“Multicultural teaching” means different things according to one’s course goals and one’s discipline. The following links provide useful information for a wide range of college teaching contexts. If you want to suggest other web-based sources for this page, please email crlt@umich.edu and put “Multicultural Teaching” in the subject line.

See Also:

• CRLT services for faculty and GSIs
• CRLT Theatre program

Student diversity at the University of Michigan

• Data collected about incoming students
• Research on views of students of color at U-M

Key teaching strategies that help engage students from a range of academic or social backgrounds

• Interactive lecturing
• Active learning
• Using cases
• Sustained small group work and team research
• Rapport on the first day of class

Information on course planning

• Recommendations
• Key principles

Strategies that anticipate and respond to difficult discussions

• Guidelines for class participation
• Handling “hot” moments
• Managing student resistance
• Managing classroom conflict
• Creating an engaging classroom climate

Reflective strategies for faculty to examine the impacts of social identity on teaching, either for students in class, or for themselves

• Examining effects of social identity
• Cultivating awareness of social differences

CRLT Occasional Paper #7: Perceptions of Faculty Behavior by Students of Color (Chesler, 1997)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/CRLT_no7.pdf

This paper reports the findings of a series of 15 focus groups with undergraduate students of color in which participants were asked to describe positive as well as uncomfortable interactions they had with majority group instructors. Suggestions for how faculty members can address students’ concerns are offered.

CRLT Occasional Paper #8: Academic Support for Women in Science and Engineering (Montgomery & Barrett, 1997)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/CRLT_no8.pdf

Women continue to be underrepresented in a number of science and engineering disciplines. This paper describes factors that have been found to influence the learning and persistence of undergraduate women in science and engineering. Suggestions are offered for how faculty members can improve the academic environment to create a more positive learning climate for all students.

Teaching Students Who Have Disabilities

• What Faculty Can Do
• Information from the Office of the General Counsel

Resources for teaching social justice issues and community service learning

• Ethics for service partnerships
• Principles for good pedagogy
• Resources the University of Michigan Ginsberg Center

Discussion forums and programs on multiculturalism and diversity in higher education in the U.S. today

• AAC&U website

CRLT Occasional Papers on multicultural teaching (pdf)

• Teaching for Retention In Science, Engineering, and Math Disciplines: A Guide for Faculty
• Instructor Identity: The Impact of Gender and Race on Faculty Experiences with Teaching
• Making Accommodations For Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors
• The Effect of Student Diversity on Student Learning at the University of Michigan: Faculty and GSI Perspectives,
• Student Learning Styles and Their Implications for Teaching
• Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering: Providing Academic Support
• Perceptions of Faculty Behavior by Students of Color

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