Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background

Inclusive teaching practices have become essential to support student success in our diverse college classrooms. Given the variations in how inclusivity is translated into teaching behavior, it is important for us to examine how our students define and perceive inclusivity.

Objective

The main goal of this qualitative study is to define and characterize inclusive classroom communities and inclusive pedagogy practices through the voices of current college students.

Method

Participants included 365 undergraduate students from a public and a private university. Students responded to open-ended questions about inclusive teaching practices, characteristics of an inclusive classroom, inclusive teaching behaviors, and inclusive behaviors of classmates.

Results

Participants highlighted that inclusive teaching impacts all students while noting that teaching practice may differentially impact specific student populations, including students with disabilities and students of color. Students also identified specific instructor and classmate characteristics and behaviors that contribute to an inclusive (or non-inclusive) classroom community.

Conclusion

This study highlights students’ views on what characterizes inclusive teaching. Participants underscored the importance of respectful and welcoming environments both from faculty and peers.

Teaching Implications

Findings offer practical implications for instructors as they create and support an inclusive classroom, particularly as it pertains to teacher and student characteristics and behaviors.

Keywords

higher education inclusion diversity pedagogy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychological Association, APA Board of Educational Affairs Working Group to Revise the APA Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology. (2023). Principles for quality undergraduate education in psychology. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/principles-qualityundergraduate-education-psychology.pdf

Arday

Zoe Belluigi

Thomas

(2021). Attempting to break the chain: Reimaging inclusive pedagogy and decolonising the curriculum within the academy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(3), 298–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1773257

Brooks

Gardner

Chen

(2018). How gender cues in educational video impact participation and retention. Proceedings of the 13th international conference of the learning sciences (pp. 1835–1842).

Carballo

Cotán

Spinola-Elias

(2021). An inclusive pedagogy in arts and humanities university classrooms: What faculty members do. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 20(1), 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022219884281

Cash

C. M.

Cox

T. D.

Hahs-Vaughn

D. L.

(2021). Distance educators’ attitudes and actions towards inclusive teaching practices. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(2), 15–42. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v21i2.27949

Cotán

Aguirre

Morgado

Melero

(2021). Methodological strategies of faculty members: Moving toward inclusive pedagogy in higher education. Sustainability, 13(6), 3031. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063031

Danowitz

M. A.

Tuitt

(2011). Enacting inclusivity through engaged pedagogy: A higher education perspective. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(1), 40–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2011.539474

Espinosa

L. L.

Turk

J. M.

Taylor

Chessman

H. M.

(2019). Race and ethnicity in higher education: A status report. American Council on Education. https://1xfsu31b52d33idlp13twtos-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Race-and-Ethnicity-in-Higher-Education.pdf

Florian

Black-Hawkins

(2011). Exploring inclusive pedagogy. British Educational Research Journal, 37(5), 813–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2010.501096

10.

Fosnot

C. T.

(1989). Enquiring teachers, enquiring learners: A constructivist approach for teaching. Teachers College Press.

11.

Fuentes

M. A.

Zelaya

D. G.

Madsen

J. W.

(2021). Rethinking the course syllabus: Considerations for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959979

12.

Goldwasser

M. M.

Hubbard

M. E.

(2019). Creating and maintaining inclusive classrooms. Forum on Public Policy Online, 2019(1). Oxford Round Table, Urbana, IL. ERIC Number: EJ1245879. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1245879

13.

Göransson

Nilholm

(2014). Conceptual diversities and empirical shortcomings – A critical analysis of research on inclusive education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29(3), 265–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2014.933545

14.

Grier-Reed

Williams-Wengerd

(2018). Integrating universal design, culturally sustaining practices, and constructivism to advance inclusive pedagogy in the undergraduate classroom. Education Sciences, 8(4), 167. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040167

15.

Griful-Freixenet

Struyven

Verstichele

Andries

(2017). Higher education students with disabilities speaking out: Perceived barriers and opportunities of the universal design for learning framework. Disability & Society, 32(10), 1627–1649. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1365695

16.

Gurin

Dey

Hurtado

Gurin

(2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 330–367. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051

17.

Han

Kiatkawsin

Kim

Hong

J. H.

(2018). Physical classroom environment and student satisfaction with courses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(1), 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1299855

18.

Hockings

(2010). Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: A synthesis of research. Higher Education Academy.

19.

Howansky

Maimon

Sanchez

(2022). Identity safety cues predict instructor impressions, belonging, and absences in the psychology classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 49(3), 212–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/009862832199036

20.

Hussain

Jones

J. M.

(2021). Discrimination, diversity, and sense of belonging: Experiences of students of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(1), 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000117

21.

Kizilcec

R. F.

Saltarelli

A. J.

(2019). Psychologically inclusive design: Cues impact women's participation in STEM education. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1–10).

22.

Krischler

Powell

J. J.

Pit-Ten Cate

I. M.

(2019). What is meant by inclusion? On the effects of different definitions on attitudes toward inclusive education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 34(5), 632–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2019.1580837

23.

Linder

Harris

J. C.

Allen

E. L.

Hubain

(2015). Building inclusive pedagogy: Recommendations from a national study of students of color in higher education and student affairs graduate programs. Equity & Excellence in Education, 48(2), 178–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2014.959270

24.

Lintott

Skitolsky

(2016). Inclusive pedagogy: Beyond simple content. Hypatia, 31(2), 447–459. https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12247

25.

Loreman

(2017). Pedagogy for inclusive education. In Oxford research encyclopedia of education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.148

26.

Maimon

M. R.

Howansky

Sanchez

D. T.

(2021). Fostering inclusivity: Exploring the impact of identity safety cues and instructor gender on students’ impressions and belonging. European Union Politics, 6(1), 83–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116505049609

27.

Moriarty

M. A.

(2007). Inclusive pedagogy: Teaching methodologies to reach diverse learners in science instruction. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40(3), 252–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680701434353

28.

Moriña

(2017). Inclusive education in higher education: Challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2016.1254964

29.

Oleson

K. C.

(2023). Promoting inclusive classroom dynamics in higher education: A research-based pedagogical guide for faculty. Taylor & Francis.

30.

Parmigiani

Benigno

Giusto

Silvaggio

Sperandio

(2021). E-inclusion: Online special education in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 30(1), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2020.1856714

31.

Paseka

Schwab

(2020). Parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education and their perceptions of inclusive teaching practices and resources. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 35(2), 254–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2019.1665232

32.

Potter

W. J.

Levine-Donnerstein

(1999). Rethinking validity and reliability in content analysis. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 27(2), 258–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909889909365539

33.

Quaye

S. J.

Harper

S. R.

(2007). Faculty accountability for culturally inclusive pedagogy and curricula. Liberal Education, 93(3), 32–39. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ775570

34.

Richmond

A. S.

Morgan

R. K.

Slattery

J. M.

Mitchell

N. G.

Cooper

A. G.

(2019). Project syllabus: An exploratory study of learner-centered syllabi. Teaching of Psychology, 46(1), 6–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628318816129

35.

Roberts

H. L.

(2021). Weight stigma at a university: A study of policy, media, and student experiences with implications for improving weight-inclusivity [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Missouri-Columbia.

36.

Sandoval-Lucero

(2014). Serving the developmental and learning needs of the 21st century diverse college student population: A review of literature. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 4(2), 47. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v4n2p47

37.

Sanger

C. S.

(2020). Inclusive pedagogy and universal design approaches for diverse learning environments. In C. S. Sanger & N. W. Gleason (Eds.), Diversity and inclusion in global higher education (pp. 31–71). Palgrave Macmillan.

38.

Shane-Simpson

Obeid

Prescher

(2022). Multimedia characteristics, student relationships, and teaching behaviors predict perceptions of an inclusive classroom across course delivery format. Teaching of Psychology, 51(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628322111762

39.

Tai

Ajjawi

Umarova

(2021). How do students experience inclusive assessment? A critical review of contemporary literature. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(9), 1936–1953. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.2011441

40.

Thomas

D. R.

(2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748

41.

Tienda

(2013). Diversity ≠ inclusion. Educational Researcher, 42(9), 467–475. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X13516164

42.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. UNESCO.

43.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2000). Education for all 2000 assessment: Global synthesis. UNESCO.

44.

Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Office of the Under Secretary , U.S. Department of Education . (2016). Advancing diversity and inclusion in higher education, key data highlights focusing on race and ethnicity and promising practices. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf

45.

Womack

A. M.

(2017). Teaching is accommodation: Universally designing composition classrooms and syllabi. College Composition and Communication, 68(3), 494–525. https://doi.org/10.58680/ccc201728964

46.

Zayac

R. M.

Poole

B. D.

Gray

Sargent

Paulk

Haynes

(2021). No disrespect: Student and faculty perceptions of the qualities of ineffective teachers. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959978

Using Student Narratives to Characterize Inclusive Pedagogy and Inclusive Classrooms in Higher Education

Abstract

Background

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusion

Teaching Implications

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References