Perspectives: What Excludes Students?

Teaching in Ways That Favor Particular Backgrounds or Approaches to Learning

It is understandable, and perhaps unavoidable, that instructors’ decisions about teaching are grounded in their previous classroom experiences. In fact, the knowledge base of these experiences is a rich resource for any instructor. However, some instructors have rejected alternative approaches to teaching and defended their traditional approaches with arguments such as, "This is the way we teach in this discipline" or perhaps, "It worked for me when I was a student."

However, it is not always the case that an instructor’s personal experiences are representative of teaching practices in the discipline or learning preferences of the general student population. In other contexts, drawing broad conclusions from an individual case is known as "generalizing from N = 1." To some extent learning styles are shaped by the social and cultural contexts of students’ earlier learning experiences, suggesting that an instructor’s ways of teaching may reflect his or her experiences in life and in school more than they reflect the nature of the content being taught. Thus, to some extent a way of teaching may be biased in favor of students who share educational experiences and social identities similar to the instructor’s.

Experienced learners are often able to take many different approaches to learning, but most still have some preferences. It's not necessarily the instructor's job to teach in all ways for all students, and some material by its very nature requires a certain approach to teaching and learning. However, taking a single approach to teaching that unnecessarily leaves out other approaches is likely to exclude some students from opportunities to learn.

On this page you will find

• Instructor Perspectives
• Student Perspectives
• Strategies and Resources

Teaching in Ways That Favor Particular Backgrounds or Approaches to Learning

Instructor Perspectives

Here are faculty comments on different situations which show how they perceive the challenge of teaching in ways that respond to students' diverse learning styles:

• "I start lectures by presenting data from an array of sources for the first part of the lecture - usually about half the class time - and then after students have had the chance to take it all in, I go on to discuss the implications of the data. I use plenty of visual aids and real life examples so why do some students complain that lectures are confusing?"

• "I'm supposed to re-design an intro course that's been taught in the same way for as long as anyone can remember. It worked for me when I was a student, but we've learned that a lot of students take the course and then decide to major in something else. How can I cover all the fundamentals, but do it in a way that invites a larger, more diverse population of students to get excited about the field?"

• "I've read about different learning styles, but I have 150 students. How can I adjust my teaching methods for all the different learning styles in my class?"

• "I'm in favor of campus diversity and multiculturalism, but I don't see how it affects my course. The facts don't change just because the student body is more diverse."

• "I've assigned readings that represent other voices, and many of them challenge longstanding conventional wisdom. But it seems like students just want to know terms and dates. Instead of critical analysis of prevailing viewpoints, what I hear is 'Will this be on the test?'"

Teaching in Ways That Favor Particular Backgrounds or Approaches to Learning

Student Perspectives

Here are student comments on different situations which show how they might draw the conclusion that the instructor's way of teaching excludes the student's ways of learning:

• "It seems like I can't understand this stuff at all though everyone else seems to. I wish he would write stuff down sometimes but nobody else seems to need him to do that."

• "At the beginning of the quarter, I tried asking a couple of questions and she always said we'll get to that later. But that didn't help when I was confused right then. Everybody else seems to know what's going on."

• "It seems like every topic has a 'minority day' when we stop talking about the stuff in the textbook and we're supposed to discuss an article by somebody black or Asian or female. But nobody says much .... Those are the days when the minority students say the least, even though it feels like everyone is looking at them to find out what they think."

• "When he talks about 'common sense' or a 'typical human response', I used to think, 'Not where I live it's not.' For a while I thought it was something wrong with me, but now it's got me wondering if he really knows as much as he thinks he does."

• "I was doing well enough in classes, but after so long without hearing or reading about anybody I could identify with, I started to think, 'Maybe I just don't belong here.'"

Teaching in Ways That Favor Particular Backgrounds or Approaches to Learning

Strategies and Resources

Inclusive Teaching Strategy guidelines are designed to help you get started thinking about ways to respond to these issues, and they will also provide you with links to additional resources, tools, and examples:

• Plan for Diversity in Teaching

What Excludes Students - More Examples

• Conveying Disrespect, Unfairness, or Lack of Confidence in Students
• Disregarding Student Backgrounds, Preparation, or Life Events That Affect Learning
• Interacting With Only a Subset of the Students