What are you doing to make your classroom a more equitably engaging space for your students? A recently published Data Short from Google looked at data trends around Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion and found that our culture, language, and goals are shifting in a big way. For example, compared to only a year ago, searches for “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous and people of color) increased 60 times.
Now more than ever it is crucial to reflect and reevaluate equitable engagement in our own classes so that our classes uplift the historically marginalized voice, hear the quiet voice, and make safe space for all to be heard, respected, and appreciated. Through this short series of articles, we would like to jumpstart and help guide your path towards a more equitably engaged class. Here you will find the background knowledge in support of future strategies.
Evaluate:
To determine how classes can more equitably engage students, it is important to first evaluate what has already been established for your classes in three key areas - Learning Environment and Expectations, Curriculum and Resources, and Assessment. It is important to consider not only what is being said in each of these areas but also whose voice is being heard, looking for opportunities for your adult learners to have a say in their learning as key stakeholders. At 2U, we believe in being candid, open, and honest; asking your students to collaborate and provide feedback, sharing resources from a variety of authors, and reimagining and redefining assessment as a community are just a few ways in which the evaluative process can be done more thoroughly and with a more inclusive perspective. This article goes into more detail regarding thought processes and strategies for evaluating equitable engagement in the digital classroom.
Initiate:
Once initial evaluations have been completed, the next step in the process is to begin addressing the areas needing improvement through enactment. Initiating equitable engagement requires consideration in planning as well as in implementation. It may also involve re-imagining traditional practices in order to build learning spaces that facilitate more equitable engagement. Questions to consider can be, for example, “What can I do to better understand participation patterns? What can my class and I do together as a community to facilitate equitable engagement in class?” In this second article for the Toward A More Equitably Engaged Class series, the author will discuss three powerful strategies to help instructors effectively initiate equitable engagement in the online classroom ranging from planning to implementation.
Involve:
Classes are inherently dynamic environments, and our students’ needs continue to evolve. It is important not only to repeat the process of evaluation and initiation to meet ever changing needs but also to continuously and purposefully involve students. To ensure progress toward equitable engagement, consider checking in with your students throughout the term on the progress you are all making, noticing areas needing further action. Communicating and collaborating with your students around your collective goals and expectations and achievement of these aims with regards to equitability in class is a vital step to hearing and seeing your students and their experience. Their input coupled with your reflection and evaluation result in new practices to implement and new considerations, restarting the evaluative process all over again with better processes in place. This article dives into ways in which you can continue to involve your students and your community around you for a more equitably engaged digital learning environment.
Through this series, we provide background information to better inform applicable practices. Indeed reimagining what it means to engage takes a lot of work, but by continuing the work and building a community of practice, your students will be empowered leaders and thankful for your efforts to see and to hear them. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and share ideas that work for your class communities! We’d love to hear from you.
Read the entire series:
- Intro to Creating a More Equitably Engaged Classroom
- Step 1 - Evaluate
- Step 2 - Initiate
- Step 3 - Involve
Sources
Unbiasing Your Business: Workplace diversity & inclusion statistics - Think with Google. (2020). Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/trending-data-shorts/diversity-in-the-workplace-statistics
DiFranza, A. (2020, August 26). 4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/equity-in-the-classroom/
Core Practices of Equitable Teaching. (2019, October). Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://seattleteacherresidency.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Core-Practices-Defined_updateOct2019_final.pdf
Assessing Online Participation. (2020, September 25). Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/assessing-online-participation
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you for your input!