# Educating for Equity and Inclusion ## Educating for Equity and Inclusion **As post-secondary classrooms become increasingly diverse, instructors must ensure that their practices work effectively for all students in the room.** In inclusive classrooms, students from all backgrounds feel welcomed and valued, particularly those students whose race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nationality, or perceived ability might have led them to feel excluded in other classrooms. In equitable classrooms, all students experience a curriculum that feels relevant and engaging to them, and students are able achieve their academic goals with support from their instructor. This call to create inclusive and equitable classrooms raises a number of questions. How can we build connections with students both at the beginning of and throughout a course? What restrictive hierarchies might exist in post-secondary classrooms, and what can be done to disrupt them? How can we invite all students into the classroom conversation? Which materials and activities invite all learners to share their knowledge and learn from their peers? In this module, we’ll get some answers to these questions as we examine pedagogical techniques that help students feel welcomed, valued, and supported. ![equity_banner_v01a](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/instructionalmoves/files/equity_banner_v01a.jpeg?itok=NiH_cNKs) ## Module Pathways The four pathways in this module highlight instructional moves that help educators create equitable and inclusive classrooms where all students succeed. Each of the pathways below lays out a series of pedagogical moves. By following the steps in each pathway, instructors can see how the different moves work together to bring equity and inclusivity to the forefront of any course. ![Icon: Pathway 1](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/instructionalmoves/files/icon_path1.png?itok=pczx8qQQ) [### Pathway 1: Establishing Inclusivity and Belonging ](/inclusivity-and-belonging)Build a brave and welcoming classroom community. ![Icon: Pathway 2](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/instructionalmoves/files/icon_path2.png?itok=f412Lt9z) [### Pathway 2: Disrupting Traditional Classroom Hierarchies ](/disrupting-hierarchies)Recognize and redress problematic imbalances. ![Icon: Pathway 3](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/instructionalmoves/files/icon_path3.png?itok=43YQRWm8) [### Pathway 3: Including More Student Voices in the Conversation ](/including-more-voices)Enrich the classroom discourse with more diverse perspectives. ![Icon: Pathway 4](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/instructionalmoves/files/icon_path4.png?itok=uffFFD5t) [### Pathway 4: Crafting Inclusive Activities and Resources ](/inclusive-activities)Support students with diverse experiences, knowledge, and skills ## [Read Our New IM Book](https://www.hepg.org/hep-home/books/instructional-moves-for-powerful-teaching-in-highe) In May, 2023, Harvard Education Press published *Instructional Moves for Powerful Teaching in Higher Education*. Supplementing IM website content with additional interviews and insights, this book -- [reviewed here in *Teachers College Record*](https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/TCZ/Book%20Reviews/2024%20Book%20Reviews/April/Instructional%20Moves%20for%20Powerful%20Teaching%20in%20Higher%20Education-1713206777.pdf) *--* contains a toolkit of strategies to cultivate safe, inclusive learning spaces that encourage all students to do ambitious work. [Learn More + Purchase](https://hep.gse.harvard.edu/9781682537985/instructional-moves-for-powerful-teaching-in-higher-education/) ## Featured Faculty [### Paola Arlotta ](https://instructionalmoves.gse.harvard.edu/paola-arlotta)Instructor Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology **Course details:** **"**Got (New) Brain? The Evolution of Brain Regeneration"; Harvard College; 22 students **Relevant quote:** *“I try to draw in students in a gentle way. Then, bit by bit, even a student who’s more shy at the beginning sees that everybody can raise their hands -- that I don’t really bite.”* ![P. Arlotta](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/arlotta_headshot.png?itok=Wkir1dzU) [### Gretchen Brion-Meisels ](https://instructionalmoves.gse.harvard.edu/gretchen-brion-meisels)Instructor Lecturer on Education **Course details:** "Partnering with Youth on Educational Research and Practice"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; 30 students **Relevant quote:** *"My goal for the class is that we will grapple with hard questions that come up when you try to partner with youth…I want us to grapple with questions that are authentically hard for everyone in the room."* ![Brion-Meisels portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/brionmeisels_headshot_new.png?itok=r2D-NwHG) [### Brett Flehinger ](/brett-flehinger)Instructor Lecturer on History **Course details:** American Populisms: From Thomas Jefferson to the Tea Party + Trump; Harvard College; 38 students **Relevant quote:** *"I often refer to the class as a “collective brain.” What we get out of a class is what we all put into it. I want students to have that kind of shared ownership."* ![Brett Flehinger](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/flehinger_headshot.png?itok=N2PxeYK_) [### Tina Grotzer ](/tina-grotzer)Instructor Principal Research Scientist in Education **Course details:** "Applying Cognitive Science Research: Principles to Learning and Teaching"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; 40 students **Relevant quote:** *"Often I’m making instructional moves and then I'll tell students why I made the move. Sometimes I'll tell them why I didn't do something else because that's often just as informative."* ![Grotzer portrait.](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/grotzer_headshot_new.png?itok=VO5m6T6n) [### Robert Kegan ](/robert-kegan)Instructor William and Miriam Meehan Research Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development **Course details:** "Adult Development"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; ~200 students **Relevant quote:** *"One of the great glories of a class is that you build up a relationship with people over many weeks, and they come to count on you, and you get the dividends of those many weeks."* ![Bob Kegan](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/kegan_headshot.png?itok=e3M_r704) [### Dan Levy ](/dan-levy)Instructor Senior Lecturer in Public Policy **Course details:** "Advanced Quantitative Methods"; Harvard Kennedy School; 74 students **Relevant quote:** *"I never want a student to not participate in class just because they feel they don't have the right answer."* ![Dan Levy](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/levy_headshot.png?itok=PGFsCPFs) [### Jane Mansbridge ](/jane-mansbridge)Instructor Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Value **Course details:** "Democratic Theory"; Harvard Kennedy School; ~30 students **Relevant quote:** *"I don't see it so much as being immersed in uncertainty during the class discussion as I do fleshing out some of the possibilities and getting excited about those possibilities."* ![J. Mansbridge](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/mansbridge_headshot.png?itok=nK0aHCAC) [### Timothy Patrick McCarthy ](/timothy-mccarthy)Instructor Lecturer on History and Literature **Course details:** "Stories of Slavery & Freedom"; Harvard College; 16 students **Relevant quote:** *"Students are getting the most out of their learning when I can relinquish control of the classroom to them. But the only way to get to that place is being really engaged and devoted to modeling behaviors at the outset."* ![T. McCarthy](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/mccarthy_headshot.jpg?itok=fZQ_gePw) [### Christina “V” Villarreal ](/christina-villarreal)Instructor Lecturer on Education **Course details:** "Ethnic Studies"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; 23 students **Relevant quote:** *"I'm a teacher, but I'm also a learner in this space. I'm a speaker, but I'm also a listener. In every curricular and pedagogical move I make, I am trying to communicate that philosophy."* ![C. Villarreal](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/villarreal_headshot.png?itok=Pp1iz2Fr) [### Barbara Cockrill ](/barbara-cockrill)Instructor Harold Amos Academy Associate Professor of Medicine **Course details:** "Homeostasis I"; Harvard Medical School; 40 students **Relevant quote:** *"Our goal with cases is to have students come in and do the hard part of learning in the classroom, which is the application, the thinking, the wrestling with the material."* ![cockrill_headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/cockrill_headshot.png?itok=hYLmzaGC) [### Todd Rakoff ](/todd-rakoff)Instructor Byrne Professor of Administrative Law **Course details:** "*Legislation & Regulation*"; Harvard Law School; 80 students **Relevant quote:** *"I want students to build bridges from what they can do now to what is on the opposite shore. With some students, you can build the bridge pretty far back from the shore, for some you've got to get very close to it, and for others you have to say, 'Here's what the middle of the river looks like.'"* ![T. Rakoff](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/rakoff_headshot.png?itok=TvOHfODG) [### Eric Mazur ](/eric-mazur)Instructor Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics **Course details:** "Physics as a Foundation for Science and Engineering"; School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; 60 students **Relevant quote:** *"I thought it'd be nice if I could somehow return to my students the ownership of learning, so that they're not learning because I tell them it's good for them but because they actually want to."* ![Eric Mazur](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/mazur_headshot.png?itok=DxkVlxLc)