Pedro Fernando Morales-Almazan

PEDRO FERNANDO MORALES-ALMAZAN
Lecturer (Department of Mathematics) - http://www.pedromoralesalmazan.com/ Links to an external site. 

What does inclusive teaching mean to you?

I think the word inclusive could have several different meanings and scopes. On one side, inclusive could mean reaching to every possible student social and cultural background. I think this is important because it gives context and gives motivation on why the content might be relevant to a student. This can make why the subject matter is relevant to the student with respect to their own worldview.

Another side of inclusivity might be understood as reaching to every possible student academic background. In every classroom, we often face students with different academic training. Being aware of this is fundamental in order to adjust the pace of the class, as well as the depth of the content, and the delivery. This refers more to what is the subject matter and how we deliver it to students.

In order to be inclusive, it is important to be sensitive to our students' backgrounds and expectations. Their backgrounds can tell us what can we use for their learning experience, and their expectations tell us why they should care about it.

Please give an example of what thinking inclusively looks like to you in your teaching or your work around campus.

Inclusive thinking mainly helps me for two purposes:

To define the contents viewed in class: By being inclusive with students' academic backgrounds, I seek to define the depth of the concepts viewed in class, as well as the level of detail that would be appropriate for examples and exercises. This includes the level of the course, the demographics of the population, and the pre and post requisites among other things. These help to define how theoretic or applied a course can be, as well as the level of difficulty.

To determine the delivery method: Inclusivity with students' social and cultural background provides a way to connect with them in a meaningful way. This can help to package examples and exercises in a contextually relevant way for students. This can be utilized paired with the idea of experiential learning in order to enhance their learning experience, improving the way class material is communicated and delivered to them. I use this to create examples and exercises framed in real life context, relevant to their social and cultural environment.