Aligning your Pedagogy with Equity

Kaitlin Schilling

It’s key to remember that while you are creating an OER, it is merely a tool and OER-enabled pedagogy does not equal equitable pedagogy. We can still replicate harmful beliefs and practices in open education. To create positive change within the classroom and more generally in education, pedagogy needs to center equity. But what does that look like?

In Designing for Care, the authors explain how “imagining better pedagogies is the first step in creating a powerful learning environment.” In this case, better pedagogies go beyond the delivery of course materials. It “means more humanizing pedagogies that embrace the fact that the people in our learning environments are fantastic, curious, unpredictable, capable, and multi-layered.” (Jerod Quinn; Martha Burtis; Surita Jhangiani; and Catherine J. Denial) Pedagogies that emphasize our shared humanity leave room for the cultivation of skills and knowledge for both students and educators by interrupting traditional pedagogical practices and promoting collective learning. “Imagining better pedagogies is the first step in creating a powerful learning environment.”

There are so many different types of pedagogies, some more equitable than others. Below is a short list of just a few.

To consider.  As you read through these pedagogies, consider what you like and dislike about each one, and notice any overlaps or gaps. Think about what’s similar and what’s different to your current pedagogical approach. Are there pedagogies you haven’t considered until now? Are there equitable pedagogies not listed here?
Half circle graphic showing different pedagogies, with each having a graphic in a circle to represent it. (From top to bottom) Open Pedagogy shows an orange open book. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy shows an orange hand with leaves growing out of it. Critical Pedagogy shows an orange justice scale on top of an orange book. Trauma-informed Pedagogy shows two open hands with an orange heart coming out of them.
Graphic of four pedagogies: Open, Culturally Responsive, Critical, and Trauma-informed.

Open pedagogy is rooted in the belief that education should be accessible, participatory, and empowering for all learners, and that openness and collaboration are key to achieving these goals.

Culturally-responsive Pedagogy identifies and nurtures students’ unique cultural strengths to support student success and well-being. Student learning, cultural competence, and critical consciousness are the three essential components of culturally relevant education that Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings  (1995) lists.

Critical pedagogy is a theoretical framework that emphasizes critical thinking, social justice, and the promotion of democratic values. As such, teaching is a political act that can engage teachers and students in dialogue about existing power structures and the ways in which to address oppression in education.

Trauma-informed Pedagogy is a method of teaching that is dedicated to understanding the various traumatic events that students may encounter and validates how these may affect their ability to learn (Imad, 2021).

 

 

Pause & Reflect on your Teaching Impact

Every day as educators we must ask ourselves crucial questions:

  • How does my teaching style integrate into my curriculum and course design?
  • Does my teaching style uplift or suppress diverse perspectives?
  • Does my teaching style invite critical thinking and/or feedback?

Resources

Gray, Josie. (2023). Disability-Informed Open Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://knowledgespectrums.opened.ca/podcast/disability/

Imad, Mays. (2021). Transcending Adversity: Trauma-Informed Educational Development. To Improve the Academy, (39), 3. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/tia.17063888.0039.301

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491.

Margolis, May-Varas, and Mead. Educational Learning Theories: 3rd Edition (2022). Education Open Textbooks.

Quinn, J., Burtis, M., Jhangiani, S., & Denial, C. J. (2022). Designing for Care. Hybrid Pedagogy Inc. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.pub/designingforcare/

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Aligning your Pedagogy with Equity Copyright © 2023 by Kaitlin Schilling is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.