In the midst of national conversations about issues of diversity on campus, Carleton students, faculty, and staff have been considering how best to attend to these issues here on campus. The September faculty retreat provided an opportunity to reflect on the information gathered from student focus groups last year, but not enough time for considering concrete ways to respond. These topics merit ongoing conversation. The LTC is one venue that can foster conversations and help faculty build their teaching toolboxes to create classrooms where students with diverse backgrounds and identities can flourish.
In winter term, two LTC lunches will directly follow-up on topics that emerged in the faculty retreat -- “Responding to difficult moments in the classroom” and “Effective practices for group work.” Expect something a little different from these “teaching toolbox” lunches -- you’ll be asked to do some homework in advance of these sessions and we’ll focus on group discussions about how our choices might impact classroom climate and brainstorm ideas about how to handle challenging situations that might arise.
The topic of creating inclusive classrooms is huge. Adriana Estill, faculty co-chair of CEDI, and I have identified at least eight areas that contribute to creating and maintaining inclusive classrooms. I hope that over the next few years the LTC can provide programming that covers the range of these topics.
- Syllabus construction, organization, and prose to create an inclusive classroom
- Setting the class tone and building a learning community
- "Hot topics" -- how to prepare when teaching controversial material
- Dealing with "curveballs" -- unexpected comments, actions, etc.
- Group work -- pitfalls and possibilities
- Outside in -- what to do about the dynamics that occur outside of the classroom and how they might impact what goes on inside the classroom
- Content advisories
- Reflecting on expectations with regards to cultural knowledge
If you’d like to see other themes added, or if you have specific ideas about programming related to one of these themes, I welcome suggestions and conversation.