Inclusive Teaching

Promoting Diversity in College Classrooms

Maurianne Adams, Editor
New Directions in Teaching and Learning, 1992, Volume 52

Curtis, M.S.; Herrington, A.J., Diversity in Required Writing Courses.

Today’s challenge, for students and teachers of writing alike, is to construct a social identity on which we can all agree amid a growing confluence of identities, both individual and ethnic. The objective of teaching writing, the author’s state, is for writers to be able to move confidently and thoughtfully through private meaning-making to significant communication with others. In this chapter, the authors describe a multicultural Basic Writing course that they designed, which included significant books by writers from outside of the Anglo American canon. Basic Writing was designed to be more inclusive and student-centered; student writing was the principal activity and student writings the principal texts. The authors comment that in exploring the multicultural content of the works studied, they became conscious of their own interpretive processes, and it was these processes, rather than the interpretations, that they meant to pass on to students.

Hardiman, R.; Jackson, B., Racial Identity Development: Understanding Racial Dynamics in College Classrooms and on Campus. Read more »

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Other Articles of Interest to Multicultural Faculty Developers

Published in To Improve the Academy

Afolayan, Johnson A. The Implication of Cultural Diversity in American Schools. To Improve the Academy. 1994; 13: p 135-146.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the major factors responsible for the cultural diversity in America and their implications for professional educators. These factors include immigration, communication, linguistic diversity, cultural values, and desegregation. While some educators look to the demographics of the new student population, others consider historical clues as a method of understanding American diversity. Statistics about school achievement and dropout and graduation rates show the disparity among the ethnic groups. The new immigrants and ethnic groups may experience conflict as a result of cultural attitudes of teachers and peers. Individuals cannot be understood unless they are seen against the cultural history from which they have come and in terms of the situation in which they currently live. Because of the diversity in the American population, educators need to be sensitive to the cultural elements that may affect students' performance and self-esteem.

Awbrey, Susan M.; Scott, David K. Knowledge Into Wisdom: Incorporating Values and Beliefs to Construct a Wise University. To Improve the Academy. 1994; 13: p 161-176 Read more »

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Teaching Strategies: Creating an Effective Learning Climate

When instructors strive to create inclusive college classrooms, they need to consider multiple factors, including course content, class preparation, their own classroom behavior, and their knowledge of students’ backgrounds and skills. The articles in this section offer concrete strategies to address these factors and improve the learning climate for all students.

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Books of Interest to Multicultural Faculty Developers

Adams, Maurianne; Bell, Lee Anne 1949; Griffin, Patricia S. (eds.). Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge; 1997.

This edited volume provides strong and detailed attention to three critical areas of teaching for diversity and social justice: theoretical foundations and frameworks that guide pedagogical practice, curriculum designs to address six social justice issues (racism, sexism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, ableism, and classism), and an overview of intra- and interpersonal as well as group dynamics that are relevant to social justice education (“Knowing Ourselves as Instructors,” “Knowing Our Students,” and “Facilitating Social Justice Education Courses”).

Fiol-Matta, Liza; Chamberlain, Mariam K. (eds.). Women of Color and the Multicultural Curriculum: Transforming the College Classroom. 1994: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 311 East 94th St., New York, NY 10128.

Note: 390 pp.

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Other Articles of Interest to Multicultural Faculty Developers

Anderson, James A. Cognitive Styles and Multicultural Populations. Journal of Teacher Education. 1988; 38: pp. 1-8.

Differentiates between western and nonwestern worldviews and field-dependent and field-independent learning styles and how they relate to writing styles, classroom learning, and communication.

Bean, Martha S.; Kumaravadivelu, B.; Lowenberg, Peter H. Students as Experts: Tapping the cultural and linguistic diversity of the classroom. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 1995; 6(2): 99-112.

The challenges of the increasingly diverse U.S. college classroom may at first seem problematic. However, when educators become aware of the broad range of cultural and linguistic behaviors that can inform their particular classroom culture, areas in which students are expert, they can not only defuse incipient tensions but also experience such diversity as a rich resource for alternative models of teaching and learning. The dynamics of the culturally diverse classroom are outlined, and strategies are proposed for reducing miscommunication and expanding understanding of different educational practices and varieties of English that may emerge in the classroom.

Brown, Brenda Gabioud. Pedagogical Reality. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. 1994 Mar. Read more »

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