Optional Texts: aligned content

Hammond, Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain: Part 1

As we start to move into concrete approaches to equitable teaching, we will start with managing our own responses and reframing the ways that we interact with students to be more culturally responsive. For this module, please read Part 1 of the Hammond text, Building Awareness and Knowledge.

As you read about how the brain’s response to perceived dangers can affect students’ ability to learn, consider revisiting the video interview with Claude Steele from Module 1, where he explains how people’s experiences with stereotype threat and unfamiliar learning environments can cause some of the inequities in higher education outcomes that are so well-documented. What role might you play as an educator in counteracting this experience?

Hogan and Sathy, Inclusive Teaching Strategies: Chapters 2 & 3

Chapter 2, “The Value of Structure,” and Chapter 3, “Designing Your Course and Syllabus with an Inclusive Mindset,” help us consider the planning and design crucial to building inclusive learning environments, long before students begin our classes. These chapters are a nice preview to some of the evidence-based practices we’ll be covering in Module 3, so pay close attention to what evidence Hogan and Sathy reference in arguing for structure and thoughtful design, as you’ll be encountering some of the same research moving forward.

Readings

Paul Gorski, Beyond Celebrating Diversity: Twenty Things I can Do to Be a Better Multicultural Educator

Gloria Ladson-Billings, But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

We’ve linked to an access point that is free to all Minnesota residents, but this classic article is frequently available via library subscription and can be found online as well.

Rick Wormeli, Grit and Growth Mindset: Deficit Thinking?

Barbara Stengel, Facing Fear, Releasing Resistance, Enabling Education

What do we do when students resist our efforts to practice equity in our classrooms? Stengel suggests a shift in perspective. Accessible version of this article: Stengel Facing Fear

The Role of Faculty in Student Mental Health

For a detailed look at faculty perspectives and needs in relation to student mental health, read this extensive 2021 study conducted and funded by the Boston University School of Public Health, the Mary Christie Foundation, the Healthy Minds Network, and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Media and Other Resources

Mindful Reflection Protocol (from Hammond, pp. 63-64)

This is a slightly enhanced version of the protocol found in Figure 4.2, pp. 63-64 of the Hammond text.

The Mindful Reflection Protocol leads us through steps to consider the biases and assumptions that are reflected in our interactions with others. Although it was originally designed to be used with teachers at the K-12 level, we can use it to examine our own interactions with students and colleagues and to identify areas for personal growth and change.