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Colleagues,
Welcome! or Welcome Back! as the case may be.
TEACHING DIVERSITY: A REVIEW
Attached to the end of this edition of the "News from the
Center" is a review of a recent book by Bill Timpson entitled
"Teaching Diversity." The review is by Jeff Sroufe of the SODEXO
Food Service, on campus. Thanks Jeff!
SOME IDEAS FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS
Here are several ideas taken from the August/September issue of
The Teaching Professor. Copies are available in the three
wall pocket locations.
Put your name and the class section identifier on the board
at the very beginning of the first class to help avoid
students being in the wrong room. We might also write
"WELCOME" on the board and have students tell you their
names, pronouncing them for you. Have name tents and markers
available at the front desk and have students make name
tents with their first names on them. Perhaps have students
make folders with their names on them to submit papers
during the course. Have students give brief 10-second or so
introductions--perhaps followed by a quiz to see who
remembers names best. In larger classes have students
introduce themselves to other students in groups of 3 or 4
and then have all English majors stand up, all psychology
majors, etc. Keep the file folders alphabetically in a
plastic carrying case so that papers can be collected in the
files, handouts can be kept there for students who are
absent from class. Time is never wasted passing out papers
in class. Enter a "Today We Will" list on the board. It's a
daily plan that includes the activities for the day, the
order of topics to be covered, and the assignment for the
next class.
There is more to this brief article. Take a look at the
other suggestions for the first day in the 3 wall pocket
locations.
BOOKS RECEIVED RECENTLY (Some are still
being processed into the library)
Win them Over: Dynamic Techniques for College Adjuncts and
New Faculty. by Patricia Linehan. Madison, WI: Atwood
Publishing, 2007.
Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom
by Marilla Svinicki. Bolton Mass.: Anker Publishing CO.,
Inc. 2004.
Learner-Centered Teaching by Maryellen Weimer. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.
Engaging Large Classes ed. by C.A. Stanley and M. E.
Porter. Bolton, Mass.: Anker Publishing, 2002.
Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment
by B. E. Walvoord and V. J. Anderson. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1998. (My favorite chapter is "Making
Assignments Worth Grading.)
Teaching At Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for
College Instructors by Linda B. Nilson (second ed.).
Bolton Mass.: Anker Publishing CO., Inc., 2003.
Leaving The Lectern by Dean A. McManus. Anker Publishing
Co., Bolton, Mass. 2005
Building and Sustaining Learning Communities by
Sandra Hurd and Ruth Stein. Anker Publishing Co., Bolton
Mass. 2004
Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom
by Marilla Svinicki. Anker Publishing Co., Bolton, Mass.
2004
These books will be in the CTE bookcase in the library very
soon.
PUBLICATIONS RECENTLY RECEIVED
Over the summer the Center received several copies of our three
periodical subscriptions: The National Teaching and Learning
Forum, The Professor in the Classroom and The
Teaching Professor. All three of these are available in the
three wall pocket locations: the Coffee Shop on Harrison St. (by
the door to the outside patio), the dining room in Cosgrove Hall
(by the drink dispensers), and the old Stinger's Lounge (lower
level by the elevator in Ambrose Hall). These CTE periodical
publications are also available in the College of Business (with
Allison Ambrose) and in the ACCEL program through Neala McCarthy
as well as in the three wall pocket locations.
COLLEGE TEACHING (55:3, Summer 2007) Received
College Teaching recently arrived and will be available in the
Library soon. It includes articles on: reducing test anxiety,
infusing active learning into the research methods unit,
revisioning graduate professional development programs,
discussing and defining sexual assault, what we can learn from
lesson study, combining art and science in "arts and sciences"
education, computer slide shows: a trap for bad teaching,
inexperienced versus experienced students' expectations for
active learning in large classes, and meeting the needs of
students with complex psychological and educational profiles.
PROGRAM ON TEACHING IN THE DISCIPLINES FROM THE CTE
The Center is presently underwriting the cost of having speakers
come to campus to work with individual departments or clusters
of departments that are interested in reviewing and (perhaps)
modifying or developing their teaching strategies. The first of
these "teaching in the disciplines" seminars was held in January
when the three departments of Physical Therapy, Occupational
Therapy and Nursing heard from Kelly Sass of the University of
Iowa at a seminar on teaching using the case method, especially
in health-related fields. The program was a great success with
faculty from nursing, OT and PT as well as from other
departments.
The second presenter on teaching in the disciplines was Dr.
Bill Warren, Ambrose alumnus and professor of history who
spoke at several venues on campus, met with the members of
the History Department, presented a brown bag in the
Library, consulted on the teaching of history and met with
history education majors and history majors. His visit was
valuable to the history department and very interesting for
SAU students.
The advisory board wants every
department to be aware of this program sponsored by the
Center. Consider how your department or program might
best make use of this opportunity to invite a presenter to
campus to work with your faculty on alternatives to or
development of your current teaching styles and approaches.
Talk to any member of the advisory committee about
your questions, ideas and suggestions for this program. The
Center is planning to commit between $500 and $1,000 to each
presentation or consultancy co-sponsored by the CTE.
CTE PERIODICAL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE
The Center subscribes to
College Teaching
and CHANGE.
Back issues of these publications are in the latice-doored
shelves in the reading area on the first floor (northwest
corner) of the library. Enjoy a beautiful view of campus and
gorgeous sunsets as you peruse the back issues of the Center's
publications.
Three other publications subscribed to by the Center are
available in several places on campus. The
Teaching Professor,
The Professor in the Classroom
and the
National Teaching and Learning Forum
are available as they arrive in three
wall pocket locations: in the old snack bar area in Ambrose
Hall (in Stingers, near the elevator, ground level), in the
Cosgrove Hall private dining room near the drink dispenser,
and in the coffee shop on Harrison St.-- as well as at ACCEL
with Neala McCarthy and through Allison Ambrose in the
College of Business.
Back issues of these publications are CURRENTLY kept in the
shelves in the Library on the first floor, northwest corner
(along with the Center's book
collection). All of the Center's subscription materials are
available during the hours the St. Ambrose Library is open.
Soon the entire Center's book collection will be integrated
into the general library collection.
.......................................................................................................................
Please contact any member of the CTE Advisory Committee
with your suggestions or evaluations of our sponsored events,
publications and programs. The members of the Center's advisory
committee for the 2007-2008 school year are:
Michael Hustedde, English Brenda Peters, Biology
Sandra Quinn, Criminal Justice David O'Connell, Management
Christine Urish, Occupational Therapy Paul Jacobson,
Philosophy (Director)
It's a beautiful day at the Center for
Teaching Excellence!
Following is a review of Bill Timpson’s Teaching
Diversity reviewed by Jeff Sroufe of the Sodexo Food
Service on campus. Jeff saw me carrying the book the day it
arrived last spring and asked if he could read it. I agreed
if he would write a brief review for the News from the
Center for Teaching Excellence. Here is Jeff’s review. The
book itself is available in the Center’s book collection, on
the first floor of the St. Ambrose Library, northeast corner
in the lattice-doored bookcase. Jeff’s office is to the left
of the post office counter in the Rogalski Center. If you
see him, thank him for his work—both as book reviewer and as
food court service manager.
Jeff—Thanks for the great review!
Jeff Sroufe’s REVIEW OF: Teaching Diversity by
William M. Timpson et al
How does one teach diversity?
First let me say that, when I was in college in the early 80s,
there was no discussion about diversity. At Kenyon College back
then, we were Liberals or Conservatives, and we were usually
white. There were no sororities, only fraternities. Women didn’t
want sororities.
There were 14 blacks in a class of 1400. Two classes after
mine, there was one black. Kenyon was physically isolated
from the temptations of the cosmopolitan world as its
founder, the first Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, Philander
Chase, had built it to be a seminary for men. Women had only
come to Kenyon in the early 70s, blacks probably around the
same time. The gays formed their first group during my
tenure in 1983. Disabled students would have found an
uninviting experience on top of a hill in old, ivy-covered
buildings which offered much charm but no elevators. So, we
didn’t talk much, if at all, about diversity.
Having joined Sodexho USA in late 2006, I find a company which
touts itself as a leader of Diversity in business issues. In
fact, all of its managers are required to take a “Spirit of
Diversity” course. I’ll take mine in July of this year. Sodexho
is one of the top 50 companies in the US for diversity, and it
makes a strong business case for diversity. From its website
Sodexho lists the following reasons for diversity in business:
CLIENT RETENTION/CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, where Sodexho can better
meet and anticipate needs of our client/customer base with a
more culturally competent workforce; INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY,
where Sodexho fosters innovation and creativity by valuing
diverse perspectives (i.e., broad options for diverse student
population): PUBLIC IMAGE, where Sodexho enhances its public
image by being the benchmark in managing diversity attracting
and retaining diverse clients; HUMAN RESOURCES, where Sodexho
achieves more effective human resources practices because they
reflect the needs of its employees, resulting in fewer EEO
complaints, minimizing potential liability for the company; and
RECRUITMENT, capturing the best talent through a broader
recruitment pool.
So what does the book “Teaching Diversity” tell me about
diversity? Although a work designed for the university
classroom, it is not designed for the business place. However,
its discussion of diversity defines diversity for me in ways
which I have never before considered making it a very valuable
tool for the training of staff and other managers. Now I can see
diversity not only as a member of a protected class
(African-American), but also as person in the whole of humanity.
First, I learned that any genuine discussion of diversity must
take place in an environment where all participants feel safe to
discuss their feelings and perspectives. In the chapter on
“Creating Safe Learning Environments”, (p.62), “…no one is
exempted, or safe, from the effects of bigotry and prejudice,
and that on an individual level we all are capable of hurting
each other”. For these authors, safety brings “liberation
effects…how it encourages openness, sharing, and camaraderie…the
absence of safety…a palpable sense of intimidation or threat, a
rebuke delivered by a powerful person, or a fear of physical
harm from a potential assailant”.
Another key element of the diversity discussion is the issue of
empathy, particularly as it varies from sympathy. There is a
great distinction between “feeling sorry” for someone as opposed
to understanding how someone might feel (p.177). Particularly
powerful is a passage from “Teaching the Diversity of World
Religions”. According to Carl Roger, “The way of being with
another person which is termed empathetic means temporarily
living in their life, moving in it delicately, without making
judgments…To be with another in this way means that for the time
being you lay aside the views and values you hold for yourself
in order to enter another’s world without prejudice…a complex,
demanding, strong, yet subtle and gentle way of being.”
Perhaps the single most eye-opening point in the text for me is
that any discussion of diversity is not simply a discussion of
the issues facing protected classes, e.g., those over 40, the
disabled, women, ethnic minorities, etc, but the discussion must
encompass everyone. Diversity is human diversity, it is
about “the broad range of variations in human experience”
(p.276) “not only addressing the experiences of any group…it
also means including a critical examination of the experiences
of all those who have been implicitly presented as the standard
or ideal”. Teaching human diversity is about examining who we
are and our place in the world, where we have been, where we are
now, and where we can go as we work together to understand each
other.
Safety, empathy, human diversity. I’d like to revisit this after
Sodexho’s class on the Spirit of Diversity.
It's a most excellent day at the Center for Teaching Excellence! |
