Part of teaching for equity and inclusion is to assess our personal awareness as well as the lived experiences of the students in our classroom. Presenting opportunities for students to voice the various lenses and perspectives that they bring in concert with their classmates allows for effective and meaningful learning experiences. In the Practical Tools to Empathize with Your Learners article you are given three tools:
- Empathy Maps give insight to what your student is thinking and feeling, what they see and observe, examination of what they say and do, what’s working and not working and finally what do they hear from their peers, other instructors and what voices are saying outside of the classroom.
- Learning Personas help when designing your learning experience for your course. It takes those experiences of real learners into a representative learner based on learner feedback not assumptions
- Learner Journey Maps provide an opportunity to design a larger learning experience and consider a full experience through a major or discipline. You are examining what your students are asking, thinking, feeling and doing.
Keywords: Inclusive Teaching, Student Engagement