In the 2019-2020 academic year we continues with a team of faculty to engage with pedagogical theories connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom.
We continued and then concluded work with the initial cohort of 18 faculty for the 2019 Mellon FIT Faculty Development program. The goal of cohort was to begin to develop a larger core of faculty with expertise in culturally responsive practices on campus. Cohort members attended a one-day workshop for faculty in May 2019 (led by Dr. Cannella), and an extensive workshop for faculty August 19-21, 2019 as a first step towards altering the culture around teaching at FLC and promoting inclusive pedagogy.
In Fall 2019, we continued to meet with this group to support them in implementing principals learned in the workshops. This entailed three group workshops in the Fall 2019 term.
2019-20 Book Study
In the Fall 2019, we initiated a Culturally Responsive Faculty Book Study. All full-time faculty were invited to participate and were given a choice of five books. Thirty-nine faculty chose to participate, which constitutes 23% of full-time faculty on campus. Four books were ultimately read across seven groups. See attached mid-project reflections and Books Study Wrap-up responses.
Our goal had been for Book Study groups to hold faculty workshops for the campus in May 2020 or August 2020. Because of COVID pandemic constraints, this was not possible.
However, Dr. Cannella worked with the FLC Faculty Senate Executive Committee to plan for a set of workshops at the Fall 2020 Faculty Retreat. These workshops were optional, but 140 faculty chose to attend, constituting 84% of the full-time faculty. The results of this retreat were clear; faculty provided positive feedback and requested more opportunities to discuss implementation strategies for teaching/classrooms focused on DEI pedagogies. The inclusive teaching philosophies are taking a firm hold at FLC, and we can see this in workshops and discussions held by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the campus Learning COVID response team.
Culturally Responsive Pedogogy Cohort Fall 2019 Culminating Workshop
At this workshop faculty discussed 2-3 new strategies that they have tried this term related to culturally responsive teaching.
Video Clusters Focal Areas
1. Syllabus
2. Instructional
3. Assignments/Assessments
4. Interactive activities
5. Increasing student engagement
Book Studies 2019-2020
General Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Hammond, Z. 2014. Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Corwin.
This book draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. (Written for broader educational settings including K-12 students, but unique intersection of cognitive science with socio-cultural perspectives on designing responsive learning settings.)
Chávez, A. F., & Longerbeam, S. D. (2016). Teaching across cultural strengths: A guide to balancing integrated and individuated cultural frameworks in college teaching. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Derived through research and practice, the authors present their Model of Cultural Frameworks in College Teaching and Learning that highlights eight continua towards achieving the transformation of teaching, and developing more culturally balanced and inclusive practices, over time.
Epistemological Perspectives on Teaching
McCoy, K., Tuck, E., & McKenzie, M. (Eds.). (2017). Land Education: Rethinking pedagogies of place from Indigenous, postcolonial, and decolonizing perspectives. Routledge.
This edited volume suggests how place-based pedagogies can respond to issues of colonialism and Indigenous sovereignty. The book invites readers to rethink 'pedagogies of place' from various Indigenous, postcolonial, and decolonizing perspectives.
Grande, S. (2015). Red pedagogy: Native American social and political thought. Rowman & Littlefield.
This ground-breaking text explores the intersection between dominant modes of critical educational theory and the socio-political landscape of American Indian education.
In the 2018-2019 academic year we established a team of faculty to engage with pedagogical theories connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom.
Five of our six team members attended the AAC&U Conference, "Diversity, Equity, and Student Success," in March 2019. This grounded them in their work on campus DEI issues, and helped us develop ideas for altering faculty approaches to teaching at FLC.
A needs assessment process included a series of interviews with 22 faculty (approximately 17%) from a range of departments. Questions asked about faculty stance toward non-dominant and marginalized students, challenges they experience, and the types of faculty development programming they would find more helpful and would most like to participate in. Findings indicate that most faculty have strong beliefs in student ability but could use additional strategies for student engagement and increased retention. Faculty have varying levels of understanding of ways that historical and sociopolitical factors shape student experiences on campus in the present-day. Some faculty are interested in workshops, but a significant portion also indicated that self-paced, individual study with some group processing and analysis was more convenient and therefor more realistic. Many faculty indicated an interest in book studies and on-line resources in addition to face-to face workshops.
We convened a cohort of 18 faculty for the 2019 Mellon FIT Faculty Development program. The goal of this is to begin to develop a larger core of faculty with expertise in culturally responsive practices on campus. Cohort members attended a one-day workshop for faculty in May (led by Dr. Cannella), and an extensive workshop for faculty August 19-21 as a first step towards altering the culture around teaching at FLC and promoting inclusive pedagogy.
This workshop is designed to provide hands-on strategies for refining your existing course design to reduce barriers for marginalized students. Two faculty, Dr. Joely Proudfit and Dr. Fredi Avalos, from California State San Marcos will guide our group through viewing assignments and class structures from student perspectives, as well as facilitating revisions for more equitable teaching.
May: One-day workshop on general culturally responsive perspectives and existing practices in place.
August: Three-day workshop focused on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion related to syllabus construction and classroom atmosphere. Concrete strategies for Fall 2019 courses were discussed.
September: Peer check-in about status of syllabus and instructional revisions for Fall 2019 and Spring 2020. (1-2 hours)
October: Midterm check-in (1-2 hours)
December: Celebration and self-analysis (1-2 hours)
Faculty received $1000 stipends for full participation in the project; stipends may be pro-rated for partial participation.
This program was designed for faculty who:
Dr. Cannella developed a portion of the Teaching Development training for new faculty for the fall 2019 term. The program is designed to provide a general introduction to major concepts in effective instruction for new faculty. In addition to the 17 new faculty on campus, other faculty were allowed to enroll in the course which doubled enrollment. The Culturally Responsive Teaching portion included activities on: