Results of the group brainstorm on how to create an inclusive class space:
- Be conscious about giving attention to as many students as possible.
- Eye contact is important, for all students: "faculty members tend to maintain greater eye contact with White male students, and are more inclined to remember their names (Morey, 2000; Sadker and Sadker, 1994).” Gasman, Marybeth and Julie Vultaggio, "Diverse Student Groups:" , in The Routledge International Handbook of Higher Education ed. Malcolm Tight , Ka Ho Mok , Jeroen Huisman and Christopher C. Morphew (Abingdon: Routledge, 13 Apr 2009 )
- Use relatable, pop-culture references in examples.
- Use examples from diverse perspectives. These examples can pull from different positions of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, and physical ability.
- Start a class by giving a little background information about yourself so that students see you as a human being
- Don’t assume that everyone has equal access to technology, education, and resources. Plan accordingly.
- Create an open and welcoming environment. Ask everyone to offer their pronouns if they are comfortable.
- Consider accessibility principles when designing learning materials and activities. Video + captions + transcript; multiple avenues for accessing learning objects (physical handout, online version)
- Set up a parking space, e.g. a reserved section of whiteboard, where students can write what they are interested in learning in the session. Reserve time to address the parking lot topics.
- Be prepared to go off-script, “fess up” to what you might not know.
- Consider subverting the teacher/student power hierarchy. Ask students to lead discussions, help plan activities, set objectives, select course readings and examples.
- Do a survey ahead of time to find out what students are most interested in learning
- Be interactive, but leave some room for down time
- Explicitly identify different ways of participation - raising one’s hand, sending up a slip of paper, or even a head nod.
- Don’t put pressure on people who don’t want to share in one standard way
- Consider including a Discussion Guidelines slide. The Transitioning at the Workplace slide-deck from the LGBT Center at Penn had a fantastic one. Email Chava Spivak-Birndorf if you would like a copy.
- Avoid tokenism, while at the same time encouraging students to speak from their own experiences. Share appropriately your own background experiences when relevant.
- While there is no evidence that some people are exclusively “visual learners” or “kinetic learners”, there is evidence that multimodal learning is a beneficial approach in instruction. Consider including opportunities for writing, reading, listening, drawing, creating.