Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative
Boston University’s Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative, launched by Provost Jean Morrison on February 3, 2022, has the goal of “improving learning and educational outcomes for all of our students.” Partnering with Megan Sullivan, ad interim Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment and Faculty Director of the Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative, CTL will work with faculty and staff to support and strengthen inclusive teaching at Boston University.
What is Inclusive Pedagogy?
What is Inclusive Pedagogy
Inclusive pedagogy is a student-centered approach to teaching that engages all learners, backgrounds, learning styles, and physical and cognitive abilities (Florian 2015). Research finds that when done correctly – that is when faculty create purposeful design and foreground teaching and assessment that is meaningful and accessible to all learners – inclusive pedagogy improves outcomes for every student and is especially beneficial to students who are members of groups who are underrepresented in certain fields, or who have been traditionally underserved in higher education (Spratt and Florian, 2015).
Inclusive pedagogy is relevant to all disciplines, fields of study, and course modalities. While there are various practices related to inclusive pedagogy, there are several principles that foster inclusive learning, including flexibility, equity, collaboration, transparency, and diversity. Effective practices include making learning materials accessible to all students, diversifying course materials, cultivating an inclusive climate, communicating support, being intentional about language, building rapport, examining your implicit biases, and fostering a growth mindset (Dweck 2019).
Are There Specific Theories or Pedagogies That are Inclusive?
Among other things, inclusive practice may be informed by Universal Design for Learning, Feminist pedagogy, Anti-Racist education, Transgressive pedagogy, Trauma-Informed pedagogy, Equity-focused teaching, and Queer pedagogy. Yet one need not be well-versed in these pedagogies to be inclusive. Dr. Megan Sullivan, Faculty Director for the Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative, suggests instructors may simply begin by asking themselves the following questions:
- Do I create a welcoming learning environment for all students?
- Am l able to facilitate challenging conversations in the classroom?
- Do I endeavor to create a syllabus that attends to diverse learning styles?
- Am I aware of my own biases and assumptions?
A Conversation with the Faculty Director of Inclusive Pedagogy
A Conversation with the Faculty Director of Inclusive Pedagogy
Dr. Megan Sullivan is the Faculty Director of Inclusive Pedagogy and assistant provost for academic assessment ad interim and associate professor of rhetoric in the College of General Studies.
How did you become interested in Inclusive Pedagogy?
I attended a small Liberal Arts college. It was an all-women’s college that happened to become co-ed the year I enrolled. During my time there, however, the school maintained the ethos of an all-women’s college, invested in the success of female students who still faced barriers in the late 1980s. Faculty, staff, and administrators took seriously their mission to instill confidence, intellectual acumen, and a strong sense of social justice in their students.
Every professor was fully committed to making students feel like they belonged in academia. Every course, co-curricular activity, and policy was established to recognize and encourage diverse learners and to make learning welcoming and accessible. I was not only encouraged but expected to use my lived experiences to understand and complicate everything from math equations to medieval literature. I had never felt so empowered; I had never felt so fully that I could make a difference in this world. What I didn’t know then was that my professors were practicing a form of Inclusive pedagogy. I vowed then to follow their lead.
How has Boston University helped you become an Inclusive practitioner?
I came to BU fresh out of my PhD program. I was fortunate to be hired at the College of General Studies, where I am still a faculty member. CGS recognizes that students’ first two years of college is a crucial period and endeavors early on to help students feel the sense of belonging that we now recognize as inclusive. CGS is also an interdisciplinary, cohort-based program where faculty and students are encouraged to collaborate. I learned to intentionally communicate my support to students, to diversify course materials, to build a sense of rapport in the classroom, and to foster a growth mindset.
Boston University also helped me think more carefully across disciplines. I was trained (in graduate school) in an English program, and while the program was intellectually stimulating, it was still housed within one department. At BU I was encouraged to cultivate an interdisciplinary mindset, and as a result, my research became more interdisciplinary and inclusive. In addition to my original field of study, Irish culture, I started to research and write about children of incarcerated parents and Disability studies. I don’t think one can write about such areas without thinking about diverse perspectives and experiences, without acknowledging the need to make learning accessible to all.
You were a co-chair of the Inclusive Pedagogy Working Group. Can you tell us a bit about that?
For nearly two years, 17 faculty and staff collaborated to define inclusive pedagogy and to design a blueprint for an Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative at BU. Former Vice President and Associate Provost for Community & Inclusion Crystal Williams brought us all together – faculty and staff from the Charles River Campus and the Medical Campus; faculty who taught seminars, large lectures, STEM classes, and online courses. We spanned the disciplines – Biochemistry, Engineering Writing, Social Work, Music, and Archeology to name a few. Across two summers and several semesters we met weekly to define Inclusive Pedagogy, to conduct an in-depth internal audit at BU, and to survey dozens of other colleges and universities where folks were prioritizing inclusive pedagogy. We also held faculty and student listening groups to better understand BU’s classroom climate. Ultimately, we created a very comprehensive report and Provost Morrison responded. BU’s first Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative was born.
During this time, several of us also participated in the Day of Collective Engagement in June 2020. We saw the connections among a changing demographic at BU, the impact of systemic racism on ourselves and our students, and the need to address racial and social injustice in the classroom. We convened a panel on inclusive pedagogy. As the working group was putting together its final report, Karin Hendricks and I were tasked with contributing to the implementation of BU 2030, BU’s strategic plan. Inclusive Pedagogy became a sub initiative under the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion pillar of the strategic plan.
What are your plans for inclusive pedagogy at BU?
In the report I mention above the working group outlined a comprehensive strategy to involve undergraduate and graduate students; to provide workshops and to foster learning communities; and to communicate students’ stories about their learning. My plan is to begin the process by convening an advisory board and then working with the CTL to continue BU’s commitment to inclusive teaching.
The Inclusive Pedagogy Institute
What is the Inclusive Pedagogy Institute?
The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) and CAS Diversity & Inclusion Team (DIAT) are pleased to announce a major outcome of the Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative: Boston University’s inaugural Inclusive Pedagogy Institute (BU IPI). The BU IPI offers a unique opportunity for participants to come together to consider innovative course design, classroom techniques, and departmental engagement practices that create inclusive and supportive learning environments.
The Institute, which will take place in person from June 7-9, 2022, is the foundation of a year-long experience of practice and inquiry within learning communities for the twenty-five participants in the inaugural cohort. Over three days, the IPI members will participate in workshops with inclusive pedagogy experts such as Dr. Kelly Hogan, Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation and STEM Teaching Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and Dr. Ezekiel Kimball, Associate Director, Center for Student Success Research, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and an Associate Professor of Higher Education at UMASS Amherst.
Faculty and staff from within Boston University will also share their knowledge: Dawn Belkin Martinez will lead a practical session on “Courageous Conversations”; Ben Keating, Dave DeCamp, and Diana Marian will present on personalized and adaptive learning; Alyssa Kariofyllis and Nour Moujamed will lead a workshop on strategies for digital accessibility; Amod Lele will present on Blackboard Ally, a tool that will be available for BU instructors by the fall; Deb Breen and Megan Sullivan will offer information on tools that instructors can use to assess their own materials from a DEI perspective; and Jessica Bozek and Gwen Kordonowy will facilitate a workshop on alternative grading practices.
Over the three days, Swati Rani will also introduce cohort members to concepts of inquiry-based praxis as the foundation for small, theme-based learning communities that will form over the course of the Institute. By the end of the Institute, these learning communities will identify questions they would like to pursue for the academic year and will plan their goals and modes for making change in their course materials and classroom practice within an equity and inclusion framework.
The BU Inclusive Pedagogy Institute is the result of creative and collaborative input from numerous people, including the planning team consisting of Deb Breen (CTL), Kyna Hamill (CAS-DIAT), Swati Rani (CAS-DIAT), Megan Segoshi (BU Diversity & Inclusion), Karina Sembe (CAS-DIAT), Vincent L. Stephens (CAS-DIAT), and Megan Sullivan (Faculty Director of Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative).
For more information about the program, please contact: ctl@bu.edu.
Inclusive Pedagogy Institute Participants
Jori is a Clinical Associate Professor of Mental Health Counseling in the School of Medicine.
Maria is a Lecturer in the department of Romance Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Debbie is a Clinical Professor in the department of Mathematics & Statistics in the College of Arts & Sciences. She has a long-standing interest in equitable grading practices.
Jennifer is an Assistant Professor of Romance Studies and an Assistant Professor of Women’s Gender & Sexuality in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Chip is an Associate Professor and the Inclusive Pedagogy & Mentoring Working Group contact person in the department of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Elizabeth is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Health Sciences in Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences and also teaches in the Biology Department, College of Arts & Sciences.
Alexis is a Lecturer in the department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Sean is a Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program in the College of Arts & Sciences. Sean is also the Undergraduate Studies Director for Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.
Khadija is a PhD candidate in the department of Romance Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is also a Communications Graduate Assistant for the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies.
Anne is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy in Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences.
Amy is a Lecturer in the department of Film & Television in the College of Communication.
Mark is a Clinical Associate Professor and Coordinator, Ethics Course in the School of Social Work.
Sophie is a Clinical Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences in the School of Public Health.
Christine HamelChristine is an Assistant Professor of Voice & Speech and Acting. She is also Co-Chair of BFA Performance and Program Head of the Acting Major.
Anastasia is the School of Theology Dean of Academic Affairs. She is also the Director of Contextual Education in the School of Theology.
Michele is a Lecturer in the Writing Program in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Rachel is a Lecturer in the department of Political Science in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Mario is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences. Mario is also the Program Director for the Neuroscience Department.
Shannon is a Lecturer in the department of Health Sciences in Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences.
Amit is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in the School of Dental Medicine.
Sarah is a PhD candidate in the Political Science department at Boston University and a predoctoral research fellow at the Pardee School’s Global Development Policy Center.
Susanne is a Professor of Philosophy and a Professor of Women’s Gender & Sexuality in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Robin is a Senior Lecturer for the Core Curriculum in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Kathryn is a Master Lecturer in the department of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is also the Director of Instructional Labs and Director of the Learning Assistant program.
Renee is a Lecturer in the School of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts.
Resources
Resources in this section will be added to as CTL staff and faculty from across Boston University work together to create materials that support inclusive pedagogy.
Current resources include:
Lightning Talks that refer to Inclusive Pedagogy:
Guides:
- CTL Guide to Trauma-Informed Teaching
- Living Language Guide
- Self-Guided D&I Learning Toolkits
- Guide on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Education
- Inclusive Language Guide