About this Site
Inclusive Teaching means teaching in ways that do not exclude students, accidentally or intentionally, from opportunities to learn. On this web site we have collected resources, examples, insights from faculty, and stories from students in order to help members of the University of Washington teaching community accomplish their goal of teaching more inclusively.
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How the Site is Organized
The site has three main sections:
The Perspectives section is designed to present inclusive teaching issues in the practical context of instructors' and students' experiences in class. These perspectives represent situations which we have observed, or which have been reported to us, and do not necessarily address all possible points of view or experiences.
Faculty Perspectives are based on comments collected from UW faculty members, TAs, and administrators who have consulted with CIDR. Student Perspectives are based on comments collected from students through Midterm Student Feedback sessions, or reported to us by UW faculty members and TAs.
Strategies are based on our review of the literature, observations of best practices, and reports to us by faculty members and TAs. The Strategies section of the web site is designed to provide responses to issues raised in the Perspectives section, but it is possible to begin in either section of the web site.
Each set of strategies is intended to be a work-in-progress. We welcome your feedback, comments, success stories, and additional suggestions at cidr@u.washington.edu
The Resources section provides one place for all the links and references cited in other sections. You can also view a list of print resources that were used in the development of the site.
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What this Site is ...
This site is designed to be a resource for faculty, TAs, and other UW instructors. The emphasis is on teaching and learning, primarily in classrooms. It is based on a number of assumptions about diversity and inclusiveness in higher education:
Different identities, experiences, and perspectives are represented in every group of people, even if they are not always apparent.
Diversity is a resource for instructors who want to help their students view knowledge from new and different angles, meet intellectual and social challenges in a broader context, and value contributions of others who see things differently.
- Diversity is not something new
Diversity has not always been given attention or valued, and it has often been discussed using different terms, but it has always been a social reality.
- Diversity includes diversity of opinions
This web site is not about downplaying difference for the sake of harmony, but rather finding strategies to honor differences and diversity in ways that foster intellectual and social development.
- Diversity is not always comfortable
It is not always comfortable to encounter differences, but experiences that cause discomfort - and even conflict - can be great sources of learning and great stimuli for change.
Many of the strategies and resources which are identified throughout this web site will provide you with starting points, but these are complex issues influenced greatly by the immediate context of each situation.
As a result, we recommend that you take this site as a starting point, and follow through by working with colleagues, consulting with CIDR, or interacting with another group that shares your interests in order to help you put these principles into practice.
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What this Site isn't ...
Because this site is designed to help instructors with questions related to teaching and learning, it does not address all the questions that other members of the UW community might have about diversity and inclusiveness.
If you are a current UW student, a prospective student, or a UW employee looking for information about diversity, inclusiveness, or multiculturalism resources at the University of Washington, we recommend that you go to the UW Diversity web site.
If you are looking for research and scholarship related to multicultural education, we recommend that you go to the Center for Multicultural Education in the UW College of Education.
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Credits
This site has been developed by the staff of the Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington, and came about as a direct result of our Inclusive Practices Portfolio.
The content of these pages has been collected and developed primarily by Nancy Emery, Wayne Jacobson, Margy Lawrence, Clarisse Messemer, Bonnie O'Dell, Yoosun Park, and Lois Reddick. The Inclusive Teaching logo was created by Jeffrey Meyers.
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