Equitable Environments

How to engage your students using inclusive teaching practices.

Creating Equitable Environments for Fostering Student Engagement

What is the difference between equality and equity? What is the difference between involvement and engagement? Why do my social identities matter when teaching? How do instructors foster environments that are equitable? In this session, you will learn how language matters when trying to foster environments where students can succeed. In addition, you will understand how to create equitable environments that foster student engagement. You will also reflect on your identity in relation to your teaching.  

As a result of attending this presentation, you will:

  • Reflect on your social identity.
  • Understand the difference between diversity, inclusion, equity, equality, and social justice.
  • Distinguish between involvement and engagement.
  • Develop one action-oriented strategy for fostering student engagement in your courses.

Presenter

Stephen John Quaye, Ph.D.

Professor and Program Chair // Higher Education and Student Affairs
The Ohio State University

Dr. Stephen John Quaye is a professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Program at The Ohio State University; Editor of The Journal of Higher Education; and Past President of ACPA: College Student Educators International. His research concentrates on engaging students in difficult dialogues about privilege, power, and oppression, and the strategies educators use to facilitate productive dialogues about these topics. His current work focuses on student and scholar activism, as well as the strategies Black educators and students use to heal from racial battle fatigue. 

Quaye values story-sharing and dialogue as vehicles for fostering change in society and prioritizes empathy and healing in his work as an educator. Numerous campuses have invited him to consult on campus climate, diversity, and equity issues, and he has given over 65 keynotes during his career in higher education. His work is published in different venues, including Teachers College Record, the Journal of College Student Development, and The Review of Higher Education.

Suggested Readings

To prepare for this video, Quaye has offered two selected readings that are useful to viewers of this video. 

  1. Equitable Engagement for Students in US Higher Education - Chapter One - by Sumun L. Pendakur, Stephen John Quaye, and Shaun R. Harper. Download Chapter >>
  2. Reclaiming Racial Justice in Equity by Estela Mara Bensimon for The Magazine of Higher Learning. Download Article >>
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