Beyond Equity as Inclusion: A Framework of “Rightful Presence” for Guiding Justice-Oriented Studies in Teaching and Learning

2020/05/20 by Angela Calabrese Barton, Edna Tan · 327 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Critical Race Theory in Education #Engineering ethics #Equity (law) #Higher Education Practises and Engagement #Inclusion (mineral) #Law #Mathematics education #Pedagogy #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Social justice #Social science #Sociology #Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

paper · open access · doi:10.3102/0013189x20927363

published in Educational Researcher 49(6), 433-440 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2020/05/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Current discourses of equity in teaching and learning are framed around calls for inclusion, grounded in the extension of a set of static rights for high-quality learning opportunities for all students. This essay presents a rightful presence framework to guide the study of teaching and learning in justice-oriented ways. This framework highlights the limitations of equity as inclusion, which does not adequately address the ways in which systemic injustices manifest in local classroom practice. Rightful presence orients the field towards the importance of political struggles to make present the lives of those made missing by schooling and discipline-specific norms. Three tenets for guiding the use of this framework in teaching and learning are offered. Two contrasting vignettes from STEM classrooms illustrate tenets and emergent tensions.

Citations

• From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in U.S. Schools

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