The context of today… Pandemic + Social Justice Crisis
this means.. Greater Inequity in the Classroom such as:
- access to adequate technology
- financial impacts
- health and safety concerns
- emotional impacts
- in turn impacting: belonging, ability to focus, balancing responsibilities, etc.
We are all feeling the weight of inconsistency and uncertainty. We must acknowledge what this means for our students, and particularly our students who hold marginalized identities.
What is “diversity, equity, and inclusion”?
- Diversity is a characteristic of a group of people where differences exist on one or more relevant dimensions
- this means respecting and valuing people’s differences and treating them with the appropriate respect and dignity.
- Equity is the quality of being fair and impartial
- meaning everyone has the opportunity to be successful
- Inclusion is a measure of culture that enables diversity to thrive
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making sure people feel comfortable being themselves in the space, their identity is honored, they feel like they belong and do not have to assimilate in order to achieve this
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Why should I care about DEI? The impact of belonging is linked to increased persistence, student satisfaction, and well-being. In our context, a student’s sense of belonging is related to improved retention, graduation rates, etc.
- building belonging how?
- Positive interactions with diverse peers
- Peer mentoring, staff care & support
- Attention to campus climate
- read “How Colleges Can Cultivate Students’ Sense of Belonging” by Becki Supiano from The Chronicle of Higher Education for more
Take some time to reflect on your educator identity. What groups are you a part of? What identities do you think about most often? How about those you think about the least? Why might you think more about some of your group identities than others? What experiences lead you to think about the identities that are most salient for you? Which of these identities show up most often when you teach? Least often?
Source: Borkoski, C., Prosser, S.K., (2020) Engaging faculty in service-learning: opportunities and barriers to promoting our public mission. Tert Educ Manag 26, 39–55.