Helping faculty develop strategies for increasing access and inclusion in Higher Ed classrooms.

Faculty: Pedagogy Matters

Faculty have a hard job: Balancing teaching, research and scholarship, and service, plus whatever life requires outside of work. The teaching part of the job can be particularly difficult. Beyond the required prep time, classroom time can be challenging - especially since college and university classrooms today are more diverse than ever. Few faculty receive much training about how to be an effective classroom teacher during their graduate training.

Disability Services Offices ensure that institutions comply with federal and state laws re. access to education (e.g., ADA, Section 504 of the Rehab Law, etc.). Teaching and Learning Centers help faculty develop use of campus digital and classroom technologies and services (e.g., course management software, online learning, classroom technology). We help faculty teach more inclusively: What they do in classroom spaces (face-to-face, online, blended). With changing student demographics, we help faculty teach effectively and inclusively to respond to classroom diversity.

Colleges and Universities: Pedagogy Matters

Disabilities 

The start of the semester comes with emails detailing mandated access and accommodations for registered students with disabilities. These accommodations only go so far, and while they give access to classroom information and learning (literally, can students "get to" the information, can they process it?), they do not ensure inclusion in the educational experience (are they on the sidelines, or full participants?). Plus, there are so many! And strategies are different depending on who shows up in your classroom (physical disabilities, social/interaction disabilities, processing/attention disabilities, sensory disabilities, etc.).

Non-Native English Speaking Students

Active learning and collaboration in the classroom can be challenging when you have students with different levels of language proficiency. How do you group students with different communication skills and preferences? How do you manage student complaints (e.g., "I did all the writing on this project because my partner doesn't speak English very well"). Pedagogical strategies can make this easier for you and the students, as well as a better experience.

Other Challenges.

Have you ever been flummoxed about how to work with varying gender identities in the classroom? Or sexual orientation, with varying levels of being "out"? With having a single black student, or one Muslim woman student, or one student with right wing politics in the class? My expertise started with extensive understanding of non-native English use of English, deafness, and physical disabilities. There are numerous intersectionalities across many areas of otherness. I work with faculty to develop classroom practices and make the experience better for all.

First-Generation College Students

While different colleges and universities may define who counts as a "first generation" student differently, what is not different is that as a group, these students enroll and graduate at lower rates compared to other students. Regardless of how your institution identifies or counts them, there are strategies you can use to improve classroom principles and practices with diverse audiences.

I thought Access and Inclusion were the same thing. They're different??

If you think that someone is included once they have access to information or physical space, you are not alone! Here's more information.

Strategies? What are those? 

Good question!  Read about some examples here.