sister would tell her children. When one child would be upset that a sibling received something they did not receive, my sister’s response was “not everyone gets the same thing, but everyone gets what they need.” In retrospect, I can see where this comes in to play in the educational setting. Treating children equally does not mean giving them the same exact things such as the teachers’ time and attention. Treating children equally is more of giving every child what they need when they need it. How to give every child what they need is more of the dilemma. Each child has to be treated as an individual, what works for one child may not work for another child.

None of the theories offered by Jencks would work for someone all the time. It would be hard for me to state that I believe in democratic equality or utilitarianism. It all depends on the situation or circumstances. Most children do not have a lot of control over what causes their lot in life be it nature or nurture. Why would a child who was born with a genetic defect be any more or less deserving of special help or extra assistance than a child from a neglectful home?

I do believe the moralistic theory of justice would not work for young children. Since this is the age group I will be teaching, I would not feel that it would be morally acceptable for me to deem that a child was not putting forth the effort, so I would no longer “waste my time” on that child. It will be my obligation to find out why the child was not working and what I could do to rectify the situation. However, I am an adult student in ECED600. If Dr. Pope determines that I am not putting forth effort – it appears that I am not reading the material because I do not participate in class discussions, I do not make blog posts, I miss class regularly, etc. He is not obligated to find out why. It is acceptable for him to wash his hands of me. (Of course, I am not implying that Dr. Pope would ever do this.)