Developing culturally-affirming and empowering classrooms
As you start your semester and strive to develop culturally-affirming and empowering classrooms and student environments in the College of Education, here are a few resources below that can help. Whether you are faculty or staff, you can reach out to the College of Education’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and
associate dean Anneliese Singh
at anytime during the semester to consult about DEI content, request a speaker on a DEI topic, brainstorm about potential DEI challenges and power dynamics in the classroom, and/or celebrate your successes with integrating DEI topics into your overall course and program curriculum!
Know religious and spiritual holidays and be supportive of atheist and agnostic students in these discussions: President Morehead typically sends out a memo about the importance of supporting students as they recognize religious and spiritual holidays during the semester. Take a few minutes at the beginning of the semester to inquire what holidays are important to your students during the semester, while also affirming students who are atheist and agnostic students as well, so they feel included in class discussions. Here is a good interfaith calendar.
Check in to see what names and pronouns students use: Start your classes off in an affirming way by asking students to share the names and pronouns they would like you to use when you refer to them. Some folks have nicknames and some folks identify as transgender or nonbinary. You can check out these resources to learn more:
Practice pronouncing student names correctly: Depending on where we grew up, we may be more or less familiar with pronouncing certain types of names. Check out this article to see why it can be important for staff and faculty to get this right for building strong relationships with students and classrooms that support students from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Get to know a little more about your students: Integrate multicultural icebreakers into the beginning of your classes to learn a little more about the identities and experiences they have related to privilege, oppression, power, etc. It’s an opportunity to generate class explorations of race/ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, social class, disability, immigration, and more! Here are a few resources:
Connect with other faculty and staff to explore your own evolving intersections of privilege and oppression: Who we are in terms of our social identities of privilege and oppression influences how we interact with students inside and outside of the classroom. We do our best work when we continue to explore the unique intersections of our identities and experiences that are often evolving and intersecting. There are many ways in the College to have these discussions. Join us in the DEI Office at our fall and spring DEI speaker series and DEI workshops to learn with your colleagues. Participate in our Exploring White Privilege groups and Transgender-Affirming Practices Committee. Identify your personal DEI learning goal for the semester and take the next step to creating more affirming class environments.
Be ready to refer students to counseling if needed: The semester can be stressful for all students. Put the UGA Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) number in your phone in case you need to refer a student for some help. First-generation students, students of color, immigrant students, LGBTQ+, students struggling with financial resources, and others with historically marginalized identities and experiences can be carrying additional burdens (e.g., racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ bias) on top of being a student in your class. You can find the information for CAPS here.