What are inclusive and equitable teaching practices?
There are a variety of approaches and strategies tied to inclusive and equitable teaching strategies. This page is designed to introduce a few approaches and resources.
Active Learning
Active learning is an approach that intentionally engages students in the learning process. The focus is on the work of the students and less on the instructor. Students perform better in courses with active learning than those that center lecturing as the primary mode of teaching (Freeman, 2014). It has also shown to lead to increased equitable outcomes (Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Haake et al., 2011; Lorenzo, Crouch, & Mazur, 2006)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
UDL is a research-based approach that attempts to create equitable learning opportunities for all students by changing the learning environment (rather than attempting to
change the student). UDL asks instructors to use multiple modalities in teaching and learning in order to reach more students. This includes how instructors engage with students, how information is represented and our assessments.
- Here is information about the guiding principles of UDL.
- Here is a great resource about ways to integrate UDL specifically in higher education courses.
Group Work/Labs
Groups and labs can be important parts of our educational goals. However, these are common spaces where students from marginalized backgrounds often experience isolation and microaggressions. Here are a few resources for best practices on how to better support student learning in these spaces.
- The University of Michigan has organized a resource page about facilitating group work.
- Vanderbilt University has put together a resource for activities to promote learning in groups.
- The University of Chicago offers tips on how to create an inclusive lab.
Critical Pedagogy
Critical Pedagogy, pioneered by Paolo Friere, is an approach to education that questions power and power structures. It operates under the assumption that justice cannot be separated from teaching and learning. The goal is to support students to the goal of emancipation from oppressive structures in education and beyond.
- Here is a guide for how to implement critical pedagogy into your course.
- Here is a resource for how to be a critical educator.
- It is easy for many to assume this only applies to humanities or social science courses. However, critical pedagogy has been applied to STEM fields as well:
- Check out this podcast about critical pedagogy in STEM.
- Here is an introduction to critical digital pedagogy.