Author: sdslough

Inclusive Pedagogy for the 21st Century

Engaging in the inclusive pedagogy literature this week I was most struck with the manner in which academics, instructors, and even students have attempted define, problematize, and brainstorm ways in education is and can be more ‘inclusive;’ namely, approach(es) to teaching that pays attention to the varied background, learning styles, and abilities of all the learners in front of us [even the instructor!].

As I mentioned to Dr. Faulkner when she visited our class, ways in which we as young instructors attempt to be more inclusive is inherently personal, and difficult. This is due not solely to our own lack of realizing our positionality but the overarching structures and cultures established thereof that have historically discriminated, whitewashed, and dismissed true attempts in diversifying perspectives and demographics.

As an American historian I regulalrly try to do this every semester in simple principled ways. For one, I ask as an easy ‘A’ grade that each of my students submit to a 200 word introduction of themselves, why (honestly) they are taking the course, what past experiences they have in college/ high school-level history coursework and what they enjoyed/ hated from those experiences, and what they hope to learn more about throughout the semester. This is important to me as it fosters a more, to quote Katherine Phillips, democratize the learning the experience–the students, in aggregate, are just as much a part of designing my curriculum as much as me. As someone who does not assign textbooks, I typically assign readings and materials that are unorthodox and eclectic. The result are usually fantastic. For instance, I had a student in my US History since 1877 course last semester saying he did not like history courses because of their redudant “read, write, memorize” models, that are topically boilerplate and banal. He told me he is an amateur DJ, and I similarly noticed how others students in their responses mentioned their past music backgrounds. As a result, when discussing post 1960s race relations, (with the hope to connect to things like Black Lives Matter) I designed a course lecture that looked at responses after MLK’s murder in 1968 through musical history:

They loved it for the uniqueness in showing why rap emerged, its political discourse, and then show how its directly connected to the embedded racial violence that the country is plagued with today. Most important, the majority of my students said they never recalled being taught about events like Rodney King, Watts Riots, MLK Riots ever. As Shankar Vedantam tell us, this is unconcious and a part of our selective teaching and more so selective awareness and attention. Inclusivity in the 21st century to me means exposure, perspective and diversity of means. Rather than cherry picking elements considered ‘diverse’, it is more important that we remeber the day, age, and background of our students and ourselves when forming our curriculums.

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Instructor Provocation, Student Imagination: Networked Learning(?)

As someone else noted, the most notable takeaway from this week’s materials on ‘Networked Learning”– those connections maintained and transfered in a near reciprocal level between educator and student on and via networked platforms –there are immeditae concerns raised when entertaing such a concept; perhaps its just me (?). Before digging into the materials I feel I was definitely conflicted if anything. On one hand, having just taken GRAD 5004: Preparing Future Professoriate (Fall 18), I am more sensitive of the responsibilities that young academic instructors (us) have in being the intellectual and developmental role models for undergraduates. As Dean DePauw mentioned to us last semester, in an age where more emphasis (at least in US) is placed on entry-level academics to not teach but rather achieve and produce ‘deliverables’–tangible proof of one’s worth in research, publication, and, arguably more measured in corporate academic models, grant money–maintaining and honoring the position we have as college instructors is, while maybe at times less under scrutiny from universities, more important than ever. As Dr. Nelson discussed, along with many of us after her, the use of these “innovative” technological platforms for learning are increasingly flawed in their presumptive algorithems aimed at gathering quantitative data in aggregate to model not student -intructor experience, learning, and development, but instead ‘bottom-dollar’ stats for admins in deciding future course assignments and platform efficacy.

Yet, on the other hand, as a public historian and humanist, I LOVE and live by the model of networked learning in public venues, engagements, and practioning. Shared knowledge and coocreation of knowledge and dispersal thereof is the trademark of my own last four years of work in documenting, registering, sharing and provoking peoples on a social network site dedicated to one Appalachian county in southwest Virginia. Not only is it a way to document the material culture heritage of a region historically trivialized and stigmatized as ‘others’ and/ or ‘backward,’ but it aims to develop relationships with locals, typically reserved from providing oral history and tradition; thus a reciprocal process of education is triggered and (hopefully) burgeoned.

I suppose, to quote Gardner Campbell, as globalized creatures, the internet “was designed for just this kind of collaboration.” The web provides just as much security as it does take away in our teaching and learning abilities. Yett, Campbell’s point on student “experiential learning,” is lofty, admirable, and appreciative. However, I still have reservations. Having taught e-campus courses on behalf of VT for Summer Sessions (1&2) of 2017, Winter Sessions (17-18′; 18′-19′), I have often found difficult ways to fully embrace Campbell’s calling. Above all, I took more from Doug Belshaw’s insistence on “working openly.”

Yet, putting Belshaw and Hitchcock to task: is there really a true open anymore on the internet? I do not know, I am a bit stunned.The feedback and conversation from our first meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 23rd was, perhaps [keep in mind, historian talking whose thrived off small grad seminars at VT] , the most heated debate on one great inquiry raised by my colleauges in-class.

My response and ultimately to this week’s topic; cherish, embrace, and, above all, accept and PROVOKE. No. Do not become another Alex Jones etc., who leeches off disinformation. But, I am at a bit of a reservation this week at least in considering our previous day one discussion.. Some, at least I witnessed, I have never seen so passionately EVER after two MAs and now a doctoral student at VT, a discussion in a room of 40 graduate students engage on day 1 of any course.

To be fair, I brought in at the get go of this post my reservations c. 2015 Spenser. Originally typing this post I thought “They are not, however, contemporaneous to the person currently typing on this late-Sunday afternoon.” Call me cheeky, but, like networked learning, human education through such means (rightfully promulgated by Dr. Nelson), once corrupted in a world of for-profit platforms merits inquiry and investigation for a twenty-first-century world community.