For Educators: Creating an inclusive classroom

We teach to inspire, support and push our students forward.  Some people argue that strict deadlines and having to respond to unclear work directives is to prepare students for the “real world.”  But college is the real world for the students, and completing it is necessary for economic and social movement.  They must learn ideas, concepts, formulas, and skills to advance.  We measure that by their work. 

School shouldn’t be so much a test but a passageway forward.  Probably the most significant but common obstacle to success is not knowing what success looks like.  If the learning process is punitive,  you will start to alienate and push students away from you, your class, the department, and, ultimately, the school.  Instead, by doing a few things differently, other students may be helped with their own obstacles.  

Here are some suggestions to help you build a more inclusive college classroom:

• In your syllabus, standards, and objectives are necessary for both the professor to know what they want students to learn and for students to know what they are supposed to do.  There should be no mystery in the classroom on how to be successful.

• Make the syllabus available on paper and post the information online -.  You don’t have to print 30 copies for the entire class but maybe 3-5 for the few students who like paper to write on and outline as they go while you go over the info in class.  

• Devote class time to reviewing the syllabus, going through the calendar, inviting students to ask questions, and then telling students they can always bring their questions to the instructor after class or during office hours.   

• Tell students to come to office hours and introduce themselves.  

• Use BOLD headings on the syllabus. 

• Provide a weekly grid or spreadsheet of the class, including the topics, assignments due, and due dates.  - Things that are easy to transfer to a calendar.

• Avoid paragraphs - use bulleted lists.

• Provide a rubric for grading.  Show students how to get an A if that is their goal.  

• Include explicit formatting instructions in each assignment.  Or at least a link to an exemplar or cheat sheet. 

• Encourage the use of section headings in writing.  (Advanced students can remove them before submitting)

• When an assignment calls for 3 to 5 of anything - explain the relationship between the grade you get for three vs. five.

• Vary the assignment structure in your class.  Instead of 5 - 5 page papers, make one a topic explanation and annotated bibliography, make another a recording of a PowerPoint or slide presentation, and write a newspaper article on another.  

• When assigning live presentations - allow students to decide if they will present 100% live or present a pre-recorded presentation instead.  

• Include documentaries and videos in class resources and “reading” assignments.  Ensure that there is Closed Captioning available on all screens.

• Review things people should know, like formatting, citing, etc., whenever appropriate.  You don’t know what they don’t know.

• Provide links to campus assistance - Writing, tutoring, etc. in your course shell or your syllabus.

• Don’t grade participation.  Or find alternatives for students whose processing speed may be slow or who suffer from social anxiety or regular shyness.  

• Reconsider your classroom's late policy.  There will always be students who turn things in early and some who do it on time.  When we enact stringent deadlines, we show students that life must be perfect for them to succeed.  Fast declines in grade penalties discourage students from getting their work in at all.  Students running out of time are likelier to cheat or turn in crappy work.  

If the purpose of the assignment is to analyze some great moment in history - why do people get penalized when life happens?  Marking periods have clear start and stop.  And having tests on the assigned date is essential for pacing purposes.  Nobody is saying throw everything to the wind.  But unless the class objective is everything on time all the time - does it a) matter if it is a day, a week, or a month late to you?  Or b) Is there any correlation between quality and timeliness?  

No-penalty late policies don’t discourage diligent, well-prepared, neurotypical students from getting their work done but encourage struggling students to keep trying.  

More importantly, as a college-level educator myself, I don’t want to know the minutiae of 30 - 150 students' personal lives either.  Grace and mercy don’t cost anything.  You can even have a late work deadline towards the end of the term that is hard and fast for your grading purposes.  I always set the hard late work deadline two weeks before the end of the marking period.  After that, only the work from the last two weeks is acceptable.  But really?  How much does one date matter over another?

These suggestions create space for those who may be shy or have social anxiety.  But also help the instructor clarify any muddy areas and focus on their desired outcomes and whether or not the class is set up to support those outcomes.