This Week for Faculty: 4 Tips for Teaching Inclusively
4 Tips for Teaching Inclusively
1. Create a classroom climate that fosters belonging for all students. Build rapport by getting to know your students and provide opportunities for students to get to know each other. Explore community building strategies in the Community Building in the Classroom resource.
2. Communicate learning goals and your expectations to ensure that all your students are set up to succeed in your course. Clarify assignment instructions and expectations with a rubric. Review your syllabi and assessments with inclusivity in mind.
3. Ensure your course materials are accessible. Leverage CourseWorks to share resources to support student learning. These may include class recordings, closed-captioned videos, podcasts, links to curated sites and other supplemental resources.
4. Build well-being into your courses to maximize learning. Explore integrating contemplative practices to help focus student attention and promote full engagement. Consider inviting Alice! Health Promotion to facilitate a workshop for your students on topics like time management or reducing and managing stress, equipping students with the skills they need to thrive in your classroom.
Plan ahead for Fall 2023: teach inclusively from the start!
Join the CTL and colleagues for the 60-minute workshop:
Teaching Inclusively From the Start
August 21, 10:00am-11:00am, online – register
How do I create a community in which all students feel a sense of belonging? How can I partner with my students to co-create the learning environment?
If you are looking for strategies to be more inclusive in your course, this session is for you! In this session, you will address these questions by reflecting on your teaching practices and considering five principles of inclusive teaching. You will have an opportunity to discuss with colleagues, share ideas, and leave with strategies to implement in your courses.
Would you like the CTL to facilitate an inclusive teaching workshop for your school, department, or program? Visit our Workshops To Go page for more information. Sessions include “Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Course” and “Applying Inclusive Teaching Principles to Clinical Education.”
Guide for Inclusive Teaching
For more on inclusive teaching, explore the Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia. The Guide offers practical, accessible, and usable strategies.
Features five principles:
- Establish and support a climate that fosters belonging for all students.
- Set explicit student expectations.
- Select course content that recognizes diversity and acknowledges barriers to inclusion.
- Design all course elements for accessibility.
- Reflect on one’s beliefs about teaching to maximize self-awareness and commitment to inclusion.
Listen to podcast episodes on inclusive teaching
Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning Podcast
Listen to CTL Executive Director, Catherine Ross, interview authors of books on inclusive teaching.
Season 6, Episode 2: How the Science of Learning Can Be Leveraged for Change with Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy, award winning instructors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and authors of the book, Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (2022) and the Chronicle of Higher Ed advice guide: How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive.
Season 2, Episode 5: What Inclusive Instructors Do with Tracie Marcella Addy, Derek Dube, Khadijah A. Mitchell, and Mallory SoRelle, authors of the book What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching (2021).
The CTL is here to help you get ready for Fall 2023!
Consultations
Schedule an in-person or virtual consultation to discuss any teaching and learning need by emailing ctlfaculty@columbia.edu or email the CTL Learning Designer assigned to your school or department.
Office Hours
Join us for office hours via Zoom (or phone) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm to have your teaching with instructional technology questions answered.