Welcome to the "Building Inclusive Classrooms" learning path! This is your all-access pass to a series of resources designed to make your teaching more inclusive and accessible. From foundational principles like Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to practical strategies for inclusive syllabus design, this path offers a range of tools to support your inclusive teaching practice. The components are arranged in a logical order to help you build your skills progressively. However, there’s no requirement to follow a set order or attend every session. Feel free to dive into the topics that resonate most with your teaching needs and fit your schedule. This path is buffet-style; sample different approaches and return for more whenever you're ready to expand your toolkit further!
Your guide for engaging with this Learning Path:
In this Learning Path, we use a variety of engagement methods to ensure flexibility and cater to the different ways you absorb and process information. Each component is marked by specific terms to guide you:
- Attend: Join live workshops where real-time interaction is key.
- Read: Access text-based resources to explore at your own pace.
- Watch: Engage with video content to visualize and understand concepts.
- Engage: Participate in extended courses for deeper dives into topics.
- Listen: Tune into podcasts or audio resources to gain insights and explore ideas.
Building Blocks for Inclusive Teaching: Intro to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- Read: Review the Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Guide for University Faculty to grasp the essentials of UDL.It's designed to show you why adapting your teaching to meet diverse learning needs isn't just beneficial but necessary. Discover the fundamental principles of UDL that help all students access, engage with, and demonstrate their learning through multiple methods. This introduction sets the stage for more in-depth strategies on implementing UDL in your courses, highlighting how these approaches are backed by neuroscience to accommodate the unique ways students process information.
If you have any questions about this guide or would like to discuss UDL with a CTL colleague, please feel free to email teaching@berkeley.edu, or schedule a consultation.
Inclusive Teaching: Preparation & Practice
- Explore: Advancing Equity and Inclusion, Center for Teaching and Learning, UC Berkeley
This resource provides comprehensive strategies for advancing equity and inclusion in the classroom. It covers inclusive teaching practices that acknowledge diverse student identities and experiences, offering guidance on integrating social justice approaches, disability and gender justice, flexible instructional methods, reflective teaching, and fostering values affirmation and social belonging.
- Explore: Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative Fact Sheet, Center for Teaching and Learning, Boston University
This resource defines inclusive pedagogy as creating learning environments where all students feel valued, supported, and have equitable access to learning. It emphasizes understanding student diversity in race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic background, and learning styles. The guide offers strategies such as cultivating a sense of belonging, designing transparent and structured assignments, and employing flexible teaching methods to enhance inclusivity in the classroom.
- Read: Designing an Inclusive Syllabus, Center for Teaching and Learning, Columbia
This resource offers strategies for creating inclusive syllabi that set a welcoming tone and provide clear guidance on course expectations. It emphasizes the importance of accessibility, adopting a welcoming tone, and transparency in course design. The guide provides specific recommendations for syllabus elements, such as including diversity statements, setting explicit student expectations, and designing assessments that accommodate diverse learning styles.
Fostering Inclusive Engagement and Belonging
- Explore: Establishing Inclusivity and Belonging, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Instructional Moves initiative
This resource outlines a seven-step pathway to establish inclusivity and belonging in the classroom. It emphasizes getting to know students, creating psychological safety, setting norms for brave spaces, modeling discussion norms, celebrating student strengths, diversifying small groups, and using consistent teams to encourage risk-taking. The guide provides practical strategies and reflection questions to help educators implement these steps.
- Listen: Fostering a Sense of Belonging, Teaching in Higher Ed
This Teaching in Higher Ed podcast episode features Dr. Angel Herring and KaSondra Toney discussing strategies for fostering a sense of belonging in higher education. They share personal experiences and practical insights on building student confidence, creating inclusive learning environments, and expanding students' self-belief through supportive teaching practices. The conversation highlights the transformative impact of authentic relationships between instructors and students, emphasizing the importance of time, transparency, and encouragement in fostering belonging and student success.
- Listen: Finding Space, UC Berkeley Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL) Podcast
This series amplifies voices and stories from across campus, exploring how students with disabilities navigate academic life and build belonging through community support.
Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Linguistically Diverse Students
Read: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Teaching
This resource offers practical strategies for supporting international and multilingual students in higher education. It highlights common challenges these students face, such as language barriers, unfamiliar academic norms, and cultural adjustment, and encourages us to adopt inclusive, transparent, and culturally responsive teaching practices.
Attend Live Sessions - Fall 2025
- Inclusive Excellence: Insights from the DSP, September 10, 1:00 p.m.
Join this session, the first in a three-part series inspired by the Finding Space podcast, to hear from DSP about advancing access and equity for disabled students at UC Berkeley. Explore key takeaways from the featured episode and gain practical strategies for designing flexible, inclusive instruction.
- Teaching Pivots - Pedagogy Improv Pt 1, September 16, 11:00 a.m.
Join this interactive session—part one of the two-part Pedagogy Improv series—to explore real-time teaching pivots through live faculty demos and hands-on scenarios. We’ll practice responding to common classroom challenges, from student-led discussions to addressing bias, and build confidence navigating unexpected teaching moments.
- Reframing Accommodations: DSP Faculty Liaisons' Reflections on Inclusive Teaching, October 8, 1:00 p.m.
Join this session, the second in a three-part series inspired by the Finding Space podcast, to hear from DSP Faculty Liaisons Jonah Levy and Justin Davidson on how supporting students with disabilities has transformed their teaching.
- Assessment Pivots - Pedagogy Improv Pt 2, November 5, 11:00 a.m.
Join this second session in the Pedagogy Improv series to explore flexible, in-the-moment assessment strategies. We will have live demos from instructors on how to respond to student understanding in real time, then you’ll try your own improv assessment scenarios.
- Belonging Through Connection: A Student Perspective, November 13, 1:00 p.m.
Join this final session in the Finding Space workshop series to explore how faculty relationships can support student persistence and belonging. Inspired by Marlenne Perez’s podcast episode, you’ll gain practical strategies for fostering inclusive, trust-based classroom environments that make a lasting impact.