Inclusive Pedagogy

 According to The Teaching Commons, “inclusive pedagogy is a is a method of teaching in which instructors and classmates work together to create a supportive environment that gives each student equal access to learning” (The Teaching Commons, 2020). This method takes a collaborative and co-constructive approach to classroom instruction. I believe inclusive pedagogy shares some similarities to culturally responsive pedagogy as well. 

While browsing the resources on The Teaching Commons webpage I came across several strategies for inclusive pedagogy in the classroom. I think it is very important to “set the stage” to create an inclusive classroom environment. As a student, it is quite clear when instructors do not respect or care about the individuals in their classrooms. Because of this experience, when I was teaching I attempted to set expectations upfront. I found it interesting that the resource brought up that inclusive teachers should be prepared to hold a dialogue with students who disagree with the practice. I agree that this is an important practice to uphold inclusive pedagogy because even if a student does not agree with you or the practice there still needs to be mutual respect in the classroom. The aspect of setting the stage is critical for enacting the other strategies within inclusive pedagogy including preparing students for offensive material and having difficult conversations. It is much more difficult to introduce these later strategies if you have not first established trust and respect for an inclusive classroom.

Overall, I think inclusive pedagogy is an important practice in alignment with culturally responsive pedagogy. These pedagogies and related pedagogical practices can help elevate the classroom experience for both teachers and learners.

References

https://commons.georgetown.edu/teaching/design/inclusive-pedagogy/

Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self

I always thought that teaching was an inherently performative activity. Therefore, I assumed that to be considered a good teacher you must conform to be an actor and entertainer in the classroom. These assumptions were built by watching both teachers and professors throughout my life. Similar to Sarah Deel in her essay “Finding My Teaching Voice” (2004), it wasn’t until I started teaching and working with students myself that I started to challenge these notions. Once I became more comfortable in the classroom I started to find my teaching style. This allowed me to be more creative in terms of activities. One of the best outcomes was that I moved away from the feeling that I was acting or putting on a performance and started to develop meaningful connections with my students.

Shelli Fowler states that in order to discover your authentic teaching self you must also “work to discover who you are as a teacher and choose the techniques that work in concert with being authentic in the classroom” (Fowler). I agree with this statement, it took me too long to realize that there are many different and effective teaching styles in the classroom. Students are easily able to tell when professors are posturing or being inauthentic in the classroom. Therefore, finding your authentic teaching self and incorporating it into your classroom can positively impact the experience for students.

Something that I started doing while teaching was starting my class with something exciting that had happened that week. At first, the students were hesitant to share with the class, maybe out of nervousness or lack of understanding of why we were doing the exercise in the first place. After the second week, I started sharing something of my own that I was excited about and explained that I was interested in learning more about them as whole individuals. This approach seemed to increase engagement at the start of class and I had a lot more students participate. While I’m sure there are many things I could have done to improve as a teacher, I reflect on this experience as a positive outcome of starting to discover my authentic teaching self. I hope in the future I can continue to work with students and learn more about myself as a teacher to support their learning.

References:

Sarah E. Deel, in Reflections on Learning as Teachers, edited by Susan Singer and Carol Rutz, of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. College City Publications, Northfield, MN.? Copyright 2004 by Carleton College. Published by: College City Publications/Ashmore link, 925 Ivanhoe Drive, Northfield, Minnesota 55057 http://ashmoreink.com

Shelli Fowler, The Authentic Teaching Self and Communication Skills