Commitment to Diversity
As an instructor teaching writing and communication, I make it a priority to value and promote diverse voices in the courses I teach. This process begins with my dedication to feminist teaching practices. When I teach, I make it clear to my students that their contributions, experiences, and voices shape the course as much as my facilitation does. To establish this value in our course, I often ask students to share a personal narrative; sometimes they share formally in an essay or presentation and sometimes informally with group discussion or conferences. I also invite students to contribute feedback about their expectations, concerns, and goals for the course early and often during the term formally through institutional evaluations and informally every couple weeks through anonymously submitted index cards or one-on-one conferences. While these practices may sound simple, repeatedly asking students to contribute to our day-to-day course design as well as listen to and collaborate with each other goes a long way in establishing communities of respect and empathy.
This attention to establishing community was a major priority when I taught a recent section of Intermediate Writing. I designed the course and selected materials with the goal of bringing in the diverse voices of writers and activists like Roxane Gay, Janet Mock, and Diane Guerrero. In addition to reading and listening to these voices however, it was important that students saw value in their own narratives and practiced active, empathetic listening and discussion with their colleagues. That semester we read about, discussed, and responded to difficult and timely issues like immigration and DACA repeal, police brutality, and #metoo/#timesup. Every student in our course was personally impacted by at least one of these issues. The course gave us space to discuss our unique perspectives and points of view even when those discussions became uncomfortable and difficult. One day we began class with a prompt on the whiteboard: “Why is it so hard to talk about race?” Students filled an entire wall with admissions of fear and discomfort but also fatigue and apathy. Starting from this place of mutual vulnerability where students of color shared experiences of profiling at the airport after 9/11 and epithets yelled from passing cars on campus and white students shared being taught not to talk about race led to productive conversations in the following weeks. Students spent as much time listening and reflecting in these discussions as they did speaking. At the end of the semester students shared that the course was difficult and uncomfortable at times but they learned more about their colleagues and the role of listening to communicate than any other course. In their final projects, students synthesized their narratives with research on topics that were meaningful to them. These projects demonstrated a great sense of reflexivity where students expertly balanced the pathos of personal experiences and primary sources with the typically favored logos and ethos of secondary research.
Helping students see the value of their personal experiences is likewise vital in English Language Learning (ELL) courses I teach. In a summer section of Intermediate Communication we—myself and students from three different continents—spent time learning about each other and the paths that brought us to our rural Northwest Ohio community. While instructors typically ask students to write and give presentations in this course, I modified these projects by asking students to share narratives and experiences of personal importance. We developed these projects through roundtable discussions we sometimes held outside in a campus gazebo or in a lounge in the building we met in about the challenges of studying in the U.S.: language barriers, culture shock, homesickness, anxiety and depression, and discrimination from faculty, students, and community members. In their final projects, students crafted presentations dedicated to supporting future ELL students professionally and personally in and beyond the institution. These proposals offered support for future students but also gave students in our course a community to study with, break fasts with, and celebrate successes with. Through the generosity of students offering their stories which often made them vulnerable, I learned a great deal about ways I can better support international students and ELL students in my courses across the institution. Acknowledging the unique challenges these students face when leaving their homes, families, and support systems while often raising families of their own and working has encouraged me to deepen my dedication to empathy and flexibility as a teacher.
I also implement this practice of asking students about their support needs in online courses where students are often working adults with families or high schoolers in Ohio’s College Credit Plus program. In online environments where students can be rendered invisible and their backgrounds and experiences hidden, I prioritize ways for students to share their stories with colleagues in multiple mediums including text, audio, and video. They are often surprised to learn their colleagues are joining the discussion from across the country or—as is the case of active duty military students—the world, often after a full day of work or school. This community building is essential to my online course design to reflect Principle 11 of A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction and because it is easy to forget the humanity of the people we communicate with online. Taking these steps helps me acknowledge the diversity of my students but also brings it to the forefront of their minds.
As I continue to grow as an instructor, I adapt and evolve these practices based on my experiences, conversations with colleagues and students, and professional development. My current priorities are to dedicate more time to access and disability, both in face-to-face and online courses. It is important that my courses do not just adapt to students’ accessibility needs but anticipate and address them during my design process. I am likewise committed to Safe Zone training and learning more about efforts across courses, departments, and institutions to create more welcoming learning environment for all students I have the privilege to teach and mentor.
