Inclusive Practices Portfolio S23 | Anna Daily

Faculty & Professional Learning Community
Designing for Student Success: Building Inclusive Practices by Interrogating Power and Privilege

You CAN change the various headings if you think different framing would better fit your project.

Keep Them Coming Back:

Preparation, Intervention, and Community Maintenance for Conversations About Race

Talking about race with students can be challenging even for the most seasoned instructors. And yet, building an inclusive classroom and having an anti-racist campus requires that faculty guide students through topics related to race and navigating their own positionality in the classroom. The goal of this project is to identify preparation, intervention, and long-term classroom community maintenance strategies to prepare students to talk about race and return to the conversation after things get tough. This strategies were prepared for upper-level social science classes capped at 35 enrolled students , but are adaptable to many other subjects areas.

A Case Study

My case study is likely a familiar story for many instructors. Imagine two students, different in almost every way, come to the same class to learn about the history of American thought. What is at first a peaceful and collaborative learning relationship, quickly turns sour when one student poses a hypothetical question about the possible "benefits" of extending the practice of slavery in the U.S. The other student, who is Black, expresses anger, frustration, and hurt at this line of questioning. As instructor, you intervene to educate the student who posed the hypothetical, educating them about how there are no truly benign hypotheticals because we are always talking about people. You allow students a chance to talk, to take a break to calm down, and connect with them again after class to offer learning and support. Things initially seem to have calmed, but the students struggle to build trust for the remainder of the semester and the tension between them is palpable. 

The Role of Equity

Equity is a value that seeks to correct historical systemic oppression, including marginalization, underrepresentation, exploitation, and exclusion based on identity, including race, gender, class, and disability. As instructors, we have a responsibility to create equitable conditions in our classes and broader community. Racial diversity and equity practices enhance a learning experience and make the knowledge we value accessible to more students. Many of us are also in a unique position of privilege to experiment with equitable pedagogical methods that bring out the best in our students and our colleagues. By centering equity in our classes, we have the chance to create a more just and equitable world.

One way to center equity and create an anti-racist campus is to prepare ourselves and our students to talk about race not once, but again and again. Many students learn that race is too personal for polite conversation, too emotional for rational and effective discussion, or too sensitive to risk hurting others' feelings or one's own reputation. By practicing techniques to talk with students and to help them to to each other, we can move past the common impediments that students face and welcome them into learning about race and raced experiences. Once the conversation has been started, we also have to take steps to keep the conversation going. By acknowledging that difference and conflict are a part of the learning process and having strategies to prepare for and address it, the first moment of tension does not have to be the end of conversations about race. 

Preparation Practices

The goal of these prevention strategies was to prepare myself and my students with specific expectations and adaptable tools to talk about race and approach conversations in which difference becomes apparent. By having a common language and tools to address harm, offense, and misinformation students were all presented with the expectation that the responsibility to create an inclusive classroom is on everyone and there are ways for us to work together. We were able to clarify and correct common misunderstandings about racism, distinguish intention from effect, and practice talking about race by talking about the language we use in conversations on race.

1. Assign a common read introducing students to race and how to talk about it.

Assigned readings: 

Intervention Practices

Talking about race with students requires active listening and allowing learning to unfold. Sometimes tensions occur and students need us to intervene to correct misinformation or keep harm from occurring. At other times, students need space to educate themselves and each other. Gauging the temperature of the room and implementing proper intervention techniques takes practice and knowledge of the students themselves. The use of time–pause, returning to topics later, and having reflective space–was important for releasing myself and my students of the pressure to have the perfect response to a concerning comment or question.

1. Pause and reflect. In conversation, I have tried to separate my personal discomfort from the need to engage by referencing our classroom guidelines. When students adhered to the established guidelines of engagement, I paused before intervening to allow students to educate each other. Instead I might follow up after an exchange to clarify or validate student comments.

2. Practice calling in. I kept a few calling in phrases in my mind to use as needed. Students recognized this language as a signal that I was attempting to educate and address harm or misinformation. 

3. Be ready to introduce a pause or break. When things felt tense between students or that the conversation might cease being productive and veer into disruptive, I called for a break. A five minute pause to calm down or do some personal reflective writing gave students a chance to process their feelings before coming back together. 

4. Talk with students after-the-fact. At times, I wasn't sure I addressed a student comment successfully in the moment, so I would return to it later with a follow up email or visit to office hours. Giving myself space to reflect and be intentional with my response was helpful for maintaining my connection with a student and making my message clear. 

5. Offer and commit to self-regulation strategies. I gave all students several tools to self-regulate throughout the class.

• Each class included a 1 minute self-check in, in which students asked themselves, "how am I today?"  Am I in a place to talk about [X] topic?
• Content warnings allowed students to anticipate possible difficult or sensitive topics and prepare themselves emotionally for the conversation
• Periodic reminders of the classroom guidelines reinforced expectations for how to approach difficult conversations and a diversity of experiences with class topics
• Students were encouraged to take breaks from class when they found themselves needing a mental or emotional break by quietly excusing themselves and returning when ready. I did not penalize students who took a break during class. 

Assessment

Assessing the effectiveness of intervention and prevention may shift depending on the needs of the class and my relationship to them. Assessment of how effective preparation and intervention may shift over time and as I gain more experience in guiding through race and tough conversations. A multi-tiered approach to assessment will allow for the most complete picture of intervention effectiveness.

1. Broad view assessment of students:

• Rate, quality, and amount of participation on topics related to race throughout the semester, including beginning and end of semester comparisons.
• Take special note of dates where conflict or tense conversations related to race occur in the classroom and rate of recovery or change after the fact.

2. Self-assessment:

• Qualitative assessment of comfort, flexibility, and readiness for guiding conversations on race throughout the semester.
• Special assessment following a conflict or tense conversation in class, on Canvas, or during office hours. Questions to consider: Did I address a harm, misconception, piece of misinformation, callous attitude, or the source of tension as I understand it? How did I handle it? Was I able to connect with a student on this issue? Did I take a student's discomfort or concern seriously, while still directing them towards understanding?

3. Student assessment (anonymous):

• Beginning and end of semester student self-assessment of comfort and/or preparedness with talking about race, including familiarity with terms used to name racialized harms and experiences and apply them in conversation. For the end of the semester, ask students to identify key moments in the semester where we talked about race and how they learned from those experiences.
• Special assessment by students of how we handle conflict and conversations on race in the class following a conflict or tense conversation. Questions to consider including: How do you feel about how we handled this experience? What, if anything, could we do differently next time? What lessons do you take away from this experience? What other questions do you have about what happened? What concerns do you have that you would like us to address with the class?

Future Plans

Keeping the conversation about race going is something that I want to continue to improve for myself and share with other members of the campus community. The steps below are a part of how I will help tp create an inclusive campus and assist my colleagues in doing the same.

1. Host Loretta J. Ross Links to an external site. (Smith College) to lead "calling in" workshops and conversations for Sac State faculty, students, and staff

• I plan to reach out to the Center for Teaching and Learning, Division of Inclusive Excellence, and Department of Women's and Gender Studies to collaborate on facilitating this event

2. Research and learn more classroom management and equity practices

• Future readings:
  Talusan, Liza A. The Identity-Conscious Educator: Building Habits and Skills for a More Inclusive School. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press, 2022.

  Venet, Alex Shevrin. Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2021.

  Zacarian, Debbie, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes. Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence, and Chronic Stress. 1st edition. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: ASCD, 2017.
• Participate in future PLCs on equity-focused pedagogy

3. Co-facilitate a PLC on difficult conversations and classroom management

• Identify potential co-facilitators invested in equity-focused pedagogy
• Document common challenges and barriers to anti-racist pedagogies and discussions of race in the classroom
• Collect research on classroom management strategies related to instructor identities

Reflection: Challenges and Lessons Learned

1. Embracing productive conflict. This project was challenging for me personally, but also important because it challenged me to deepen my commitments to practicing inclusive pedagogies which involved letting go of total control over conversations about race. One of the key lessons I learned from this experience is that it is not enough to start the conversation about race with students and hope for the best, we must be prepared to do regular work to keep ourselves and our students in the conversation. Just as all learning requires that students have the space to fail and try again, the same applies with talking about race. Too often, I think instructors approach these conversations (and I have been guilty of this myself) thinking that if we just lay down the rules of respect, care, and sensitivity enough that conflict can be avoided and harmony can be achieved. But this is not possible and in many cases, not desirable because it silences students who feel that they do not understand the rules and can reinscribe the misguided notion that race is too sensitive, too emotional, or too fraught. By re-focusing to teaching students how to talk about race, address offense, clarify misinformation, and re-center human experience I allowed my students to come to the conversation more freely with an eye toward learning, instead of performing. 

2. Staying strong while swimming against the tide. The second biggest challenge I had and I anticipate having in the future is that of morale. While talking about my experiences with the PLC and applying its lessons to my classes, I found that my approach was often met with confusion and sometimes hostility from colleagues. Not everyone shared the same interests or openness in inclusive pedagogies as I do and I found it hard to get perspective on what I was struggling with while also feeling as though I must defend my commitments. At times, this was isolating and de-moralizing. I found ways through it by becoming more careful about when I am willing to engage in conversations about pedagogy and with whom, seeking out and fiercely protecting ties to a community of educators similarly invested in equity work, and re-framing the hostility I experienced to one of fear and anticipation. 

This last piece was especially important for me. Instead of seeing myself as actively working against colleagues different from myself, I started to ask, 'what if the intense reactions I'm experiencing are because my colleagues are tired, frustrated, lost, and afraid of getting race wrong? What if they feel overburdened by having to learn (and potentially fail at) helping their students in another way?' I may never know the answer to these questions, but it inspired me to connect with my own fears and insecurities about race in the classroom and how I might find ways to combat these things in myself and share it with others who may experience similar feelings. Thinking more about how to use pauses, make myself a part of the learning practice, and releasing myself from the need to be perfect or for class to be conflict-free helped me to encourage asking tough questions and engaging deeper with topics on race.

In the years to come, I'll be looking to continue to bring together the values of equity-focused pedagogies with practical and collaborative practices and to share them with the wider Sac State community. 

Biography

Faculty Biography

	Anna Daily is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. She teaches and researches in the areas of identity politics, including gender, race, disability, and ideology. She is passionate about inclusive pedagogies, including trauma-informed teaching, universal design, and feminist teaching strategies.

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