"In actuality, the definition of fairness has little to do with treating people in an identical manner. The true definition of fairness is: 'Fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs.'" This was stated by Richard D. Lavoie in his article, Fairness: To Each According to His Needs. Fairness: To Each According to His Needs

When I think of sameness, I immediately think of the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. The Giver
In this story, people are all the same.

I've done quite a few readings this past week on fairness and sameness in education. Some of the readings were focused on "sameness as fairness". In this article, Gutierrez points out different educational practices that are attempting to produce this sameness as fairness concept. For example, schools in Los Angeles that offer a different curriculum, one that includes different cultures and languages, can be seen as a threat and therefore shut down. Gutierrez also spoke of how there are packaged programs for teaching reading and writing. These programs are one-size-fits-all and dummy-down literacy so that it is obtainable by all.

I don't see sameness as fairness. No two people are the same. We all come from different backgrounds. We all come to school with slightly different knowledge of literacy. We all have different interests. We all learn different. I fully embrace Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence. These universal curricula do not incorporate Howard Gardner's Theory.

Instead I see fairness as defined above. Fairness does not necessarily mean equality, but rather providing support to meet individual needs. We don't all have the same needs and therefore a universal curriculum can't possibly meet the needs of all students. As Malcolm Gladwell discovered, we each have our own personal preference when it comes to tomato sauce, coffee, pickles, etc. There are different food items out there to meet our own personal needs and preference. We should learn from Gladwell and not push a universal into education. We each have our own needs and preference of learning style.