Too little
Rewarding familiarity
“That is not how I explained it.”
Your own phrasing becomes an unstated condition of success.
Fairness
Let the work be heard without asking whether you like its author.
An impartial disposition to give relevant interests and evidence their due.
Fairness gives relevant claims their due without favoritism. In teaching, it concerns the standards used to judge work and the opportunities to participate. Comparable standards do not require identical support or identical ways of showing understanding.
Fairness gives a standard that can be explained
One learner is charming, remembers your jokes, and always says thank you. Another is quiet and occasionally corrects your slides. Then their unsigned work arrives. Fairness asks whether the work would receive the same reading after the names were swapped.
Finding the balance in Fairness
An illustrative everyday situation
Two learners give different answers to the same open question. One uses your preferred wording; the other offers a sound example in unfamiliar terms.
A fitting response
Applying the purpose
“Show me how your example meets the question.”
The answer is considered against the stated learning purpose.
Pursued too far
Identical treatment at any cost
“Everyone must explain it in exactly the same way.”
Sameness replaces relevant judgment and can hide differences in access.
A fair standard is answerable to the task, not to the teacher’s comfort with one style of response.
When the situation changes
Some tasks genuinely require a particular form or exact term. Make that requirement explicit and explain why it matters before judging the response.
What Fairness makes possible
People can understand what is being asked and question a decision without having to win personal favor. Fairness does not guarantee agreement about every judgment; it makes reasons available for review.
Fairness in ordinary life
A second look
You notice that neat presentation impressed you more than the reasoning. You reread both parts separately.
Sharing equipment
Different learners need different amounts of setup help. You arrange access so help does not become a prize for the most confident request.
Nearby virtues, different work
Discernment
Discernment identifies which differences matter to this task.
Justice
Justice asks whether legitimate needs and opportunities are met, beyond impartial judgment of the work.
Fairness and its counterfeits
Counterfeit: Favoritism called encouragement
Overlooking the same error only for a favorite is a counterfeit of fairness. Encouragement can be generous while the criteria remain defensible.
Counterfeit: Sameness called justice
Refusing a suitable alternative solely because it differs is a counterfeit of fairness. Ask what the alternative changes about the actual purpose.
How to cultivate Fairness
State the relevant criterion in plain language.
Separate the quality of the work from your response to its author.
Check whether a different route demonstrates the same understanding.
Try it today
These examples are reflections on judgment, not legal or institutional assessment rules. Keep personal information private and use the appropriate process for decisions with significant consequences.
Review one ordinary piece of feedback. Name the criterion behind it and remove any comment that merely rewards personal similarity.
When helping someone learn
Judge the work, not your fondness for the learner.
Questions worth returning to
Would I give this reason if another learner had made the same choice?
Am I measuring understanding or familiarity with my preferences?
Keep the practice proportionate
These examples are reflections on judgment, not legal or institutional assessment rules. Keep personal information private and use the appropriate process for decisions with significant consequences.
About these practices · DisclaimerQuotations and further reading
Seven selections to return to through the week. Follow a source link to read the surrounding passage.
Educators should also note the very great individual differences that exist; they should not try to force one pattern and model upon all.
John Dewey · How We Think · chapter X, Concrete and Abstract Thinking; p. 143 · excerpt
Dewey resists imposing one pattern on every learner. His surrounding practical/theoretical classifications are historical; the useful point is to judge relevant understanding rather than demand identical expression.
nor does he put aside good words because of the man.
Confucius · Analects · XV.22; Confucius speaking · James Legge translation · excerpt
A claim need not be dismissed because its speaker is not a favorite. Examine the learner’s reasons rather than their popularity.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Benjamin Franklin · Autobiography · Part II, plan of moral perfection; Justice · excerpt
Franklin includes omitted benefits as well as direct injury. Fair attention concerns access to help, not just absence of open hostility.
A multitude of privileges, or rather indulgences, can exist with a total disregard of the child's rights.
Kate Douglas Wiggin · Children’s Rights: A Book of Nursery Logic · The Rights of the Child · excerpt
Wiggin distinguishes indulgence from respect. A pleasant atmosphere alone does not make an assessment or opportunity fair.
For, unless you perfectly understand the principle from which anyone acts, how should you know if he acts ill?
Epictetus · Enchiridion · 45 · Elizabeth Carter translation · excerpt
Epictetus cautions against judging without understanding a reason. In teaching, check the task before turning incomplete work into a verdict on effort.
Not the violent conflict between parts of the truth, but the quiet suppression of half of it, is the formidable evil:
John Stuart Mill · On Liberty · II, Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion · excerpt
Mill warns against suppressing part of a case. A fair reading includes inconvenient strengths in work whose author you find difficult.
When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers.
Confucius · Analects · VII.21; Confucius speaking · James Legge translation · excerpt
Confucius finds teachers among ordinary companions. Useful understanding can come from a learner whose style differs from yours.
Continue exploring
Take these ideas into everyday life
Read freely, follow the nineteen-virtue program, or adapt this collection in My Virtues. These practices concern your own choices, not a learner’s performance.