By: Alison Staudinger, Director of Faculty Development and Career Advancement, Faculty Affairs
On October 12th, the 2023 Provost Conference kicked off a keynote that challenged DU faculty to consider how they might create a classroom environment in which students “become more fully human…conscious of (in)equality and individually and collectively reflect and art to re-envisage and re-mark our social work” (Salazar 2013). Dr. Salazar illustrated the importance of humanizing pedagogy, with reference to her own educational journey and examples from the Morgridge College of Education and the First Year Seminar Program, Salazar has offered this approach to build a classroom community in which some “hot moments” are avoided because students are able to bring their whole selves into the space. Check out the whole video for her detailed exploration of the why and the how—in the meantime, here are a few things to try if you’re looking to build a humanizing environment:
- Know your students
- Pronounce students’ names correctly
- Be a “warm demander”
- Facilitate intrapersonal and interpersonal awareness
- Fuel and model growth mindset
- Co-construct knowledge with students
- Include diverse perspectives
- Acknowledge current and historical context of inequities
- Engage students with the world so they can transform it
- Create classroom norms that promote inclusion and belonging