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Northwestern Principles of Inclusive Teaching

We embody and uphold the University's commitment to delivering an outstanding educational experience for undergraduate and graduate students by sharing pedagogical practices that stimulate engagement, belonging, and learning for all students. The Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching stewards a multi-year cycle for updating, disseminating, and implementing this collaboratively created resource based on extensive research and scholarship.

Overview

Inclusive teaching refers to pedagogy that strives to serve the needs of all students, with respect to their backgrounds and identities, and to support their engagement with subject material. Examples of inclusive teaching strategies include using course material and pedagogies that consider and acknowledge students' various pre-college backgrounds and contexts as well as inviting instructors to think about their own identities with respect to the content they teach. In addition, inclusive teaching means creating a space where all voices are included in a discussion.

Deeply rooted in pedagogical research, Northwestern Principles of Inclusive Teaching outlines eight principles and their impacts on learning. This resource provides broad strategies that instructors can use to implement the principles in their course preparation and teaching and examples of how each principle can be applied in class. It also includes references to scholarly publications, a glossary, and a list of helpful University resources.

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Inclusive Teaching Principles

  • Principle 1: Consider your and your students’ social identities and their implications for learning
  • Principle 2: Establish and communicate clear course standards and expectations
  • Principle 3: Offer varied ways for students to demonstrate their learning and knowledge
  • Principle 4: Communicate sources of support for learning
  • Principle 5: Cultivate a welcoming and inclusive course climate 
  • Principle 6: Consider diverse teaching and learning frameworks and methods
  • Principle 7: Assess your inclusive teaching
  • Principle 8: Stay current with inclusive teaching literature and strategies

About the Principles

Read about how the Northwestern Principles of Inclusive Teaching was developed, the mission and vision, our contributors and also how to use this resource.

How the Principles were Developed

Appendix

Get familiar with definitions we use in the glossary, read the endnotes, bibliography and more in the appendix.

Browse the Appendix