Inclusive Teaching and Learning: Overview

Inclusive teaching and learning practices are instrumental in creating and maintaining a learning environment in which all participants are fully engaged and respected, and in which all participants are open to ideas, perspectives, and ways of thinking that are distinct from their own. To learn more about inclusive-teaching approaches, please see the resources in the right-hand menu.

Inclusive teaching posits cultural diversity, or differences related to identity and experience, as crucial to learning. The practice of inclusive teaching involves consciously working to foster learning across differences, for example by acknowledging and challenging biases and stereotypes that can impede understanding and undermine a student’s sense of belonging to the discipline or institution. The practice of inclusive teaching also involves keeping accessibility and transparency in mind when designing courses and assignments, as well as being aware of power differences within the classroom and of psycho-social factors that can affect learning.

We invite instructors and assistants in instruction who are interested in learning more about these ideas to attend our workshops and institutes, or to schedule an individual consultation. You will also find strategies, references, and resources on this website. You may also find it helpful to consult books such as Whistling Vivaldi (C. Steele, 2010) or Blindspot: The Hidden Biases of Good People (M. Banaji and A. Greenwald, 2013), or to take the implicit bias tests at Project Implicit. Additional references are included in the pages within this section of our site.

Workshops
Offered throughout each fall and spring semester for multi-disciplinary groups and for requesting departments and schools. Topics include the following:

• Reducing Stereotype Threat
• Fostering a Growth Mindset
• Understanding Implicit Bias and its Effects on Teaching and Learning (includes discussion of “micro-aggressions” that can negatively impact the learning environment)
• Facilitating Challenging Conversations in the Classroom
• Fostering Inclusive Learning during Group Work
• Designing Inclusive Objectives and Assignments

*Similar topics are offered in our workshop series for graduate students and postdocs.

Online Resources: Inclusive Teaching and Learning

Please explore this section of our website for a growing list of online resources. Most pages also include references and resources that provide additional ideas and research.