Bridging Perspectives How policy makers and classroom instructors can collaborate for a more equitable and inclusive classroom

Abstract

The Journal for Research and Practice in College Teaching put out a call for college classroom instructors to share personal narratives of how they implemented the call to create equity and inclusion in the classroom. Thirty-six instructors answered the call from across the United States and Canada. In these very personal narratives, instructors discussed their strong desire to support students in their courses and connect with them to create a supportive classroom community. In every case, the instructor expended significant effort to adapt the course content, structure, and practice to embrace student perspectives, individual skills, and individual experiences. This focus on student belonging and agency seems to be at the core of instructors’ realization of equity and inclusion at the classroom’s personal level. The instructors who discuss their choices in this issue narrate their personal progression through these steps, describing their decisions to implement interventions. Policymakers need to support the people in the classroom with resources and information but also with the translation of 10,000 foot ideas into ground-level applications. Policymakers can also explain how the small applications fit into the larger view of systemic approaches to equity and inclusion. In turn, classroom instructors can show policymakers the real-life challenges of the students in the classroom.