At this point in 2022, if you’ve been paying any kind of attention to the popular discourse around race in America, you’ll have heard the sentiment that ‘it is not enough to not be racist. We must also be anti-racist.’ While it may be a newish concept in the zeitgeist at large, anti-racism has been Read More…
Category: Diversity in the Classroom
Reshape your classroom for inclusion
Dr. April Baker-Bell’s Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy uses a methodical and brilliant rhetorical analysis to address the inequalities within the classroom. Dr. Baker-Bell’s chapters “Black language is good on any MLK Boulevard” & “What’s Anti-Blackness Got to Do Wit It?” center around the themes of “white mainstream English” deprives students of Read More…
Radical Femininity in the Classroom: Pushing Back Against Dominant Narratives
These days, being a radical feminist carries its own baggage, above and beyond the ancient canard of being “man haters.” Who wants to be associated with TERFs and their ilk, after all? – who, in the opinion of this radical feminist, at any rate, have utterly abandoned the principles of radical feminism and who have Read More…
Don’t Forget the Student’s Mother Tongue
All people from all walks of life, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs should have access to good education. Universities and colleges often claim to celebrate differences and invite everyone in. But what do instructors do when the very thing that universities claim to celebrate, is the very thing keeping students from fully engaging in the Read More…
Diverse Voices in Our Classrooms
With such diverse students, we should be considering the inclusion of diversity in our curriculum. In Jessica Edwards’ chapter on Inclusive Practices in the Technical Communication Classroom, she analyzes three of Nelson Laird’s nine-category approach to a diverse classroom: foundational perspectives, content, and pedagogy. For the purpose of this blog post, I would like to Read More…
Gatekeeping Diversity
Diversity is a pretty word. A band-aid word. A word meant to be helpful, hopeful in the face of words like ‘intolerance’ or ‘bigotry.’ It is also, unfortunately, a word that rings hollow to many educators entangled in an endless web of guidelines, permissions, and considerations. This is not to say, however, that inclusive pedagogy Read More…
One Classroom – So Many Types of English
In today’s world, English is considered a Global Language, meaning it’s the most widely spoken language in the world (cool, I know! ). But that leaves us, English instructors, with a little problem: what type of English exactly is the correct one? And how does that come to play in our classrooms? Yes, I Read More…
The Pedagogy of Plain Language
Plain language functions in two ways in the communications classroom: first, it is incumbent upon the instructor to use plain language while instructing students; second, that same instructor must teach their students the use of plain language.
Teaching Technical and Professional Communication Through Interstitial Design
By Amanda Beres The field of technical and professional communication is changing to include a focus on social justice issues. More interconnected, wide, and vast, employers are looking for people who can think on a global scale. Now more than ever, technical and professional communication focuses on user experience. In fact, it almost is a Read More…
How Does Student Feedback Influence Class Participation?
As an instructor, walking into a classroom full of students who are eager to participate is always the goal, however, it is not always achieved. While we understand that, in some circumstances, coaxing participation from our students may often be out of our hands, as rainy days, early morning classes, or the occasional off day Read More…