Over 100 faculty from across BU’s schools and colleges participated in the inaugural Inclusive Pedagogy Symposium– sharing a variety of educational strategies and approaches designed to support diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and promote student engagement and academic success.
When you feel seen and taken seriously in a classroom, the payoff is considerable, and it makes our jobs really worthwhile.
Stan Sclaroff
Dean and Professor of Computer Science
College of Arts & Sciences
Attendees connected with fellow faculty, staff, and graduate students, reflecting on the relationship between academic success and inclusive teaching practices throughout the disciplines.
“Inclusive pedagogy invites instructors to consider our choices around the content we teach and the means through which we deliver it. It enables learners and instructors to achieve intellectual and personal growth and success,” according to Megan Sullivan, Faculty Director of Inclusive Pedagogy. This page shares a few of the resources faculty presented at the symposium.
Inclusive Learning Strategies
Design Inclusive Syllabi
In this lightning talk, Yvette Cozier, DSc, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) at the BU School of Public Health, asks participants if their syllabus is WEIRD, i.e., designed for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic contexts, which narrowly defines and measures competency. Cozier further inquires: Is there a “silent curriculum” at work? Who is included? Who is excluded?
Leverage Inclusive Assessments
In this lightning talk, Leslie Dietiker, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education and Teaching & Learning in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, explores proactive approaches to the design of inclusive assessments. In addition to its humanizing approach, Dietiker also describes how inclusive assessment is multi-tiered in the ways it offers both accessibility and depth (low-floor/high ceiling) and triangulates learning with no single mode for assessment.
Build Inclusive Relationships
Lauren O’Neal with the MET College Graduate Program in Arts Administration reimagines inclusive pedagogy as multidirectional and non-hierarchical, operating in three strands:
Between teacher and students
Between students and their peers
And between students and the curriculum
Foster Inclusive Dialogue
María Datel in Romance Studies shares her key takeaways on inclusive dialogue:
Create a safe space for open sharing, which can lead to rich discussions
Ensure the physical space supports easier movement and group discussions to boost engagement
Inclusive pedagogies can make complex cultural topics accessible, promoting empathy and critical thinking about Indigenous issues.
Anti-racist Learning Strategies
Design Anti-racist Syllabi
In this lightning talk, Michael Medina, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director of Applied Human Development in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, introduces us to the Wheelock College Diversity & Development Lab. He also discusses what he thought he knew about developing anti-racist syllabi and what he learned along the way, including:
Use accessible language
Acknowledge the field’s historical contexts and biases
Encourage collaboration, feedback, and a growth mindset
Explain how students can support anti-racism elsewhere
Validate diverse needs, experiences, and styles
Build Antiracist Assignments
Jeannine Foley in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology describes an example of an anti-racist assignment she incorporated in her graduate neurophysiology course, focusing on the importance of underscoring the systemic nature of racism and its impact within fields and disciplines as well as encouraging students to explore research biases that may exist in sources they cite within their work.
Student Thoughts on Antiracist Pedagogies
The Designing Antiracist Curricula 2022-23 Fellows, Maria Datel, Ashley Davis, Christina Michaud, Melisa Osborne, Danielle Rousseau, share their interdisciplinary study on student responses to antiracist pedagogies, finding some obstacles to antiracist learning include:
Large class sizes
Predominantly white classes
Implicit expectations for underrepresented students to speak for entire identities
Microaggressions in class discussions
Accessible Learning Strategies
Make Learning Accessible
In this lightning talk, Renee E. Yancey, Senior Lecturer of Stage & Production Management and Academic Coordinator for Curriculum & Assessment in the School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts, explains Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the Plus-One approach that encourages faculty to make ONE change to ONE barrier at a time rather than changing all the curriculum at one time to implement UDL.
Consider Trauma-Inclusive Pedagogy
In this lightning talk, Marisol E. Lopez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics in the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, explains trauma-inclusive pedagogy and the results of a student study on perceptions of trauma-inclusive pedagogy showing that a majority of the students surveyed thought:
They felt like their instructor wanted them to be successful
They felt connected to the classroom community
Their instructor was transparent/clear about expectations
Use Accessible Technologies
Chihsun Chiu and Dave DeCamp, Senior Educational Technologists at the Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, discuss the accessible features available using Blackboard Ally, including:
Automatically checks course materials against accessibility standards
Faculty receive Course Accessibility Report that provides an accessibility summary and overview at the course level
Students receive accessible alternative formats of course content like audio and electronic braille
