About the Principles

Learn about how Northwestern's Principles of Inclusive Teaching was developed and also how to use this resource.

Introduction

Institutions of higher education are often lauded as bastions of liberal thoughts and ideas, welcoming to people from all backgrounds, and open to the diverse perspectives, experiences, and worldviews they bring to the educational context. However, an observation of the current national higher education landscape—ranging from course curriculum to the demographics of the faculty and administration—shows a different reality. Colleges and universities in the United States are grappling with issues related to representation and inclusion  at all levels.[i] For example, although the number of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in US colleges and universities increased over the last few decades, many students report not feeling a sense of belonging to, or inclusion in, the cultural milieu of their universities.

What belonging means and feels like can differ for students from different backgrounds. Historically privileged student populations describe belonging as "fun" and "friendly," whereas historically marginalized student populations emphasize "safety," "respect" and being able to be their “authentic” selves as essential to belonging.² Reasons for feeling a lack of connectedness to the university context include, but are not limited to, not seeing members of students’ own identity groups well represented on the faculty and experiencing stigmatizing events in the classroom.[ii] Northwestern University has responded to these concerns by prioritizing building resilient students and a sense of belonging; central among these is assisting instructors in developing inclusive teaching practices.

Inclusive teaching refers to pedagogy that strives to serve the needs of all students, with respect to their backgrounds or identities, and to support their engagement with subject material. Examples of inclusive teaching strategies include using course material and pedagogies that consider and acknowledge the various pre-college backgrounds and contexts of students as well as the self-reflection on instructors’ 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. In a classroom setting, the instructor can create an inclusive environment by being open to novel ideas as well as receptive and responsive to student feedback. Inclusive teaching also draws attention to how students influence the learning environment, inviting instructors to consider, for instance, how they create opportunities for collaboration and how students form study groups.

Decades of research have provided evidence on the positive impact that inclusive teaching has on student achievement. For example, in Headwaters, an interdisciplinary journal of the faculty at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Keller and Lyndgaard reported that what happens between professors and students in the classroom (i.e., interpersonal communication and relationships) remains a critical element of year-to-year persistence and degree completion.[iii] In Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (2020), education expert Kevin Gannon affirms that students are more likely to be successful through activities that support their learning abilities and backgrounds.[iv] Additionally, educational psychologist Sharon Zumbrunn and colleagues noted that students’ perception of the climate of the learning environment is positively correlated with learning outcomes.[v] In other words, the more positive the classroom climate is perceived by students, the better they perform on a number of academic achievement metrics.

The sociodemographic backgrounds of students entering colleges and universities is shifting, and institutions of higher education are preparing for this change.[vi] Inclusive teaching supports Northwestern in enacting its priorities and mission, which expresses a commitment to “excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.”[vii] While creating an inclusive learning environment is important to many instructors, it can be challenging to adapt and adjust their practices to meet this goal. Northwestern Principles of Inclusive Teaching was developed to assist instructors—at all levels, from all cultural backgrounds and social identity groups—in enhancing teaching strategies and fostering inclusive learning environments.