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At this point, most educators have likely heard about “inclusive classrooms.” We want you to consider an alternative perspective about how you can make classrooms places where all students feel seen and heard. This perspective – that of “anti-oppression” – rather than inclusivity or diversity – will help you understand the role instructors play in creating classroom environments in which some students are oppressed and others are privileged. We recommend this lens because it focuses on the systems in which oppression operates rather than on differences themselves. Individuals differences can too often be used by educators (consciously or unconsciously) to privilege or oppress those they are teaching. Anti-oppression in the classroom begins with you. 
 
What is an Anti-Oppressive Classroom?
Anti-oppressive classrooms are those in which all forms of oppression are actively and intentionally challenged. Anti-oppressive classrooms attempt to directly address issues of power toward the fullest recognition of all individuals. As instructors, we have considerable power/influence over the classroom environment. How we assume that role and use that power will determine the boundaries and expectations for a non-oppressive classroom. As the instructor, you set the parameters. Your students will either be empowered or oppressed as a result of how you employ your identity in the classroom. This is why it’s important to begin the process towards an anti-oppressive classroom by reflecting on elements of your own identity.
 
Authentic self-reflection may not be easy, but is required if you commit to a non-oppressive classroom. This is a process…it involves steps. We can only start from who and where we are. To help you start your journey, we provide four questions to engage you in intentional thought towards becoming mindful of your identity.
 
Four Questions to Begin the Journey
 

Are you aware of your identity statuses: sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, ability, religion, socioeconomic status, national status, language, etc.?

Answering this question is the first step toward a non-oppressive classroom in that you become aware of your identity statuses so that you can understand their meaning and how they intersect. (For instance, you’re not only Latino or White …you’re a [Latino or White], heterosexual, cisgender (insert other identity statuses here) male.)
 

Have you acknowledged/do you understand what those identities mean to you? For instance, do you know what it means to be white racially if you identify as racially white? Answering this question allows you to understand who you are, so that you can begin to address the privileges (or lack thereof) associated with your identity statuses.

 

Have you accepted the privileges (or lack thereof) that comes with your identity? Have you internalized why this matters? Answering this question allows you to deal with reactions you may have while accepting your identity statuses (such as defensiveness, guilt, powerlessness, responsibility, ownership), so that you can embody your identity in a true and authentic way.

 

Do you actively engage your identity within your teaching? How do you situate or position yourself in the classroom? Now that you have become aware of, acknowledged and accepted your identity statuses, you must critically consider what actions you can take to address your privilege (or lack thereof) in the classroom.

This article suggests different strategies for supporting English language learners in your classroom. While written for a K-12 audience, many of its conclusions are applicable to college instructors as well, especially those around making instruction more visual and including more group work.

Topic Area: Student Success
Presented by: Melissa Wagner, Lemoine Joseph, Elliott Daniels
Abstract:
Student success in a university setting is often conceptualized as strictly academic success, but there are many other factors that impact a student’s ability to thrive, one of which is feeling safe from violence. The MSU Prevention, Outreach and Education Department and the MSU Athletics Department have collaborated to consider and address how student-athletes are uniquely situated to prevent gender-based violence on campus.Student-athletes face unique experiences as college students that impact their ability to engage in gender-based violence prevention programs and initiatives. They are also often encouraged to be leaders on campus, providing different opportunities than the non-student-athlete to engage in violence prevention. The “Spartans Against Violence” program was created from this collaboration to educate and empower Spartan student-athletes to prevent sexual misconduct, relationship violence, and stalking. This session will discuss how we define success, how past program data has shown success, and how the program is continually changing to maximize student success. We will also discuss how we have broken down barriers and siloes between university units to benefit both staff and students, and lessons we have learned and their potential application to other cross-campus efforts.

Beginning to Teach Inclusively
How do I encourage students to bring diverse perspectives to the subject matter I teach? How can I promote inclusive behavior of students working in groups? These were just a few questions posed by approximately 45 doctoral students and postdocs at the “Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom” workshop I ran last year with Dr. Sheila Contreras. To begin answering them, Inside Teaching posts over the next few weeks will address different areas for you to focus on toward a more inclusive classroom. In today’s post, I’ll discuss where to begin: making your curriculum design choices more inclusive.
What Do I Mean By “Inclusive”?
Before I start discussing how your content and curriculum design choices can be more inclusive, let’s start with a working definition for an inclusive classroom. According to the Association of American Colleges & Universities, inclusive classrooms are learning spaces where “active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity” occurs “in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathetic understanding of the complex individuals interact within systems and institutions.” 
 
So, as an instructor concerned about inclusive teaching, I encourage you do consider how your course content and assignments both represent a diverse (for example, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, nationality, epistemological perspectives) set of scholarly voices and how you can hold yourself – and your students—to more inclusive standards of behavior and discourse in the classroom.
Inclusive Classrooms Require Intentional Thought and Not “Extra Work”
Graduate students and other beginning instructors are often overwhelmed by the volume of things they need to learn about teaching in a college classroom or lab. Creating an inclusive environment in your classroom does not require “extra work” – what it requires is “intentional thought” in how you plan and implement your classes. This involves a deliberate awareness of the decisions you’re making and the impact they have on how you represent your discipline and the multiple voices connected to it. I’d argue that this level of intentionality is a key hallmark of curriculum design across disciplines. To help with this intentionality toward more inclusive classrooms, I provide the following four tips below.
Four Tips Toward Inclusive Curriculum Design
(1) Select the work of scholars from different cultural or paradigmatic backgrounds
Make sure you are presenting a variety of voices and perspectives across the course readings, videos and material you select.  Additionally important is presenting a full spectrum of disciplinary paradigms in the field so that students have a full picture of disciplinary conversation(s).
(2) Acknowledge the limitations of course material with regards to demographic representation
Frame what you are providing and point out the potential limitations of your materials. This can help students see how and why you have made the decisions you did. This can also help students to get a better window into your teaching decisions and engage alongside you critically.
(3) Pay attention to WHO and HOW you represent in your presentation slides, case studies, videos, and guest panels
As with our tips above, it’s important that the slides, case studies, and videos you use reflect multiple voices and backgrounds. Additionally, it’s important to pay attention to how various individuals and groups are portrayed in these materials. In their portrayals, are you sending the messages you want sent to a diverse group of students?
(4) Maximize the inclusion of all student voices in instructional activities
Make sure you provide multiple opportunities and safe spaces in your classroom for all student voices. Not all students will immediately respond to one way of engaging in the classroom, so make sure your approaches vary and respond to what you have come to know about the different students in class. We will share more specific tips about instructional activities in later posts.
 
Additional Resources
The goal of the Inclusive Teaching Workshop, in addition to soliciting student questions, was to present a Framework for Inclusive Teaching, modified from resources from both a resource from the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at University of Michigan and a paper produced by the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard.
 
We’d like to know: What have you done to make your course content and curriculum more inclusive? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or with us on social media using the hashtag “#iteachmsu.”
 

 
Originally posted at “Inside Teaching MSU” (site no longer live): McDaniels, M. Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Inclusive Curriculum Design. inside teaching.grad.msu.edu

Every educator, classroom, and student brings diverse identities, lived experiences, and perspectives to the classroom; there is no one-size-fits-all approach. These articles serve as a starting place for MSU students as they navigate civil discourse.The visual guide can also be viewed on Canva.


Civil Discourse Handbook--Students by Bethany Meadows

Every educator, classroom, and student brings diverse identities, lived experiences, and perspectives to the classroom; there is no one-size-fits-all approach. These articles serve as a starting place for MSU educators as they navigate various classroom situations.Below is the visual guide embedded that is also represented in iTeach articles on the linked playlist. The visual guide can also be viewed on Canva. 


Civil Discourse Handbook by Bethany Meadows

Summary of CT&LI Summit Engagements
This report summarizes data gathered from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CT&LI) Kick-off Summit [held on Jan. 14, 2022] and following asynchronous engagement opportunities, as well as concurrent discussions within the center about space and services to directly address the questions in our charge. To read more about the Kick-off Summit, check out "Reflecting on the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation Kick-off Summit".

What factors should we consider when deciding where responsibility lies?




Aligning what is already in place; what units / local-level are already doing well.
How the Center and IT (particularly Academic Tech unit) work together.
How to ensure best use and highest purpose for any given resource.




What are the greatest areas of priority for increased collaboration and focus with regard to teaching and learning?




Development of service portfolio and communicating broadly/transparently (adjusting according to ongoing listening/feedback from users + assessment)

What are the demands/needs of educators? What are current/proposed services in the network? Evaluate gaps relative to current staffing. 

Developing “the network” across campus

Developing and maintaining directories of available people, resources and services. Making opportunities for affiliation with the center explicit.





What are our highest areas of need for investment in new skills and expertise, regardless of where those skills are placed




Needed investment in distributed staffing to meet the needs of faculty in colleges/departments/units that may not be as robustly staffed as others in areas/services that the center will not be able to cover (e.g. course assistance).
Evaluation, assessment, feedback, and educational research.
Educator development programming and instructional consultative practitioners.




What models would you see as most effective for increased local support in those colleges or units that currently would not be able to participate in a networked model?




Liaison model, assigning center staff to units, if we add/repurpose positions.
Joint appointments and fellowships, if the center is willing to co-sponsor.
Sponsored work or partial buy-out of educators to augment center staffing.




What design engagements might come after the summit? For instance, to determine the center’s services, design its space, or develop a collaborative model for the network?



Faculty (in process), instructor, and additional educator stakeholder engagement via surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
Evaluation of available center skills, capabilities and available capacities.
Service design exercises specific to individual service portfolio items.
Engagement with IT to coordinate and co-design shared client experience.
Possible direct engagement with MSU students or student-educators (GTAs & ULAs)


Data Highlights
Services and Support Portfolio 

Services

Responsive, point-of-need support, including individual consultations
Curriculum and program development
Course design / reform support and incubation
Development and training on various topics at various levels
Catalog of what to get where, and a directory to find people/expertise
Formal structure for online/hybrid course/program development and support

Space

Spaces that support delivery of training, hosting events, social gatherings
A place with presence to host and build the community of educators
Classroom space to experiment, innovate, and create digital experiences

“faculty can do one offs in a space to try something different with a class”
“technology to check out to use in classrooms (like VR or other tools)”
“space for recording teaching and support for editing”


Additional notes on physical space (data in evaluation re: Hub spaces not 1/14 Summit)

Dedicated desks for center staff, with mix of hot-seating / hotelling
Allows clients to meet with center consultants in semi-private settings
Variety of co-working spaces that enables part-time projects teams to gather
Small-group meeting spaces, high-flex tech enabled for remote participants
Individual booths to isolate noise from remote meetings from clients / coworkers


Connection and Collaboration

Hosting of events for collegiality, fellowship, networking and community building


Collaborative programming



Discipline specific or with faculty experts in certain pedagogies or approaches
With other central parties, e.g. MSU IT, DEI, Academic HR, student success, etc.
With faculty learning communities or administrative groups (e.g. online programs)

Sponsored institutional memberships and global virtual conference access for campus
Hosted and invited outside experts, presenters, and seminars or workshops
Fellowships for faculty with benefits for center, network, and the faculty fellow
Fellowships for graduate students that help them develop and gain hiring advantage
Opportunity for faculty/staff to affiliate with the center to encourage boundary-spanning

Teaching and Learning in Practice

Advocacy, leadership narratives, and communicative storytelling that elevate the importance of teaching and learning excellence at every level
Assessment, visibility, and recognition of teaching and learning
Emphasis on and recognition of teaching and learning in tenure and promotion

incentivizing teaching and learning efforts and allocation of time and talent

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL)

Additional Data Details (optional)
Wouldn’t It be Fantastic If (WIFI)
Description of Activity
In this activity the participants were asked to identify blue sky ideas to ultimately group into common themes and inform shared vision for the Center, Network, Teaching and Learning. Participants individually answered the prompt “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if (WIFI) … as many times as they could. Then in small groups, organized statements to show what might be influenced, controlled or created by the Center, Network, or Teaching and Learning. 
Stakeholders raised a variety of needs, which were categorized as ed-tech support, resources, staffing, space, as well as coordination/planning. Building a network for these services seems to be something participants hope for, such as a “shared list of experts across campus to make finding the right person to ask easier”. Additionally, this item “explicit partnerships and shared services between the teaching center and other key support units,” speaks to the network.. When it comes to specific services, support for DEI in instruction, fostering innovative practices, instructional design, and pedagogy were among those most frequently mentioned. Consulting, training and events are delivery formats most often associated with the center. 
The most common themes can be found here: WIFI Themes 
What the Center should provide: Services, Space, Coordination

Services: Consulting, special projects to solve common problems, access to experts, and intramural grants / sponsorships.
A space to provide access to services and resources, and invite educators to gatherings.
Coordination of services and facilitation of collaboration between units and people.

E.g. Educator showcase, repository/ a knowledge-base, and events calendar for all offerings across the university

Opportunities for part-time affiliation to center, as fellows, or to staff services or projects.
Classroom space to innovate and create digital experiences

“where faculty can do one offs in a space to try something different with a class”
“technology to check out to use in classrooms (like VR or other tools)”
“space for recording teaching and support for editing”


What the Educator Network should provide: Coordination, Collaboration, Networking

Coordinate the Educator Network with participation of center and other stakeholders

Allow for collaboration and self-organizing
Recognition to colleagues who contribute

Functional network, depended on by clients (needs) and university (commissioned work)

Maintain a “list of experts”, make it easier to find “the right people” to ask.

Opportunities for learning space experimentation, in prototype classrooms and digital.

What the whole University should support in T&L: Services, Pedagogy Practices, EdTech
In this section, some participants understood Teaching and Learning as how it is viewed and supported by the administration, while others provided more specific ideas around teaching resources and services   

Services and resources should be shared in a variety of ways and rather than being siloed all units should work together bringing the following together as shown in this quote “More collaboration and breaking down silos”

Creating a Network of experts coming from all units
Have connection points to colleges and “cross-college work” and working groups
Provide university funding for projects, “awards, innovation grants” for T&L.
“Both/And approach to broad everyone should know AND specific ideas in the disciplines or colleges”, perhaps with the center being more active in the former and the college more active in the latter such as DBER.

All educators may contribute and share pedagogy/best practices in peer-support.
Other supports include and may recognize needs of stakeholders: quality standards, DEI (including opportunities and accessibility), educational technology, and sponsored research such as SoTL, and those not typically included in educator support. 
There should be tangible appreciation of the work of educators in Teaching and Learning, including leadership narratives and recognition for RPT.

What I need from you… 
The What I Need From You  (WINFY) activity asked participants to assume one of five roles, randomly assigned. These included Academic Unit Administrators, Faculty and Instructors, Center Affiliated Staff, College Affiliated Staff, and University-Wide Staff.
Each group was asked to outline what they needed from each of the other four groups to be successful in their roles. The following themes emerged from each of the groups, pointing to commonalities among groups about what each would like to see from the Center.
Services and Support Portfolio
A clear and concise services and support portfolio emerged as a major theme. All five groups said that services and support portfolio was what they needed- both as stakeholders in the center, as center staff working with those stakeholders, and those who were potential partners and patrons of the center. The services and support portfolio -of what the Center provides, what it can offer to help with course design, instructional design, and various other activities, and how to contact and use the center was foundational for all five groups.
Participants in the WINFY activity wanted to have clear definitions of roles and resources of the center; clearer collaboration with college faculty and staff on projects and programs; a better understanding of what types of questions can be referred to the center; and ad hoc but nimble service support. Specific requests included consultations, development and trainings for various comfort levels of instructors, a clear catalog of what to get where, cooperation with local support, a list of resources.
Connection and Collaboration
Another dominant theme across all five groups was the need for and understanding of connection and collaboration. Primarily, participants from the groups wanted other units to be collaborative with the center, to figure out how to connect across boundaries, and how to leverage and build relationships. Four of the groups mentioned more collaborative work with staff in the colleges who are currently working on teaching and learning initiatives. Three of the five groups mentioned collaborative program opportunities, and two of the five groups mentioned a networked approach.
Teaching and Learning in Practice
The third theme that all five groups mentioned was what we are calling teaching and learning in practice. This encompasses a number of things, including teaching and learning in tenure and promotion, incentivizing teaching and learning, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. There was again the need for collaborative programming, this time with discipline specific colleges and with faculty who are experts in certain pedagogies or approaches. One group wanted to know what teaching and learning capabilities are available to help other educators, while another said that assistance with aligning course level objectives, assessments, and curricula with the institutional practices and the resources of the center would be useful. The Academic Unit Administrator and the Faculty group both had incentivizing teaching and learning as something they’d like to see from the center and center staff. There also was an overarching theme of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) but none of the groups made it their top priority-it did emerge as a theme though, so important to highlight here.
Minimum Viable Product Reviews 
The “minimum viable product” activity was framed as a Yelp review session. Participants were paired in teams of two and asked to take on the perspective of an educator who had worked with the Center for T&LI and had a positive experience. Throughout the 17 combined Center “reviews” the following were the top ten most mentioned themes/services. Within each of these areas, participants in the 01/14/2022 Kick-off Summit mentioned a range of examples (i.e. Center experiences [per activity instructions]). High level captures of examples for each are included below. 
Coaching/Consultation (Feedback, Support, Emotional Support)
Almost 65% of the reviews mentioned some version of coaching or consultation (including additional keywords such as feedback, support, guiding, and helping). Some examples of topics and underlying services within this category include: restructuring programs, refining crouse design, and reviewing curriculum; developing formative and summative assessments, transitioning to different feedback models, and integrating student voice; and finally combining theory and practice, integrating technology and pedagogy, as well as course alignment and student engagement.  
Pedagogy (Student Voice)
Over half of the reviews related to methods and practices for engaging in teaching. Examples of experiences and services related to this topic include but are not limited to: support and guidance for strategies, envisioning difference learning experiences, participating in design experiences to try new approaches to teaching and learning; integrate research and teaching; focus on student experiences, create supporting and effective learning experiences, create inclusive and welcoming spaces. 
Restructure/Redesign (Modality, Curriculum)
41% of reviews specifically called out redesign as a service of the Center. Examples of restructure and redesign (including topics of modality and curriculum) in the experience reviews include but are not limited to: moving face to face courses online (and planning for possible future transitions) and adapting class to a different structure (i.e. rubric or flipped models, competency-based learning outcomes, trauma informed teaching, asset based practices, etc.).
Student Experience (Engagement, Student-Centered)
41% of reviews mention the Center supporting them in ways that positively impacted student experience, student engagement, and student-centered design. Examples of this theme include: creating welcoming, supportive, and effective learning environments; reviewing curriculum and developing rubrics with respect to student engagement (and adjusting as necessary); and learning about theories of improving student connections to engage with them more effectively. 
Confidence (Empowered)
35% of reviews specifically denote improvements in educator confidence and empowerment after working with the Center. Topics where educators had this improved sense of ability and agency included student centered teaching and learning practices, creating supportive and effective learning environments, initiating collaborative partnerships, and general teaching and learning experimentation and implementation. 
Collaboration/Partnerships
35% of reviews emphasized the importance of collaborative partnerships with the Center across units. This ranged from individual consultations with faculty to full-scale curricular and program developments. The nature of these partnerships in terms of scope and focus varied in the reviews, but what remained consistent was the value that is derived from these relationships with the Center. 
Connection/Community
18% underscored the importance of connection to a network of educators through the Center and the community that is derived from it. This was mentioned in the context of relationships built with Center staff along with events where networking takes place. Sometimes, educators connecting with other educators can make a huge difference in their teaching as it provides essential opportunities for sharing what is being done and learned in one context to another. 
Assessment
Assessment was mentioned by 18% of the reviews as being an important piece of expertise that the Center can offer to faculty and programs at MSU. Of course, assessment comes in a myriad of forms and faculty are often seeking ways to improve on their assessment strategies and design.
Inclusion
18% of the reviews made mention of how consultative relationships with the Center could help them improve their efforts around accessibility and inclusion in their classrooms and digital learning environments. 
Research/SOTL (Scholarship of Teaching & Learning)
12% of the reviews mentioned various ways they envisioned that the Center staff could help them with their research and scholarship efforts. Examples were not provided in the reviews specifically, but we know that the approaches to research in the scholarship of teaching and learning in particular at MSU are vastly different from college to college and that the Center staff have a great deal of experience and expertise in these areas.

Trauma Informed Practice: Resources for Best Practices in the Classroom (msu.edu)This resource is meant to put information about trauma informed practices into the hands of faculty and instructors. Please see the digital flyer for more information. The references were used in the creation of the flyer. Special thank you to Cheryl Williamns-Hecksel, Apryl Pooley and the Mental Health Committee (JED) for support in creating this resource.View resources