“We didn’t ban calculators. We taught math differently. We didn’t ban the internet. We taught research differently. So why are we trying to ban AI instead of doing the same?” We’ve been here before. I was a young teacher when the internet showed up in classrooms in the 90s. Educators panicked. Teachers worried it would make students lazy, that it would only be used for cheating, and that memorizing facts and dates would go out the window. They were right. Sort of. The internet did change things. But it didn’t destroy learning. It made us rethink what was worth teaching and how we wanted to spend instructional time. It pushed us away from memorizing trivia and toward analyzing, questioning, creating, and connecting. The same thing happened with calculators decades before. There was real fear that students would lose the ability to compute. But what actually happened was that students stopped getting stuck in multi-digit calculations and started spending more time doing real math. They m...
Finding the Sweet Spot: Rigor, Relevance, and the Real Work of Equity (Considering the Pedagogy of Paulo Freire)
“Students don’t need to choose between rigor or relevance, and neither should we. If we want learning to matter, it must challenge their minds and connect to their lives. Anything less isn’t equity.”
There’s something timeless about Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. His insistence that education must be a practice of freedom challenges us to rethink what it means to teach, to learn, and to improve systems that have long failed too many students. Freire didn’t just ask teachers to inform; he called on us to engage, to listen, to honor the lived experiences of our students, and to co-create meaning with them.
That’s powerful. But it’s also a bit complicated.
In today’s classrooms, teachers face so much pressure to accelerate learning and close gaps that reflect years, sometimes generations, of inequality. For those who value the efficiency and effectiveness of direct instruction, Freire’s ideas can seem to be pulling us in the opposite direction. I am an advocate for explicit instruction. I believe all students, especially those experiencing poverty, deserve full access to grade-level content every day. Not watered-down assignments. Not constant remediation. Real, meaningful experiences.
To me, equity doesn’t mean letting students find their own way without support. It means giving them the tools to succeed, regardless of what they walk in the door with. That means planning carefully, teaching clearly, and making sure nothing about our instructional model becomes a barrier to achievement.
But Freire wasn’t wrong. In fact, he was right about some things we can’t really ignore. Students need to see themselves in what they’re learning. They need to talk, reflect, and question. They need to believe their work matters.
The problem isn’t direct instruction. The problem is when we forget that learning is relational and contextual.
It’s easy to fall too far to either side. We’ve probably all seen classrooms where rigid instruction sucks the life out of learning, and others where unstructured freedom leaves students floating without direction. Neither of these, taught in isolation, serve equity and neither prepares students for the complex world they’re moving towards.
What does serve equity?
- Ensuring that students master the grade level expectations and that they have the tools to extend learning beyond the direct lessons.
- Teaching that blends structure with meaning.
- Instruction that holds high expectations while building student agency.
- Learning experiences that are designed with care, allowing room for student perspectives.
We must stop asking whether rigor or relevance is more important. That’s not the question.
The real work is figuring out how to bring them together.
Putting It Into Practice: Steps Toward Balanced, Equity-Driven Instruction
So how do we move from philosophy to practice? If we agree that both structure and student voice matter, then the next step is figuring out how to design instruction that honors both. It starts with how we plan, how we deliver, and how we reflect.
First, teachers should commit to starting with the standards. Grade-level content must be the anchor. From there, instruction should include clear learning targets, purposeful sequences, and modeling that helps students develop strong foundational understanding. But we can’t stop there. We must create space for students to reflect, question, and respond with their own ideas.
Second, teachers can look at their classroom routines and ask, “Where is there space for student thinking to emerge?” That doesn’t mean giving up structure. It means building it with enough flexibility to allow students to make meaning, draw connections, and engage in dialogue, especially around content that resonates with their lives.
Third, we must stay curious about our students. Frequently ask yourself the questions:
- What do individual students bring to the table?
- What excites them?
- What confuses them?
When we understand their experiences, cultures, and perspectives, we can teach in ways that are not only more effective but more just.
Finally, we need to reflect. Regularly. This kind of balanced teaching isn’t about perfection. It’s about noticing when we’ve leaned too far in one direction and having the humility and teachableness to adjust.
What It Looks Like in the Classroom
This kind of balance doesn’t require you to throw out your curriculum or start from scratch. It’s about being intentional with how you use the tools you already have. Here are a few ways this approach might show up across classrooms:
- A teacher begins with explicit instruction on a math concept, ensuring all students understand the procedures. Once the skill is solid, students are invited to apply it to a real-world scenario that reflects challenges in their own community. They’re not just solving equations. They’re solving problems that matter.
- In a literacy block, students read a shared text with guided comprehension support. But instead of stopping at basic recall, the teacher facilitates a structured discussion where students analyze things like character motivations or the author’s choices. Students are taught how to think critically, not just asked to do it.
- During a science unit, the teacher provides direct instruction on core concepts like ecosystems or energy flow. Students then design their own experiments or community-based investigations, using the content knowledge they’ve gained to help support them with curiosity and action.
- In history or social studies, content is delivered through clear, well-planned instruction that teaches timelines, key events, and cause-effect relationships. But students are also asked to examine whose stories are told, whose are missing, and how history connects to their identities or current events.
In all these cases, the teacher is still in charge of the learning, but the students are in charge of making it matter.
Where Do We Start Planning? It Depends.
That’s a fair question, and one that often divides educators. Some folks might look at all of this and say we’re putting the cart before the horse. Shouldn’t we start with planning direct instruction, get the content solid, and then shift into application and exploration? Isn’t it more effective to build meaning straight from the start and support students in constructing knowledge through experience before formal instruction steps in? It depends on how you see learning. For some, discovery is the cart. For others, direct instruction is. Either way, the real question isn’t what comes first, but whether we’re planning with purpose.
Personally, as I mentioned earlier, I lean toward starting with more direct methods of instruction. In my own experience, I’ve seen this method work time and time again. Starting with strong, clear instruction leads to more students reaching understanding in a shorter amount of time. It’s not about rushing them through; it’s about giving them the support they need to access the learning without confusion. I believe in equipping students with the tools they need to succeed, and that means teaching them clearly, directly, and consistently. But that doesn’t mean every lesson has to begin with teacher-led instruction. Starting with a real-world stimulus, a problem, or a meaningful question can absolutely be the right move if it’s done with purpose. What matters most isn’t the order, but the intention behind it. Are we thinking about what our students need in this moment? Are we planning for learning, not just activity?
The point isn’t to defend one method over another. It’s to make thoughtful choices that match the goals of the lesson, the needs of our students, and the kind of thinkers we want to help them become.
But Don’t Pick a Side. Build a Way Forward
At the end of the day, teaching is about decisions. We decide what to prioritize, how to spend precious minutes, and what kind of learning we believe our students are capable of.
When we rely solely only on direct instruction, we risk teaching at students instead of with them. When we rely only on open-ended discovery, we risk leaving students without the tools they need to move forward. But when we bring structure and meaning together with intention, we create something powerful: Learning that is rigorous, relevant, and deeply human.
Equity is not about choosing sides in a pedagogical debate. It’s about making sure every student, especially those who have been underserved, gets what they need to thrive. That means:
- We teach the content, and we teach students to care about it.
- We build skills while we simultaneously build voice.
- We offer structure and we create space.
You Got This: The Challenge!
So, here’s the challenge: Look at your classroom this week. Where are you offering clarity, and where are you inviting curiosity? Where is your instruction strong, and where could it connect more deeply to the students in front of you?
You don’t have to change everything. Just start where you are and take one intentional step toward that middle ground.
Our students deserve nothing less.
Suggested Reading
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/4IcEw4Z