教师领导整个校园的课堂公平倡议

布里斯托尔,R.I. ­– For the last 400 years that higher education institutions have existed in North America, 他们主要为白人服务.  甚至在他们开始接受女性和有色人种之后 – 对大多数人来说，这发生在上个世纪 – the curriculum, teaching practices and faculty of many institutions still reflect this history.

随着大学教室的不断多样化， 历史上未被充分代表的种族学生, 经济, 性别, 性别身份常常被挑出来, 低估了, 受到歧视. 这 造成损害, 不仅仅是学业上的成功, but also to the mental and physical wellbeing of students in a system that wasn't designed for them. 

在RWU, 两位教员, 劳拉爱, 美国研究副教授和卡米尔·格特尔斯-皮尔特，传播与媒体研究副教授, 领导一项倡议来支持教师挑战不公平的传统. 

“We are the people who engage with students the most for the four years that they’re here,皮尔先生说. “他们一次要在我们的教室里待上四个月, so if we’re not ready to challenge existing hierarchies and create safe and brave spaces, that’s four years that students are being harmed or not being asked to challenge their own world and beliefs.”

爱与 and Gentles-Peart collaborated with other faculty members who were also determined to combat inequities in the classroom. They sought to bring in educational resources, strategic planning, and peer discussion. 

为了实现这一目标，他们从 安德鲁·W. 梅隆基金会 去年夏天.  有了这些支持, 他们花了四天时间参加一个关于多样性的会议, 礼貌, 以及亚特兰大的文科, 乔治亚州, along with then RWU Provost 安德鲁·Workman and RWU Chief Diversity Officer Ame Lambert.

“我们讨论了从语言使用的方方面面, 到个人特权, 教育工作者在课堂上的角色, 对少数民族的制度性待遇,皮尔先生说.

虽然每天都有重要的工作和深刻的思考, 这只是一个多层次发展的开始, RWU正在进行的倡议. 下一步是推出一项计划，将他们所学到的知识带到校园.

“Our team realized that the work that is required of an institution that makes a deep commitment to equity, 包容, 多样性, 社会正义是通过它的人民实现的——主要是教职员工,”达莫尔说.  “如果我们想要有意义地完成这项工作, we would have to invest a lot of time and resources into faculty and professional development, providing folks at RWU with the time and space to think and talk about this material."

这项投资的第一步是为期一年的教员奖学金, 这是两家公司去年秋天推出的.  

Gentles-Peart, 爱与, and 14 additional faculty members met several times throughout Fall 2018 to begin an in-depth process of learning and reflection, 受到亚特兰大研究所开展的工作的启发.

“We have faculty representatives from just about every school in the university,皮尔先生说. “我们有视觉艺术家、工程师、作家. 我们有传播学和媒体研究、心理学、 人类学、美国研究、教育和历史保护.”

The fall semester was spent grappling with hard questions about how to make sure students of all backgrounds can thrive in the classroom. 

“多样性和我的工作nclusion Fellows are doing is figuring out how to create equitable classrooms and teaching practices within historically unjust spaces,”达莫尔说. 虽然它建立在类似的原则上，但每门课程的工作看起来都不一样.

其中一个研究员, 迈克尔富, 艺术教授, 在他的人物画课上做了一些刻意的改变吗.

首先是尊重每个学生的个人风格. He makes time for one-on-one portfolio reviews where he and the student discuss the student’s unique influences and techniques.

“They have to learn how to draw no matter who they are and what their background is,” said Rich. “但他们正在用自己的语言成为更好的抽屉. Part of this is reframing the idea that they have to meet some classical ideal in their drawing. They’re going to bring to the table different experiences, backgrounds, and cultures.”

同时拥抱不同的绘画风格和学生的经历, 里奇正在改变他的课程内容. 绘画的历史焦点主要是欧洲白人男性看着女性, Rich used the opportunity of his students drawing human bodies to discuss representation and power dynamics. 

“我想用身体作为谈论种族问题的工具, 性别, 性, 和个性, 而不是仅仅在形式上研究身体,里奇说。. 

Rich also seeks to deepen conversations about representation by exposing his students to artists from underrepresented identities. 这不仅对他的学生很重要, 但这也扩大了他作为艺术家的教育, 与此同时, 他注意到自己知识上的不足，需要在这些方面做更多的研究.

尽管研究员们在融入课堂的问题上越来越慎重, Rich notes that it is the self-education and self-reflection that has been the most impactful aspect of this work.

这不仅适用于里奇. The other fellows affirm that much of this work is about faculty members raising their own consciousness so 他们可以成为更好的教育者.

“在我看来，包容性教学是更好的教学. It’s more engaged, more cognizant of the student, their background and their challenges,里奇说。. “这让我更加意识到体制和结构性的挑战, 尤其是对少数族裔学生的影响.”

玛格丽特·凯斯，英国文学与创意写作系主任, 同意她作为研究员的大部分工作都涉及自我反省. 在和其他人开会的时候, she confronts her own challenges and gains insight through readings and conversation.

“It changes the way I think about dynamics in the classroom and keeps 多样性 issues in the forefront of my mind while I’m teaching,凯斯说.

凯斯一直致力于教授各种各样的文学作品, yet participating in the fellowship has solidified the need for being intentional about this effort.

“我认为文学的力量绝对是巨大的, 不仅仅是为了弄清楚网赌的十大网站, 而是要弄清楚世界应该如何构建,”她说。.

尽管研究员们正在努力改变他们的课堂, 这个项目不会就此结束. 今年夏天, the fellows will teach this curriculum to up to 25 more faculty from across the university. 明年, 第二批8名研究员将再教25名教员, 这是两年多的时间, 这种密集的发展将提供给多达75名教员. 

“An investment in faculty in this way signals our importance to the success of the university,”达莫尔说. "These 75 faculty will then be in positions to share information and strategies with peers, 并成为这项工作的领导者. 我对未来感到乐观和兴奋.”