Inclusive Teaching Tips

One of the important ways that Cal Poly educators can help all students to be successful is to foster a class environment that is conducive to learning by conveying the instructor's core commitments to inclusion and support of diversity. There are a number of ways to do that, and this page provides a range of resources and ideas to implement them for a collection of approaches. This page will be expanded over time, including access to examples of Cal Poly faculty's methods and recommendations.

 

Tips for Inclusive Teaching in Classrooms and Labs

1. Write a diversity and inclusion syllabus statement.
   • Rather than using a diversity and inclusion statement from a colleague or other source, consider writing your own so that it accurately portrays your commitment to diversity and inclusion and the way that commitment manifests in your discipline, in the subject matter, and in your classroom.
   • Access the list of questions at Diversity Statement on a Syllabus as a starting place for writing a syllabus statement.
   • Learn more on the CTLT's webpage for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Syllabus Statements.
2. Learn about your students and give them the opportunity to learn about each other.
   • Have students fill out a student survey at the beginning of the quarter to help you to gain a better understanding of who is in your classroom. Include open-ended questions such as: Is there anything that you are concerned about in taking this class? What can I do to help you learn best in this class?
   • Collect regular feedback from your students throughout the quarter and intentionally ask students to provide feedback on inclusion and classroom climate issues.
   • Give students structured opportunities to get to know one another. These opportunities can be more formal—intentionally forming groups so that students meet each other, or more casual—asking students to introduce themselves to one or two classmates who they do not know.
3. Learn student names and pronouns.
   • Practice accurate pronunciation of student names. For more on the importance of this see: Teachers' Strategies for Pronouncing Students' Names Correctly.
   • Ask students to identify their lived names and pronouns on a student information sheet or verbally in class.
   • To learn more, please access the following CTLT resources: Pronouns and Preferred Names, FAQ on Pronouns and Preferred Names.
   • Read more about pronouns at Pronouns Matter.
4. Be mindful about how you form groups in class.
   • Consider not allowing students to form their own groups; instead, consider intentional ways of forming groups that reduce homogeneity. Know, though, that it is important for students who are underrepresented in your courses not to be singled out in a group. One way that you can both encourage students to work with others and ensure that students from underrepresented groups have support is to have students work in groups of four—you can ask them to first find a partner they feel comfortable working with and then ask them to locate another set of partners to pair with.
   • Consider forming study groups in class. Research shows that students from underrepresented groups are often excluded in the formation of study groups.
5. Be aware of barriers that students from certain identity groups are more likely to face, but do not assume homogeneity of experience.
   • Treat all students as individuals: get to know your students and the particular barriers they face; explore any biases you may hold about students from particular social identity groups or backgrounds. Attending one of the many trainings available on campus is a good place to start for identifying your biases and learning ways to mitigate them—consider attending trainings offered by the Office for University Diversity and Inclusion and Student Diversity & Belonging. 
6. Address issues related to inclusivity when they arise.
   • Though it is sometimes best to address an issue related to inclusivity (including microaggressions in the classroom, oppressive language, bias, etc., which can come from either the instructor or students) when it comes up, know that it is always better to come back to an incident later than to ignore it completely. If you leave your classroom feeling like something was not right, seek help from your colleagues, from CTLT, or from other campus resources in preparing a response.
   • Learn more about Responding to Behavior that Detracts from Learning in the Virtual Environment.

Tips for Ensuring Equitable Chances for Academic Success

1. Make it a practice to check your assumptions about your students.
   • Attend trainings available on campus as a place to start in identifying your biases and learning ways to mitigate them. When you do find bias and assumptions affecting your assessment of student actions, effort, or work, take a step back to reassess and think through alternative explanations. For example, though you may assume that a particular student is not putting in sufficient effort and that is why they are struggling with the coursework, consider alternate explanations for why that student may be encountering difficulty—maybe the student is putting in significant effort, but in ways that do not lead to success in the course; maybe the student has a number of responsibilities outside of the classroom with family, work, etc.; or maybe the assignments that you have given to students need to be clearer. Try to identify the source of the problem so that you can appropriately support the student.
2. Make the assumed expectations for success in your courses explicit.
   • Identify the unwritten rules for academic success that exist in your classroom, in your department, or even in the University more generally. Make these unwritten rules—from defining the purpose of office hours, to communicating with students about how to study for exams, to understanding how to secure letters of recommendation—as explicit as possible.
3. Set high expectations for your students, make your learning objectives explicit and provide clear paths for reaching those objectives.
   • Set high expectations for your students and communicate your belief that these expectations can be reached by all students. Research suggests that when students are presented with high expectations for performance and clear paths to reaching those expectations, they are more likely to work through any difficulty they may encounter.
   • Transparency in teaching—clarity of learning objectives, particularly on assignments, has been empirically shown to benefit all students and particularly first-generation and underrepresented students. For more information, consider reading about the Transparency in Teaching and Learning Project.
4. Normalize difficulty.
   • Communicate to students that intelligence is not innate and that struggle is a part of learning. You may, for example, share your own experiences of learning difficult concepts or communicate to students about places in the curriculum where most students typically encounter difficulty. Doing this allows students to see their struggles as normal, as opposed to connected to individual fault.
5. Design opportunities for providing frequent feedback to students on their learning.
   • Once you have clarified learning objectives and the paths to reach those objectives, it is important to incorporate frequent, low stakes opportunities for students to receive feedback on their learning. Rather than assessing student learning only at one point after instruction on a certain topic (summative assessment), incorporate opportunities for more regular feedback during the learning process (formative assessment). Consider incorporating opportunities for self or peer assessment.

Tips for Incorporating Diversity into the Curriculum

1. Communicate the importance of diversity and inclusion in your field.
   • Highlight the work being done within your professional associations, department, or college related to diversity and inclusion.
   • Research diversity initiatives in industries related to your field to communicate to students the importance of equity and inclusion in their future careers.
2. Diversify your syllabus.
   • Do an audit of the authors you assign in your courses and the examples you use in class. Consider whether you can incorporate additional examples or readings authored by those who are underrepresented in your field.
   • Bring diversity into your curriculum in a meaningful way, rather than as an afterthought. Spend some time doing research on how others in your field have incorporated conversations about identity, oppression, social inequality, etc., into their curriculum. Consider incorporating case studies into your curriculum that show the importance of equity in your topical area.

Make a Personal Commitment to Further Learning

1. Take advantage of the many opportunities to learn more available to you on campus. All faculty receive the CTLT newsletter which regularly publishes opportunities for faculty to learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion in teaching. Consider also signing up for the Student Diversity & Belonging Newsletter. to find out about opportunities available from the centers that are part of Student Diversity & Belonging. You can also sign up for the OUDI newsletter from the Office for University Diversity and Inclusion, which regularly publishes a variety of events and learning opportunities from across the University.
2. Sign up for an individual consultation. Contact Sarah Macdonald at smacdo05@calpoly.edu to schedule a consultation to determine how to incorporate inclusive teaching strategies into your repertoire or to explore how to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion-related topics into your courses.
3. Sign up for CTLT workshops or request a workshop by request. CTLT regularly offers book circles, learning communities, workshops, and tailored programming for departments and colleges. Considering signing up for a workshop advertised in the CTLT newsletter, or contact CTLT staff to offer a Workshop by Request. in your department or college.