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.
- Reflect:Take a moment to pause and consider how you can apply what you've learned to your teaching practices.
- 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.
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
- Attend: Teaching Inclusively From Day One | Jan 17
Join this workshop to explore practical strategies for fostering an inclusive learning environment using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. You will learn to integrate inclusive teaching approaches that accommodate diverse learning needs, creating a supportive classroom.
Fostering Inclusive Engagement and Belonging
- Attend: Strategies for Building a Sense of Belonging in the Classroom | Jan 24
Join this session to explore a theory for measuring classroom experiences to foster student belonging. Learn how tools like surveys and early climate indicators can help create equitable, supportive spaces that empower students to co-create inclusive learning environments.
View details and register for this session.
- 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.
- Attend: Spark Talk: Addressing Social Comparison to Improve Student Engagement | Mar 18
Join this session to explore how fear of negative evaluation impacts student participation, particularly among LGBTQ+ and women/nonbinary students in large classes. Learn about recent findings on social comparison and its role in this fear, and discover strategies to create a more inclusive environment that encourages active engagement and enriches the collective learning experience.
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.