Inclusive Pedagogy

CNDLS is here to support faculty interested in issues of diversity and inclusion in the classroom. Those interested in reading more on the subject have access to a variety of resources, several of which are highlighted below. If you have specific questions about either designing or teaching a course with inclusive teaching practices in mind, we encourage you to reach out to us for recommendations or to set up a consultation.

Definition

Inclusive pedagogy is a method of teaching in which instructors and students work together to create a supportive and open environment that fosters social justice and allows each individual to be fully present and feel equally valued. Inclusive pedagogy at its core is learner-centered and equity-focused, creating an overarching learning environment in which students feel equally invited and included.

Drawing from a large body of research (see below), it is clear that learning outcomes are improved for everyone when teachers attend to student differences and take deliberate steps to ensure that all students, across differences in academic and social background as well as physical and cognitive abilities, feel welcomed, valued, challenged, and supported in their academic work.

In inclusive courses, the content takes into account the range of perspectives in the class, and is delivered in a way that strives to overcome barriers to access that students might have. Inclusive pedagogy invites us to consider our choices around both the content we teach and the means through which we deliver it. Additionally, inclusive pedagogy argues that the social identities of both student and teacher have a direct impact on the learning experience. Self-awareness is therefore an important point of entry into inclusive pedagogical practice.

Evidence

Inclusive pedagogy—creating a space that works for all students—makes intuitive sense. It’s also supported by a growing body of research. First of all, a sense of belonging to an academic community has been shown to be an important predictor of academic success (Moallem, 2013), and that, meanwhile, many students—particularly those from groups marginalized because of things like race, class, gender, sexuality, etc.—do feel excluded from learning spaces (see, for example, Tanner, 2013). This experience of exclusion can hamper academic performance (APA, 2006) in a process that can spiral out of control, through a “negative recursive cycle…where psychological threat and poor performance feed off one another, leading to ever-worsening performance” (Cohen et al., 2006). Beyond the purely academic, a sense of alienation or exclusion can even lead to negative health effects (Blascovich et al., 2001, Eisenberger et al., 2003).

Luckily, it’s also been found that efforts to increase marginalized students’ sense of social belonging or competence lead to increases in both academic success and well-being among those students (Walton & Cohen, 2011), and these benefits can last years (Cohen et al., 2009). Furthermore, techniques that help improve the academic performance of students in marginalized groups (e.g., active learning, regular opportunities to practice new skills, etc.) tend to benefit other students, too (Eddy & Hogan, 2014, Haak et al., 2011).

Implicit bias

The human mind depends on unconscious mental shortcuts and generalizations just to get through the day—gray skies probably mean rain so I’d better bring an umbrella; traffic tends to be light on this road, so I’ll take it again today; my colleague is usually a nice person, so she must have meant that last comment as a compliment; etc.—so we all regularly do this kind of heuristic thinking. When these shortcuts intersect with identity groups, however, they can be dangerous.

For example, maybe, without even realizing it, you have a picture in your mind of what a “good student in the major” looks like, and maybe that picture has a very particular demographic profile. Or maybe you see a particular kind of name on your roster and think, completely unintentionally and perhaps even unconsciously, “That student is going to have trouble writing in the English language.” Those are examples of implicit bias, and they can attach to race, nationality, class, religion, gender, sexuality, or any of a number of other identity-related categories, and they can lead to an environment that’s not equally conducive to learning for all of your students.

Again, we’re all equipped with brains that work this way, so we all have bias of one form or another (or, likely, multiple forms). The appropriate question isn’t Who’s biased? but What are my biases, and what am I going to do about them?

Luckily, lots of different strategies help. What they all have in common is forcing yourself to think consciously about your approach to the classroom so as to counter any bias before it happens. Here are a few possibilities:

Take the time to ask yourself some questions before entering the classroom: What kind of diversity am I likely to encounter in my courses? What kinds of preconceptions could a person possibly have about those diverse groups, and am I particularly vulnerable to any of those preconceptions?
Use data: rather than leaving room for assumptions about the beliefs or performance or background of different students, collect information directly from your students, through anonymous in-class live polls (e.g., through clickers) or other means.
Individuate: get to know your students as individuals through class conversations (before, during, and after class sessions), and in office hours.
Use “If-then” strategizing: think ahead to a possible encounter and plan how you’re going to behave in it. (E.g., “If both a man and a woman raise hands during class, I will….”)
Use counterstereotypic imaging: if you discover that you do entertain some generalized notions of categories of people, you can actively imagine examples of people who contradict those stereotypes.
Be well-rested when you’re interacting with a diverse group: tired people are more likely to lean on assumptions and shortcuts. Yet another reason to make sure you’ve gotten enough sleep!
Engage in active learning in the classroom: active learning involves the student in the production of knowledge, and tends to equalize people regardless of their background or experience with the material.
Remind yourself explicitly of some general pedagogical principles, such as: the imperative to educate the whole student, to treat students as individuals (what we at Jesuit schools call Cura personalis), and to always have a growth mindset—the belief that a student’s abilities, interests, and capacities can change.

It’s worth noting that society’s -isms are not reducible to individual bias, and can’t be corrected entirely by attention to individual bias—they are also driven by structure-level systems and problems that need their own solutions—but attending to your own biases will be, for your students, a step in the right direction.

Teaching strategies

Beyond the strategies designed to combat implicit bias, there are many ways you can make your classroom more inclusive. This can range from making sure that course materials represent a range of perspectives (and that their authors come from a variety of backgrounds) to planning accommodations for students with disabilities (perhaps through Universal Design for Learning) and avoiding cultural generalizations (including in the form of jokes) in class. Below are a few other considerations.

Setting the stage

One issue that instructors could encounter in an effort to make classrooms more inclusive is a student-led resistance to the very idea of “inclusivity.” An instructor who is careful to use and encourage inclusive language could ultimately run up against an attitude held by students that asks “well, why does this matter?” As we noted above, there’s plenty of research to back up an inclusive approach, but, regardless, inclusive teachers should prepare to hold a dialogue with students who disagree with the practice, keeping in mind that the term ‘inclusivity’ often means including those who are resistant to change. In fact, the pedagogical ideal of a vibrant open dialogue in our courses is probably dependent on adopting a truly inclusive approach to teaching.

Preparing students for offensive material

Preparing students for material is common practice in all classrooms. Teachers often say things like, “Now, this next section is really crucial, and will be covered extensively on the test, so pay close attention,” or “What I’m about to get into is intellectually tricky, so let me know if you have any questions,” or “Today’s material is going to build on the theory we discussed in the last session, so look for connections.” Preparation is about making sure that students are equipped to get the most out of the material to come, and so it’s a regular part of most teachers’ practice.

One of the situations where this is likely to be relevant is when you’re introducing content that’s necessary but has potential to offend a particular group. Students might have strong negative reactions if, for example, a film were to be shown in class that contains slurs that target their identity or another’s. In a case like this, it can be a good idea for the instructor to provide a heads-up to all students (some use the term “content warning” or “trigger warning”) as a way of informing them that the course does not support the usage of this language, and that you’ll be expecting students to view the material critically. It also helps when teachers explain why the material is important (as we sometimes even have to do with inoffensive material whose relevance isn’t immediately obvious to students).

Furthermore, it’s never safe to assume that a student claims a certain identity simply because the student appears to bear traits of that identity. This could occur on the grounds of race, class, gender, or sexuality, with instructors assuming that a specific student needs an individual content warning because the instructor thinks they would claim an affected identity. Instead of targeting a student or assuming something about their level of comfort, instructors can use inclusive language generally and give any heads-up to all students. Again, the point is to prepare students to get the most out of the activity.

Having difficult conversations

Difficult discussions may be daunting, but they can also be crucially productive moments in a semester—and sweeping such moments aside when they flare up can lead to problems, including students feeling unheard, alienated, and hurt—but you do have to work to make sure these moments are productive.

Handling difficult conversations comes in two phases. The first is the laying of a foundation for productive discussions. At the very beginning of the semester it’s helpful to acknowledge that these kinds of moments may crop up—you could even name particular topics that are likely to emerge or that are probably on people’s minds—and to give students guidance in advance on how to handle them, including possible ground rules for discussion (e.g., focus on ideas, not people; connect comments to course material; etc.). You might need to prepare yourself as well. What are your hot buttons? What’s likely to make you uneasy or upset? What will you do when your buttons get pushed? Once you’ve done the preparation, the second phase of handling difficult discussions is dealing with the discussions as they happen—whether you plan them or whether they flare up unexpectedly (e.g., reminding students of ground rules, using the blackboard to distance ideas from individual speakers). For more specific strategies—ideas for ground rules, ways to structure and manage these conversations, etc.—see our Difficult Discussions page.

Resources

We’ve put together a variety of resources and case studies designed to help faculty revitalize their courses and gain insights into practical issues in pedagogy at Georgetown. In addition to the resources below, we encourage you to pursue our Learning, Equity, Access, and Pedagogy opportunity which engages whole departments in inclusive pedagogy work.

Talks and events

“Talking About Race and Other Conversations” by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College, delivered this keynote address at TLISI 2018 in celebration of her recently published 20th anniversary edition of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

“The Direction of Diversity: Exploring Diversity and Inclusion Practices on University Campuses”: Dr. Sean Eversley Bradwell, Director of Programs and Outreach at Ithaca College, spoke about the current status of diversity and inclusion practices on university campuses and explored the implications for classroom inclusion during his lunchtime plenary at TLISI 2018.

“The Miseducation of White America” by Dr. Shaun Harper, Executive Director of the Center for Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered this provocative talk to kick off TLISI 2016.

“The Art (and Science) of Outstanding Mentoring in Higher Education” by Dr. Brad Johnson shared ways to develop high-impact mentoring relationships in higher education using evidence-based rules of engagement in his TLISI 2017 keynote.

Teaching tips

Our Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit provides 21 concrete ideas for inclusive practices, exploring the research behind why they’re important and what concrete steps you can take to implement them in your courses.

Difficult Discussions: Challenging and often uncomfortable situations arise in our classroom and workplaces every day. While we can’t avoid them, we can be more prepared, both personally and professionally.

Teaching Well-Being: What does it mean to invite and support the “whole person” within the classroom, promoting awareness and self-care? How can we each be more prepared to do this?

Universal Design for Learning: Every classroom—every learning environment—should welcome all of its students, recognizing the unique backgrounds, skills, expectations, and needs that each learner brings.