Excellence in the 21 st Century Classroom: Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice 9 th Annual Niagara University International Conference on Teaching and Learning Dr. Mathew L. Ouellett, University of Massachusetts Amherst 1Niagara University, January 2010

Defining our terms… What is your operative definition of “diversity?” Social diversity and/or social justice? How is “diversity” addressed (or not) within your discipline? 2Niagara University, January 2010

Social Justice Efforts to promote equity and eradicate the manifestations of social oppression (e.g. racism, sexism, gender oppression, heterosexism, ageism, classism, religious oppression, ethnocentrism, ableism, nationalism, and others ?). 3Niagara University, January 2010

Inclusion The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the co- curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase one’s awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions. ( AAC&U – Inclusive Excellence) 4Niagara University, January 2010

One example… My operative definition of Diversity is multi-tiered in that I understand it to have individual as well as social group parameters. Diversity: the focus and concern for the full inclusion of the members of all social identity groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability, as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations) and the respect of individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experiences) In organizations, I’d go on to address the mission, values, policies, operational practices, behaviors and culture of the campus and the community it resides in. 5Niagara University, January 2010

Social Identity Model Gender Ethnicity Race Sexual Orientation Ability Religion Age Class Adapted from Adams, et al. (2005). Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice. Routledge Border identities Intersectionality Disadvantaged by association 6Niagara Univeristy, January 2010

3 Domains of Learning Cognitive Affective Kinesthetic 7Niagara University, January 2010

Where I’m from… Respond to the following four sentence stems; I am from (familiar physical items – sights, sounds, smells, feels, geography) I am from (familiar foods) I am from (familiar sayings) I am from (familiar people) 8Niagara Univeristy, January 2010

The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom. Bell hooks, Niagara University, January 2010