What Inclusive Instructors Do

by Tracie Marcella Addy, Derek Dube, Khadijah A. Mitchell

Inclusive instruction is teaching that recognizes and affirms a student's social identity as an important influence on teaching and learning processes, and that works to create an environment in which students are able to learn from the course, their peers, and the teacher while still being their authentic selves. It works to disrupt traditional notions of who succeeds in the classroom and the systemic inequities inherent in traditional educational practices.―Full-time Academic Professional, Doctorate-granting University, EducationThis book uniquely offers the distilled wisdom of scores of instructors across ranks, disciplines and institution types, whose contributions are organized into a thematic framework that progressively introduces the reader to the key dispositions, principles and practices for creating the inclusive classroom environments (in person and online) that will help their students succeed. The authors asked the hundreds of instructors whom they surveyed as part of a national study to define what inclusive teaching meant to them and what inclusive teaching approaches they implemented in their courses. The instructors’ voices ring loudly as the authors draw on their responses, building on their experiences and expertise to frame the conversation about what inclusive teachers do. The authors in addition describe their own insights and practices, integrating and discussing current literature relevant to inclusive teaching to ensure a research-supported approach.Inclusive teaching is no longer an option but a vital teaching competency as our classrooms fill with racially diverse, first generation, and low income and working class students who need a sense of belonging and recognition to thrive and contribute to the construction of knowledge.The book unfolds as an informal journey that allows the reader to see into other teachers’ practices. With questions for reflection embedded throughout the book, the authors provide the reader with an inviting and thoughtful guide to develop their own inclusive teaching practices.By utilizing the concepts and principles in this book readers will be able to take steps to transform their courses into spaces that are equitable and welcoming, and adopt practical strategies to address the various inclusion issues that can arise.The book will also appeal to educational developers and staff who support instructors in their inclusive teaching efforts. It should find a place in reflective workshops, book clubs and learning communities exploring this important topic.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Academic, Nonfiction

234 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2021

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eminently insightful and practical. Tracie is our spring keynote on teaching & learning next week at Simmons - so excited to dig into some of these ideas with her.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contained evidence-based strategies for promoting inclusivity in the classroom and was very practical. It's definitely worth the read for anyone interested in teaching college students. It was a bit repetitive at times, which is my only criticism.

[Bonni · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors provide values-driven and practical approaches to support excellence in inclusive college teaching. They interviewed extensively and offer abundant, specific examples of inclusive teaching across disciplines and faculty at various ranks. Each section ends with reflection questions and a recap of the information addressed, making it that much easier to put the techniques into practice in our own teaching.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars for me. If you teach at the collegiate level (or really any level), this book offers easy and thoughtful ways to make your teaching more inclusive. I appreciated the specific examples of things you could actually implement in the classroom. Some of the book did feel repetitive at times but overall a decent resource to help those of us who teach.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat helpful, but very repetitive. This book could have been half the length.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of the theory in the first half was refresher/repeat for me. But the specific ideas for implementation (lots for DEI) was worth the time to read this book.

[Harold · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book = mediocre premise + mediocre execution. Skip it & read some bell hooks or Beverly Tatum instead.

Using a national survey of 306 faculty re: inclusive instruction strategies, quotes and data is presented acritically and sloppily. Instead of using these data to explore a snapshot of current faculty members' learning edges re: inclusion and equity in classrooms, survey data is presented as expertise and fact. Throughout the book there is conflation of inclusion, equity, bias, prejudice and discrimination. Colorblindness, for instance, is briefly critiqued & then utilized throughout the book with continued exhortation to design classes to include "all" - bolstering a false binary of inclusive or not inclusive, rather than showcasing the real, complex spectra of inclusion, equity and justice work that's undone until liberation is won. Also the writing is just terrible. Seems like multiple authors took sections & just plugged them in without reading what the others wrote.

[Becky Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of survey results from over 300 college and university Instructors from diverse institutions who were asked questions about what inclusive teaching meant to them and were asked to provide examples, strategies, and initiatives. I think it is a great resource for Instructors who are new to the topic of inclusive classrooms. My college provides and requires a large number of trainings on the topic so I did find this book a bit repetitive but I was able to find some excellent resources/references within and there are some concrete examples, models, and thoughtful reflection questions. I am glad I read it.

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid praxis focused text. Especially useful for those who are just beginning to think about inclusive teaching. Especially people in the sciences. Most of the ideas in here are mainstream in English pedagogy and were taught to me when I was an MFA student 2010-2012, so they will be most new to people outside of my discipline, or who were trained before 2010 or more recently. But the content is still important, even if familiar.

[Kehaines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of a faculty book club sponsored by our teaching center. A really good resource for instructors looking to make their courses more inclusive. Also has suggestions for institutions, professional development, and more. Highly recommend.

[Hannah Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a little repetitive but the message bears repeating. They give lots of examples to make it clear that the work is doable. Really appreciate that PSU is adopting the recommendations and offering this book for free in a book club for instructors!

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall content of the book was well-researched and informative, however, the execution was lacking. The book was extremely repetitive and was not organized in a way that made it easy to digest and glean information.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful as a summary of a bunch of techniques, but doesn't particularly push the conversation forward nor grapple with the systemic inequities that make inclusive teaching necesssary.

[Sarah Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a faculty book club at my school and was able to learn several really useful ideas and techniques to use in management roles.

[Sanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for a class. Good message, useful examples and tools, but a bit repetitive.

[janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little repetitive, but a good book! Gave me a few ideas to try in the classroom, and now I can't wait for my next class start!

[Katherine Lavelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book if you don't know where to start on incorporating inclusive education into your class, program, or institution. Lots of specific, evidenced based, and helpful suggestions.

[Audrey Ettinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 95% this summer with colleagues and many discussions (LVAIC-wide). Finally got back to finishing the end of Chapter 2, which I hadn't finished on time for the discussion.

MANY helpful ideas, and we loved having Dr. Addy, the first author, as a presenter for our August 2021 faculty workshop at Cedar Crest. She was even better in person than via the book!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read with evidence based strategies. My students really enjoy it as well.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text could be useful as a VERY basic primer for someone who has yet to consider any of the elements of inclusive teaching at all in their classroom, but I would not recommend this text for anyone who has even encountered the basics of things like asking for pronouns, expanding diversity in your texts, etc.