principles

Last Saturday I facilitated a workshop about teaching across diversity and creating inclusive learning environments. It was a great group. Funny, exuberant and wise.

We did an activity where we thought about principles for creating inclusive learning environments. One man, who has vast teaching experience and shares what he has learned very respectfully and openly, proposed the following:

• know yourself -- understand your social identities and your teacher identity
  
• know the universal -- learn about the things all people share
  
• know them -- learn about this group of students
  
• know their differences -- learn about the diversity in this group
  
• know their strengths -- and teach to them

I think I remembered that fairly accurately. I just wanted to write it down somewhere.