Teaching More Equitably and Inclusively
Ways to create an inclusive classroom
- Try to incorporate a range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds in course materials. When educators increase the range of perspectives, particularly those that have historically been marginalized, we work towards correcting injustices and historical inequities in scholarly conversations. Review your syllabus to see how representative it is for a range of perspectives and social identities. Consult peers and professional associations on conversations around inclusive content in your discipline.
- Be cognizant of the cost and accessibility of course content. Librarians can help you to identify Open Educational Resources for your courses. The Office of Accessibility Resources can help you make your resources universally designed to reduce learning barriers.
- Develop an awareness of circumstances that might challenge students' ability to succeed. Survey students about any struggles that might affect their ability to be successful, and invite students to speak about their undocumented disabilities or other relevant circumstances.
- Reflect on your own biases and how they might impact your approach or reactions to students. Implicit biases are inevitable. It is important for educators to make an effort to examine biases and take active steps to disrupt their thinking and commit themselves to fairness. Read more about unconscious bias in schools.
- Create opportunities for students to share and demonstrate prior experience.
- Learn about equitable grading options.
- Educate yourself in Universal Design for Learning guidelines. Offer multiple means for students to engage with, access, and demonstrate mastery of content.
Equity-Minded Syllabus
Aaron Fried created an asynchronous online course on developing an equity-minded syllabus. You can access the materials here: Equity and Inclusion Syllabus Course.
Other suggested resources on creating an inclusive classroom:
- Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit from Georgetown University
- How to Teach more Inclusively and Equitably Online webinar
- DEI resources from MVCC's Chief Diversity Officer
Managing Classroom Discussions
Using discussion and debate is a great way to engage students in the learning process, but it can also lead to uncomfortable situations. It is important to be proactive and create guidelines to establish shared expectations of participation and how to handle disagreement.
Resources for managing difficult classroom discussions:
- Vanderbilt's guide on difficult dialogues: A resource on intentional strategies to help students deal with difficult subjects and how professors can prepare for facilitating difficult conversations.
- Indiana University's guide to manage difficult discussions
- Blog post about how to have difficult conversations in the classroom
- Video: setting the stage for challenging discussions