Transforming the Academy by
In recent decades, American universities have begun to tout the "diversity" of their faculty and student bodies. But what kinds of diversity are being championed in their admissions and hiring practices, and what kinds are being neglected? Is diversity enough to solve the structural inequalities that plague our universities? And how might we articulate the value of diversity in the first place? Transforming the Academy begins to answer these questions by bringing together a mix of faculty--male and female, cisgender and queer, immigrant and native-born, tenured and contingent, white, black, multiracial, and other--from public and private universities across the United States. Whether describing contentious power dynamics within their classrooms or recounting protests that occurred on their campuses, the book's contributors offer bracingly honest inside accounts of both the conflicts and the learning experiences that can emerge from being a representative of diversity. The collection's authors are united by their commitment to an ideal of the American university as an inclusive and transformative space, one where students from all backgrounds can simultaneously feel intellectually challenged and personally supported. Yet Transforming the Academy also offers a wide range of perspectives on how to best achieve these goals, a diversity of opinion that is sure to inspire lively debate.
Race in the College Classroom by
Did affirmative action programs solve the problem of race on American college campuses, as several recent books would have us believe? If so, why does talking about race in anything more than a superficial way make so many students uncomfortable? Written by college instructors from many disciplines, this volume of essays takes a bold first step toward a nationwide conversation. Each of the twenty-nine contributors addresses one central question: what are the challenges facing a college professor who believes that teaching responsibly requires an honest and searching examination of race? Professors from the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and education consider topics such as how the classroom environment is structured by race; the temptation to retreat from challenging students when faced with possible reprisals in the form of complaints or negative evaluations; the implications of using standardized evaluations in faculty tenure and promotion when the course subject is intimately connected with race; and the varying ways in which white faculty and faculty of color are impacted by teaching about race.
Decolonisation in Universities : The Politics of Knowledge by
Shortly after the giant bronze statue of Cecil John Rhodes came down at the University of Cape Town, student protestors called for the decolonisation of universities. It was a word hardly heard in South Africa's struggle lexicon and many asked: What exactly is decolonisation? This book brings together some of the most innovative thinking on curriculum theory to address this important question. In the process, several critical questions are raised: Is decolonisation simply a slogan for addressing other pressing concerns on campuses and in society? What is the colonial legacy with respect to curricula and can it be undone? How is the project of curricula decolonisation similar to or different from the quest for post-colonial knowledge, indigenous knowledge or a critical theory of knowledge? What does decolonisation mean in a digital age where relationships between knowledge and power are shifting? Strong conceptual analyses are combined with case studies of attempts to ‘do decolonisation'in settings as diverse as South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Mauritius. This comparative perspective enables reasonable judgments to be made about the prospects for institutional take-up within the curriculum of century-old universities. Decolonisation in Universities is essential reading for undergraduate teaching, postgraduate research and advanced scholarship in the field of curriculum studies.
Dismantling Race in Higher Education by
This book reveals the roots of structural racism that limit social mobility and equality within Britain for Black and ethnicised students and academics in its inherently white Higher Education institutions. It brings together both established and emerging scholars in the fields of Race and Education to explore what institutional racism in British Higher Education looks like in colour-blind 'post-race' times, when racism is deemed to be 'off the political agenda'. Keeping pace with our rapidly changing global universities, this edited collection asks difficult and challenging questions, including why black academics leave the system; why the curriculum is still white; how elite universities reproduce race privilege; and how Black, Muslim and Gypsy traveller students are disadvantaged and excluded. The book also discusses why British racial equality legislation has failed to address racism, and explores what the Black student movement is doing about this. As the authors powerfully argue, it is only by dismantling the invisible architecture of post-colonial white privilege that the 21st century struggle for a truly decolonised academy can begin. This collection will be essential reading for students and academics working in the fields of Education, Sociology, and Race.
Culturally Sustaining and Revitalizing Pedagogies by
Today's schools compartmentalize children and curriculum. Standardization dictates curricular content and assessment, narrowing the focus of classrooms and schools that serve diverse populations from varied geographical backgrounds. Against the backdrop of the western-derived, institutional framework of schooling are cultural ways of knowing that are place-based, holistic, experiential, and connected to oral storytelling. In the current movement toward acknowledging and understanding cultural knowledge, teacher education programs need to work in collaboration with cultural communities, honoring traditions and epistemologies and seeking to revitalize and sustain (Paris, 2012) language and culture. Such initiatives inform the big picture of educational reform and enrich mainstream university teacher education programs. This book highlights the journeys, challenges and unfolding stories of transformation that reside within university/community/school partnerships focused on cultural and linguistic revitalization through schooling.
Strategies for Fostering Inclusive Classrooms in Higher Education by
Higher education institutions continue to address an increasingly complex set of issues regarding equity, diversity and inclusion. Many institutions face mounting pressure to find innovative solutions to eliminate access, participation, and achievement barriers as well as practices that impede retention and graduation rates in higher education. This volume provides educators with a global understanding of the challenges associated with the growing diversity of student identities in higher education and provides evidence-based strategies for addressing the challenges associated with implementing equity and inclusion at different higher education institutions around the world.
Example Discussion Guidelines
These sample guidelines for facilitating discussions in the learning environment are from the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning.
Universal Design for Learning
This interactive template on the core elements of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework will help you think about how to create a more inclusive learning experience. Although UDL has its roots in the design of learning for students with disabilities, the benefits of a UDL approach (indeed, the reason for the "Universal" part of UDL) is that it makes learning more relevant and powerful for all students. A video presentation (below) by Sam Johnston, Research Scientist with the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) further ties the UDL framework to student success. In the context of this workshop, think about how UDL principles to foster engagement in learning (by engaging affective learning networks) apply to students with multiple identities.(The entire video is good, but the portion up through about 17.20 is most applicable).
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.
How can we design learning experiences so that they are meaningful and challenging for all learners? Whether you are designing instruction for in-person classroom experiences, online synchronous experiences, remote asynchronous experiences, or anything in between and beyond, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can help us anticipate learner variability and make instruction flexible and useful for all.
UDL Tips for Designing Learning Experiences:
CAST (2020). UDL Tips for Designing Learning Experiences. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from https://www.cast.org/products-services/resources/2020/udl-tips-designing-learning-experiences
Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone by
Advocates for the rights of people with disabilities have worked hard to make universal design in the built environment "just part of what we do." We no longer see curb cuts, for instance, as accommodations for people with disabilities, but perceive their usefulness every time we ride our bikes or push our strollers through crosswalks. This is also a perfect model for Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework grounded in the neuroscience of why, what, and how people learn. Tobin and Behling show that, although it is often associated with students with disabilities, UDL can be profitably broadened toward a larger ease-of-use and general diversity framework. Captioned instructional videos, for example, benefit learners with hearing impairments but also the student who worries about waking her young children at night or those studying on a noisy team bus. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone is aimed at faculty members, faculty-service staff, disability support providers, student-service staff, campus leaders, and graduate students who want to strengthen the engagement, interaction, and performance of all college students. It includes resources for readers who want to become UDL experts and advocates: real-world case studies, active-learning techniques, UDL coaching skills, micro- and macro-level UDL-adoption guidance, and use-them-now resources.
Transforming Higher Education Through Universal Design for Learning by
Providing insight into the background, theory and practical applications of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Transforming Higher Education through Universal Design for Learning: An International Perspective examines and shares best practice in UDL implementation worldwide to provide strategies for strengthening student accessibility, engagement and learning outcomes through the development of flexible learning environments. Drawing upon insightful, research-based contributions from educators and student service specialists in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Spain, the UK and all across the USA, this book: considers diversity in the form of disability, minority ethnic groups, gender identities, first generation university students and varying socio-economic backgrounds; brings together key thinkers and actors in the field of UDL and expertly maps its practices to the higher educational domain; explores the multiple means of representation, expression and engagement that combine to create a successful UDL framework. Each chapter not only provides a different perspective of how UDL has helped meet the needs of all students to ensure that education is accessible, culturally responsive and socially just, but also considers how this can then be implemented into higher education environments the world over. This book is a crucial read for those who want to make a positive difference in higher education provision and outcomes.
Universal Design for Learning by
In the 1990s, Anne Meyer, David Rose, and their colleagues at CAST introduced universal design for learning (UDL), a framework to improve teaching and learning. Based on new insights from the learning sciences and creative uses of digital technologies. UDL can help educators improve and optimize learning experiences for all individuals. In this book, Meyer and Rose, along with David Gordon, provide the first comprehensive presentations of UDL principles and practices since 2002. This new look at UDL includes contributions from CAST's research and implementation teams, as well as their collaborators in schools, universities, and research settings. Universal Design for Learning: Theory & Practice includes: * New insights from research on learner differences and how human variability plays out in learning environments * Research-based discussions of what it means to become expert at learning * First-hand accounts and exemplars of how to implement UDL at all levels and across subjects using the UDL Guidelines * "Dig Deeper" segments that enrich the main content * Dozens of original illustrations and access to videos and other online features at http://udltheorypractice.cast.org * Opportunities to participate in a UDL community
Universal Design for Learning in Action by
Need creative ideas for moving Universal Design for Learning from theory to practice? Get this must-have quick guide, ready for any teacher to pick up and start using now. Whitney Rapp, co-author of the acclaimed Teaching Everyone walks you step by step through 100 UDL strategies that strengthen student engagement, learning, and assessment. Based on the latest research (but still practical and fun), these highly effective ideas will help you address diverse learning needs and increase all students' access to the general curriculum. Essential for every educator who wants to know what UDL really looks like, sounds like, and feels like, and how to use this proven approach to teach and reach all learners. Find strategies for: classroom space and materials; classroom management; technologies; content instruction; social interaction; executive functions; transition to adulthood; assessment; and more.
Transforming Our World Through Design, Diversity and Education by
Good design is enabling, and each and every one of us is a designer. Universal Design is widely recognized an important concept that should be incorporated in all person-centred policies. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) clearly stipulates that the most effective way of delivering on the promise of an inclusive society is through a Universal Design approach.Sitting at the intersection of the fields of Higher Education and Universal Design, this book presents papers delivered at the Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress (UDHEIT2018), held in Dublin, Ireland, from 30 October to 2 November 2018. This event brings together key experts from industry, education, and government and non-government organization sectors to share experiences and knowledge with all participants. The 86 papers included here are grouped under 17 headings, or themes, ranging from education and digital learning through healthcare to engagement with industry and urban design.Celebrating and integrating all that is good in design, diversity and education, this book will be a valuable resource for all those interested in the inspiring and empowering developments in both Universal Design and higher education.
Additional relevant resources on inclusive classrooms and teaching may be found on the Diversity in Higher Ed page of this guide.