This letter idea is pretty interesting. I did something like this letter to myself in a class in 8th grade and then at the end of high-school you read it again to see how you had changed or not. Having it be to inspire another person, I suspect would be much more powerful.

Ken

Erin,

Thank you so much for sharing. I’m happy that you are in your field and are making things better. I’m also pretty sure of how much impact you are making to that one student that otherwise would be probably shut down, just for being in that environment. I’m positive that what you do not only make her feel better in the classroom but is also having an impact on her learning process, she probably will recognize how feeling included is changing the metacognition of her thinking. Therefore, by being more reflective about it probably you help her improve the way she understand her learning.

Looking forward to the moment that you think is right to talk about your experiences, again thanks for sharing!

Thanks for your post. Apparently the idea that “girls aren’t good at math” is common in some areas… But I don’t remember growing up with it either. I think it’s an anomaly at this day and age to have this type of thinking. Especially that at this point today, we are actually oriented and focused on recruiting girls to Math, Science, and Engineering. So many of the STEM programs exist to help kids in general, and girls in particular enjoy math and science. Thanks for your post!

Thanks for sharing!

I really like your post. You will really enjoy our guest tomorrow since she developed a diversity app ?

Also thanks for sharing the video. Very interesting. I wonder if you can share the paper you wrote, it seems very interesting.

Homero

This is a great post, thank you very much for it! The video is really powerful… Showing how much there is still profiling against people due to their religion. However, people tend to fear what they don’t know. And the more they learn, and get enlightened, the more the fear disappears… And also the more the inclusion appears. Thanks so much for such a wonderful post!

Interesting take on making connections in the classroom. This is definitely a great pedagogical approach to push students to bring their own lived experiences into the classroom to promote learning.

Cody, diversity is a hot topic with university administration. However, I do think it is important that we have the conversation about inclusion and diversity in academia. Pedagogical methods are important, but we must also be cognizant of how the experiences of our students within academe may drastically differ based on race, gender, and many other aspects of a persons identity. Trying to understand our differences is vital to promoting an inclusive classroom.

In my country (Puerto Rico) we don’t have such segregation between boys and girls in terms of their academic abilities, at least thats what I experienced. Actually, girls in most of my classes were more knowledgeable, responsible that most of us and also they had the highest grades. I was wondering what makes you say that the skill that you had in fourth grade is not useful? makes me wonder what is your major. The reason why Im asking is because I studied Civil Engineering and now in my PhD I still need such skill that like you I have since I was a little kid.

Thanks for sharing!

For me, it’s a matter of trying to know my students, in whatever they believe it’s important for them. Yes, in the classroom we should be first learners, but believe it or not, for some people a pronoun shape the way they will become learners or not. I will try to make them feel comfortable and will try to learn as much as I can from their background, if they think is important and want to share it, then I will care about it.

I believe inclusive pedagogy is the ability to create learning environments that promote learning in the students no matter their background or experiences. I was an associate professor in Venezuela for 8 years, and every single student that I had, had the same skin color, I will say 90% or more were catholic, and sexual orientation was a complex topic. For me inclusive pedagogy was on how to make students from the LGBTQ community feel welcomed, even when they couldn’t accept their sexual orientation openly. I find the same struggles that I had there, and use similar strategies here in the U.S. with my students.

Homero

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Thank you for your comment, Cody! Without universities there are already a lot in common between individuals. However, in the university there is more in common among the students than anywhere else. This is particularly true, because there is a blend of education touching our lives. Education tends to enlighten, and shed more light on the commonalities.

Interesting post with an equally interesting comment thread. Stereotypes are difficult to combat as they start from a young age. However, that does not mean that we should avoid the fight. In fact, we should do whatever we can to break down stereotypes and our own bias. For me this starts with trying to understand my own bias and catch myself whenever I can to learn to not prejudge based on my own bias. Knowledge is power as they say. This is vital for us as educators so we do not prejudge students. Everyone should get an equal starting ground especially in the classroom.