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Anti-Racist Pedagogy Toolkit: Equity-Minded Syllabus

Overview

How does a syllabus (fail to) communicate equity?

The Center for Urban Education (CUE) Syllabus Review tool explains the connection between the origins of (most) institutes of higher education and our syllabi: colleges and universities in the United States were created to educate a homogenous student population equally and the founding missions, structures, curricula, policies, and procedures reflect this one-size-(race/gender/SES/sexual identity)-fits-all origin story. Shifts in demographics over time have done little to impact the many artifacts that betray the underlying assumptions about our student populations.

While our attitudes and approaches in higher education may have evolved, the language we use in documents like our syllabi continues to communicate that we still envision our students as "white... middle- to upper-class, heterosexual, able-bodied, and Christian" (Syllabus Tool, p. 4).
Inequality in higher education is a structural problem that is hidden or revealed through the use of language imbued with political and social meaning. Language conveys how individuals, alone and in the company of others, give meaning to numeric patterns; how they talk about race without talking about it (Pollock 2004); how they shape the reality of racial inequity. Language reflects culturally acquired knowledge that forms the schemas of practitioners, leaders, policymakers, and others whose actions can make—or unmake—the antiracism project in higher education (Bensimon, Dowd, Witham, 2016).

Additionally, an important part of the inquiry process in this course will be examining some of the assumptions we make about our students and how that is reflected both in what we include and what we exclude.

In her short introduction to creating an antiracist syllabus, Dr. Amy Mulnix, Director of the Faulty Center at Franklin and Marshall College identifies six characteristics that contribute to what she describes as "an ongoing daily counternarrative to the barriers to the success of students minoritized due to race or ethnicity":

  1. Creates a sense of belonging.
  2. Invites partnership.
  3. Communicates a growth mindset.
  4. Provides transparency.
  5. Values students’ identities and experiences.
  6. Communicates a social justice perspective.

How Can I Build an Antiracist Syllabus (Magna Seminar - requires COD login)

READ

Ensure Students Are Learning: Centering Equity-Mindedness in Syllabus Construction by Jason A.Keist and Raina Dyer-Bar

This OCCRL Issue Brief provides a research-based introduction to the role of equity-minded practices in syllabi and includes a through bibliography for further investigation.

WATCH

How Can I Build an Antiracist Syllabus? - Dr. Amy Mulnix

There are six evidence-based strategies that faculty can use in their pedagogies and in their syllabus to create an anti-racist classroom. These are to create a sense of belonging, to invite a partnership with students, to communicate a growth mindset, to value students’ identities and experiences, and to communicate a social justice perspective. And by doing those six features, faculty—not only in their syllabus but across a semester—are providing a counter-narrative to the structural barriers that prevent all of our students from being successful.  (23 min. Access via Magna Digital Library - for more information see this description)

 

REFLECT

Describe an example of when equality prevailed at COD yet did not meet every student's needs.
Describe an example of when equity prevailed at COD and every student had what they needed to succeed.
How do you think the principles of equality and equity will impact you in your work?

DO

Conduct a Syllabus Review using CUE's freely available tool.

Syllabus review is an inquiry tool for promoting racial/ethnic equity and equity-minded practice. To achieve this goal, the syllabus review process promotes faculty inquiry into teaching approaches and practices, especially how they affect Blacks, Latinx, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other racially/ ethnically minoritized students; facilitates a self-assessment of these teaching approaches and practices from a racial/ethnic equity lens; and allows faculty to consider changes that result in more equitable teaching approaches and practice.

This tool is available as an interactive website and can be downloaded as a PDF.

  • URL: https://library.cod.edu/ARPtoolkit
  • Last Updated: Sep 15, 2023 2:06 PM
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