Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

4 Ways Educators Can Be More Inclusive

The Center for Educating Critically helps teachers and professors examine themselves and their teaching practices

There have long been tensions between well-intentioned teaching and the unintentional replication of oppressive practices in education, like privileging communication styles typical of the white upper-middle class or inadvertently retraumatizing students of color when discussing racist violence. But while many anti-oppression researchers and advocates have focused on specific forms of oppression like racism or ableism, few have focused on studying how to help educators dismantle systemic bias in general. 

BU Wheelock’s Center for Educating Critically, which works with K–12 and higher education educators to develop the tools they need to make classrooms more inclusive by conducting research and building partnerships with community organizations. Director Laura Jiménez and Associate Director Kristin McIlhagga shared four ways that educators of all levels can turn their classrooms into sites of joyful inquiry and self-exploration. 

“As an educator, I want a space where I don’t just learn about a subject, but where I also learn more about who I am, what my identities are, and how I move in the world,” says McIlhagga.

1. Remember that oppression in the classroom is systemic, not just a series of individual actions by teachers.

Recognizing that their actions occur within an inequitable system allows teachers to examine themselves and their practices. 

“We educate professors about the system they’re functioning in,” says McIlhagga. “Because if you have a PhD or are teaching at the university level, you have benefited from the system.” 

However, this realization can challenge educators who have managed to succeed within these same inequitable systems. Jiménez and McIlhagga emphasize the roles teachers and professors play within an unjust system, rather than cast blame on individuals. 

“I avoid making it about the person,” says Jiménez, who is also BU Wheelock’s associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion. “We have teachers look at their syllabus or the theoretical lens they’re using to teach a particular topic or course.”

2. Understand that educators’ positions are complex, since privilege and oppression can coexist.

Though teachers from marginalized communities may have an acute understanding of their own experience, this may not transfer to areas in which they have advantages. For example, a Black male teacher’s experience of racism may inform his work, but he may not see other kinds of oppression that he benefits from such as the patriarchy. Individuals can be both privileged and oppressed at the same time in these “liminal spaces,” says Jiménez. 

“We have to look at a wider range of oppression, rather than seeing only racism or misogyny. You may notice it in your lane, but not when you’re profiting from it,” she says.

3. Be conscious of marginalized students when planning your curriculum.

Well-meaning teachers want to approach systemic oppression with sensitivity, but some think that they have a strong handle on oppression because they’ve read a few books about racism or sexism. But intention does not equal impact, says McIlhagga.

For example, an educator who wants to teach students about police violence toward Black, brown, and indigenous people by showing videos of actual events may actually end up retraumatizing Black, brown, and indigenous students. One way instructors can help mitigate this by using content warnings to prepare students who may be retraumatized.

“We want to work with teachers to move past ‘I have diverse books’ or ‘We watched this video,’” says McIlhagga.

4. Give students the opportunity to communicate accessibly.

Being conscious of marginalized students isn’t limited to how teachers present the curriculum. Requiring students to discuss their marginalization in formal, academic English raises issues about what counts as communication. For example, students with learning disabilities may benefit from combining shorter paragraphs with images to illustrate their ideas. 

“Students should have the right to a personal standard of communication,” says Jiménez. “Giving students the flexibility to express themselves beyond the standard essay opens up new opportunities for conversation, learning, and self-discovery.”