Multicultural Teaching: Information and Strategies

The information below applies to a range of disciplinary contexts.
See also:

CRLT services for faculty and GSIs
CRLT Theatre program

“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.

Student diversity at the University of Michigan

• Data collected about incoming students
• Research findings on the value of student diversity on learning
• Research on views of students of color at U-M

Key teaching strategies that help engage students from 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

• Guidelines and recommendations
• Key principles

Strategies that anticipate and respond to student issues arising

• Effective questioning
• Handling “hot” moments
• Managing student resistance
• Managing classroom conflict
• Interacting with students inclusively
• Creating an engaging classroom climate

Strategies for framing and leading controversial discussions

• CRLT Discussion Guidelines

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

Resources for teaching social justice issues and community service learning

• Ethics for service partnerships
• Principles for good pedagogy
• Resources of 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

• Teaching for Retention in Science, Engineering, and Math Disciplines:  A Guide for Faculty  (Brown, Hershock, Finelli, O’Neal. 2009)  
• Instructor Identity:  The Impact of Gender and Race on Faculty Experiences with Teaching  (Kardia and Wright.  2004)
• Making Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors (Bierwert, 2002)
• The Effect of Student Diversity on Student Learning at the University of Michigan: Faculty and GSI Perspectives (1999)
• Student Learning Styles and Their Implications for Teaching (Montgomery & Groat, 1998)
• Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering: Providing Academic Support (Montgomery & Cohen Barrett, 1997)
• Perceptions of Faculty Behavior by Students of Color (Chesler, 1997)

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