Building an Inclusive Learning Community
We must not only learn to tolerate our differences. We must welcome them as the richness and diversity which can lead to true intelligence.
–Albert Einstein
What is inclusivity?
Inclusivity is the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or mental disabilities or belonging to other minoritized groups.
Inclusivity is the action of developing a classroom culture where all students feel welcomed and equally valued for their contributions, perspectives, and personal experiences.
What is an Inclusive Learning Community?
An inclusive learning community is crucial for students to know they are supported, both emotionally and academically, which positively impacts their academic success. In fact, when students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, it can increase their educational success and motivational outcomes in multiple ways (Bowen, 2021).
An inclusive learning community values everyone for who they are and their various identities, including but not limited to, their race and ethnicity, gender, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and educational background. Not only is it important for the instructor to ensure that all their students feel welcomed and valued within the classroom, but it is also important for students to ensure that their peers feel that as well.
You can contribute to an inclusive learning community by welcoming your peers, respecting and valuing your peers’ contributions to the classroom through discussions and group projects, and sharing your own ideas and experiences.
What is Academic Belonging?
Academic belonging is defined as “the extent to which students subjectively perceive that they are valued, accepted, and legitimate members in their academic domain” (Lewis, Stout, Pollock, Finkelstein, & Ito, 2016). When students feel valued and accepted in their academic setting, they experience a sense of connection to the content; they feel that they can meet high expectations and succeed. On the other hand, when students feel like they do not belong in a course, the feelings of stress and isolation outweigh any level of confidence they may have with the content itself.
So, what does this mean for you in this course? As students in the learning community, you all play an important role in ensuring that the community is inclusive. You need to not only know the course policies and procedures but follow them as well. Doing so will give you the opportunity to help one another inside and outside of the classroom (e.g. in group projects and/or study groups), and the strength to seek that help when needed.
A little about me
I acknowledge that as a white, cisgeneder, male I have encountered very little of the discrimination and challenges that I know many of you face on a regular basis. I desire to create a learning community for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, and experiences and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc...)
Despite my best efforts, my ingrained bias may creep into this class. I invite each of you to partner with me to examine and reflect on our thoughts and feelings regarding various people and situations. In what ways can we nurture our own personal understanding that removes ethnic or cultural stereotypes? If there is ever anything in a class that makes you feel uncomfortable or a place where you think we can grow, please communicate with me. It may just be you saying "ouch" outloud so we can adress it in the moment OR you can drop me a message after class. I will always work with my class to come up with a solution.
To that end, I will work with all of you to follow the principles below:
If you have a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official RCCD records, please let me know!
If you encounter bias or stereotypes in the textbook or content of the course, please reach out to me, and together we will search for a non-biased source.
During this class, we will be discussing global issues that each of us connect to differently based on our backgrounds and cultures. This class will provide a safe and caring environment in which we can share our own personal experiences.
If you feel your performance in this class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don't hesitate to let me know. I want to be a resource to you.
AND?...what do YOU as the student think should be added to the list? We will discuss this during our personal meeting time and I will continue to grow this list to create the most beautiful, supportive learning community possible.
If any of you are interested in learning more about implicit bias or are willing to make yourself perhaps a bit uncomfortable, you can even take a test, you can check out the Harvard Implicit Bias website to see where you can learn and grow.