Culture
Set and communicate a list of general classroom guidelines to students, including participation, how to engage with one another, cellphone and device policy, talking during lectures, etc. (Weimer, 2013).
Impact: Provides consistency and order for students to understand instructor expectations and develop a sense of predictability. Presenting guidelines acknowledges the uncertain and uncomfortable nature of group learning by making explicit the values and expectations of the learning environment and not assuming that all students arrive with the same understanding of the classroom and its norms.
Establish how students demonstrate knowledge to one another, including whether students will be collaborative or competitive in the classroom.
Impact: Allows students to understand their relationship with their peers. Being clear about how students will share their understandings and insights helps students be conscious of how they interact with, listen to, and respond to the contributions of their peers. Clarity around this aspect of the learning environment can help avoid unnecessary pressure and stress for some students, leading to anxiety and a fear of failure that hinders their ability to learn and participate.
Define what place disagreement has in the classroom, including if it is welcome and how the instructor will handle it.
Impact: Raises consciousness about how we perceive and understand others’ opinions and perspectives. Acknowledging the reality of disagreement in the classroom demonstrates to students that instructors will notice and handle these moments. Vocalizing this aspect of an instructor’s approach helps students understand the how and why of an instructor’s teaching methods and anticipate what may happen when a disagreement arises.
Decide how to address and frame student responses, including viewing responses as “right” or “wrong” and redirecting misinformation (Weimer, 2013).
Impact: Prepares instructors to give feedback to students in a constructive manner. Addressing and framing responses helps to enhance critical thinking skills by encouraging students to reflect on their responses and consider alternative perspectives. By promoting a growth mindset, students learn that making mistakes is a part of the learning process. Normalizing the idea of humility as part of learning helps ease students’ worries about being embarrassed or ridiculed in the classroom.
Consider the tone of the course and each class, including whether it is exploratory, instructive, reflective, formal, casual, experimental, etc.
Impact: Indicates how an instructor will lead the classroom, contributing to students’ sense of belonging and autonomy they will experience in the space. A course and class’s tone can indicate to students an instructor’s level of flexibility, approachability, and willingness to make accommodations for students with specific circumstances.
Determine class breaks, including length of time, points in class, and how many in a single class.
Impact: Allows students to have sufficient time to rest, recharge, and engage in self-care activities, which promotes their overall well-being and enhances their ability to focus and participate actively in the learning process. Considering the point in class when scheduling breaks ensures that students have opportunities to take breaks at strategic moments, such as after a mentally demanding task or before transitioning to a new topic.
Develop strategies to help you approach and address disruptions and rowdiness, including identifying actions and behaviour.
Impact: Adopts proactive strategies to prepare for student disruptions and rowdiness, helping instructors avoid reactive or avoidant classroom management techniques that can negatively impact students’ sense of safety and belonging. Considering what approach to take can help instructors normalize these moments. Particularly for disabled or neurodivergent students in the classroom to express themselves in ways that suit their needs, an instructor’s strategies contribute to a positive learning environment where students can trust instructors to lead.
Use inclusive language and affirm current terminology within the course discipline (Davis, 2009).
Impact: Helps foster a sense of belonging and acceptance among students. Employing outdated language from textbooks, research, or the field of study fails to uphold the historical context or mitigate its influence or meaning. Exclusionary language in the classroom imparts the notion that it is also acceptable for students. Staying up-to-date with inclusive terminology within a discipline helps to avoid marginalizing or excluding students based on their gender, race, country of origin, or other identities. This allows instructors to use accurate and relevant terminology that reflects the current understanding of the subject matter.
Example: Use inclusive language and affirm current terminology within the course discipline
In an Economics lecture on the criminalization of poverty, an instructor might deploy the term “unhoused person” to refer to people who are living without permanent or stable housing and affirm this term as a way of preserving human dignity while also highlighting the social responsibility and systemic failures that underpin the issue (Finley, 2015).
Explanation
While the evolution of terminology can be rapid, the language used in the classroom can make a difference to students. Language simultaneously transforms mindsets and is the foundation on which learning is built and expressed. Adopting more inclusive terminology helps normalize considerations of issues like gender, ability, and class. In the example above, the use of updated terminology leads to the humanity of the people are the center of the course content. Using current language also helps frame contemporary frameworks on a topic, in this case, the systemic rather than individual roots of poverty, and role model inclusive terminology for students.
References
Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for Teaching (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Finley, S. (2015). Embodied homelessness: The pros/thesis of art research. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(6), 504–509.
Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
