DEI STATEMENT

 

From the philosophy of bell hooks, I strongly believe education is “the practice of freedom,” where our work is not simply to “share information, but to share in the intellectual and spiritual growth of our students” (hooks, 1994, p. 13). Of utmost importance, I aim to intentionally create an environment where students freely share ideas and learn in a manner that respects diverse viewpoints and empowers those most marginalized to succeed. In my courses, I encourage various political and cultural perspectives and robust and relatable course dialogues to improve the overall learning experience for all students. I outline ethical standards in my course for course (and peer) engagement as well as the rules of netiquette. These standards are reinforced and required for discussion-related activities. To avoid groupthink, students are often encouraged (or required) to respond to peers that share different perspectives or with whom the student might disagree. Students are then required to uphold these standards of engagement to practice ethical critical discourse with their peers.
 

I am committed to creating an equitable learning space where all students, particularly those from underrepresented or marginalized groups, can thrive. In addition to the ethical standards outlined and reinforced, I aim to design my courses to include both traditional and non-traditional learning activities to stimulate different skills and strengths among my students. This has been largely effective in my courses and appears to help foster creativity and engagement with the course material. I recognize that students hold various learning preferences, and the different material offers opportunities for those with various strengths. This benefits all students, but especially those for example who are neurodivergent or who hold invisible cognitive or physical disabilities. I firmly believe there is no single best approach to teaching and I want to ensure my classroom reflects the diverse needs of my students.
 

In my current courses, students are encouraged to wear their “public administration hat” to analyze and critically assess ethical issues. In doing this, I encourage students to analyze problems as they normally would, then again through a PA perspective while considering various ethical approaches and outcomes in both their individual and group activities. As a part of my teaching philosophy, I believe that a growth-oriented classroom is one where students feel safe to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. This philosophy is incorporated into both individual and group activities to ensure that diverse viewpoints and values can be acknowledged and incorporated in course discussions. This includes considering the needs of students with disabilities, those who are neurodivergent, and those from diverse cultural backgrounds. My ultimate aim in shaping a growth-oriented learning environment is to, in large part, meet students where they are, but also to ensure inclusivity for all involved in the learning process.
 

 I recognize that no two students are ever the same, and certain students may hold more barriers to learning and success than others. Intentionally, my teaching philosophy is a divergence from traditional pedagogical beliefs that being ‘correct’ is ‘good’ and that an ability to answer correctly correlates with one’s abilities to learn and grow. In practice, I aim to focus much of my ‘grading’ on feedback, rather than on punitive grading. An essential component of the growth mindset is the need to train the mind that ‘incorrect’ is not ‘wrong.’ Rather, to train the student that ‘incorrect’ is an indicator that more is left to learn. I do strive to incentivize risk-taking in my courses by setting high expectations for student assignments, and providing extensive feedback for improvement. As I expect my students to do introspective work and to challenge their own beliefs, I also incentivize dissent in my classroom by providing extra credit for students who provide instructor feedback on both mid-semester and end-of-semester course evaluations.  I am continually reflecting on my teaching practices and seeking feedback from my students to ensure that I am meeting their needs. I am personally and professionally committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in and outside of the classroom. 
 

To further support DEI in my courses, I make a top priority to ensure course readings and lecture material (especially in online settings) meet a reasonable accessibility score in Canvas. At minimal, all online reading material are either scannable or, when scannable documents are unavailable, I ensure that the document contains accessible metadata. For lecture materials and videos (online), transcripts are always provided, typically using university-recommended tools (i.e., Kaltura). Additionally, lecture notes are made available in each module to aid the notetaking process. For in-person courses, I would provide extra credit opportunities for students who volunteer to be note-takers. Additionally, while I understand the strengths of closed-note exams to assess how well students are able to retain information, it is much more important for my course design to assess how well students understand the material. While understanding the risks associated with open-note quizzes and exams, I do believe these formats have been effective, largely as effort is taken to ensure that quiz and exam questions are tailored to assess what students understand from the course (rather than to assess how well they memorize). Additionally, all quizzes and tests in my courses are timed. Though, accommodations are provided for time extensions as outlined by the student’s accommodation letters. In all cases, students who require additional support are always encouraged to reach out to discuss. Finally, my courses are designed to cater to student interest when possible. While I understand that students will be interested in various aspects of the course, I ensure that students are able to select paper topics or to discuss course concepts that are of interest to them. In all cases, I ensure that students feel comfortable expressing their own ideas and beliefs by shaping course expectations early on–particularly, by encouraging students to learn new viewpoints and to be understanding of others who share different ideas and beliefs. To bridge mindset research with hooks’ philosophy to free education, my role as instructor is not to impress my ideas on my students, but to allow students the opportunity to connect with material and ideas that resonate best with them, and to ensure that student voices are heard and acknowledged when possible and appropriate. In all cases, I will always challenge my students to grow and achieve.