Step Into Your Students Shoes | FNWI
Inclusive Teaching
A learning trajectory for lecturers on inclusive teaching.
Are you curious about how you can create a more inclusive learning environment for all of your students? Are you willing to explore your own mindset and challenge any biases or blind spots you may have? And do you want to explore inclusive teaching practices to better equip your students with the competencies they need to thrive in an increasingly complex and interconnected society? If so, we invite you to join our learning trajectory on inclusive teaching for lecturers.
The trajectory will span over a semester, requiring a total of approximately 31 hours (22,5 contacthours + 8,5 preparation time). We highly recommend discussing the importance of starting this trajectory with your institute’s manager, programme director, or supervisor to get the support in following this trajectory. Additionally, we encourage you to participate with one or two colleagues from the same programme.
Through interactive workshops and discussions, you will gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to foster a learning environment that values diversity, promotes equity and creates a sense of belonging for all students. We encourage an open and curious attitude towards ourselves and each other, and we believe that together, we can create a community where everyone feels valued and supported.
As you will be examining the design of your course in terms of its learning goals, activities, materials, assessment, and the role of the teacher, it is essential that you have a good understanding of educational design concepts. This is why completion of a BKO certificate is required for this BKO+ trajectory.
Together or with a fellow lecturer
While individual sign-ups are welcome, we strongly encourage you to consider joining the trajectory with fellow lecturers who share your course(s) or participate in the same programme, as we believe that collaborative learning and teamwork are crucial elements of creating an inclusive and supportive teaching environment.
Sign up
Join us on our journey towards inclusive teaching by signing up today. Let’s work together to create a learning environment where all students have an equal opportunity to learn and thrive.
Questions? Please send a mail to tlc-training-science@uva.nl.
Kick-Off: Creating a Community of Inclusive Educators
As we begin our trajectory on inclusive teaching, our first step will be a kick-off meeting. During this session, we will get to know each other, discuss our expectations, and establish personal learning goals.
More information
- Trainer: Brit Giesbertz
- Fri 16 February 11:00-13:00
- 2 hour session
1) What are your unconscious biases?
Before we can step into someone else’s shoes, it’s important to recognize our own position and perspective. Our first training session, provided by ‘No Labels’, will explore how bias operates and offer strategies to address it. Through this course, you’ll develop the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to identify and challenge your biases and blind spots.
More information
- Trainer: NoLabels
- 1 workshop of 4 hours
- Mon 26 February, 13:00-17:00
- 30 min preparation
2) What role do you play as a lecturer?
In the second part of our trajectory, we’ll delve deeper into your perspective as a lecturer and the critical role we can play in creating and maintaining an inclusive learning environment in our classes. We’ll examine various concepts related to Inclusive Teaching, such as diversity, equity, inclusivity, intersectionality, and micro-aggressions. We’ll explore teaching practices that support an inclusive learning environment, and practice with interventions that can be used in the classroom to promote and safeguard inclusivity.
More information
- Trainer: Brit Giesbertz
- 2 workshops of 3 hours each
- Wed 6 March 10:00-13:00
- Wed 20 March 10:00-13:00
- 1 hour preparation per workshop
3) How inclusive is your course?
After gaining experience from the first two parts of this trajectory, in this third part, we invite you to reflect on the diversity and inclusivity of one of your courses. Recognizing the importance of the student’s perspective and experience in creating an inclusive environment, you will work together with your students to fill in a reflection tool. Using the insights gained from this tool and with inspiration from inclusive pedagogies (e.g. Universal Design for learning, International classroom, VU Mixed classroom model), you will redesign parts of your course to promote inclusivity.
More information
- Trainer: Brit Giesbertz
- 3 workshops of 3 hours
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Fri 12 April 10:00-13:00
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Thu 25 April 10:00-13:00
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Fri 31 May 13:00-17:00
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- 2 hours preparation per workshop
- 1 coaching session of 1,5 hour
Given that inclusivity involves various aspects of human identity and experiences, we encourage you to select a specific area to concentrate on for your course redesign (e.g. making study materials more accessible, promoting decolonization, ensuring gender equality, improving intercultural communication). Finally, we will conclude the trajectory with an open session where you can share your practices and experiences, which will also serve as the launch for a new group of lecturers starting the same trajectory.
To keep in mind
Inclusive teaching is an ongoing journey that is never truly complete. The aim of this trajectory is to cultivate an open and growth-oriented mindset that inspires continued curiosity and critical self-reflection towards both yourself and others, even after the trajectory has ended.
What do you need to join?
As you will be examining the design of your course in terms of its learning goals, activities, materials, assessment, and the role of the teacher, it is essential that you have a good understanding of educational design concepts. This is why completion of a BKO certificate is required for this BKO+ trajectory.
The trajectory will span over a semester, requiring a total of approximately 31 hours (22,5 contacthours + 8,5 preparation time) of commitment. We highly recommend discussing the importance of starting this trajectory with your institute’s manager, programme director, or supervisor to get the support in following this trajectory. Additionally, we encourage you to participate with one or two colleagues from the same programme.
There is a distinction between courses that cover diversity and inclusion topics as part of their content and those that do not. Nonetheless, an inclusive learning environment is crucial for both types of courses. Hence, we welcome lecturers from all courses to participate in the trajectory. If you are not the course coordinator, we suggest that you discuss your participation with them to ensure that your redesign proposals are considered.