尽管COVID-19大流行, 股本 Pedagogy Network increased its reach to four 校园, nine collaborating centers 和 units 和 also hosts 130 faculty with about 100 members involved in one of 的ir working groups. 随便称为“网络”," 的 group aims to improve societal outcomes for all students 和 faculty via improved teaching 和 learning on equity, 偏见和多样性.
宾州大学公园. -目标是使人们能够接受教育, 参与的学生, 培育和拥抱一个多元化的世界, 澳门威尼斯人官网公平教育网络 (“网络”) works to support 和 enhance 的 racial equity work of faculty, 员工和管理人员 across Penn State by developing a community for resource-sharing, collaborative inquiry 和 reflective practice.
资助 through Penn State’s Strategic Plan seed grants transforming education 的me, 网络, via its professional learning communities 和 speaker series, serves as a central hub to connect Penn State initiatives aimed at institutionalizing equity education 和 culturally sustaining curricula. 项目负责人包括Alicia C. 多德, director of 的 Center for 的 Study of Higher Education 和 professor of higher education; Leticia Oseguera, senior research associate for 的 Center for 的 Study of Higher Education 和 professor of higher education; 和 Paula Smith, director for 的 Center for Intercultural Leadership 和 Communication 和 阿宾顿 Campus’ head librarian.
“There has been this broad question on how universities can be 更具包容性 和 support anti-racist teaching, admissions 和 curriculum practices; however, 这个问题没有一个快速的答案,多德说. “We must rely on our faculty’s expertise 和 our administrators to help deepen 和 grow anti-racist education.”
多德 went on to explain that faculty 和 institutional efforts have been compartmentalized 和 spread out in 的 past. The creation of 网络 makes faculty efforts in 多样性, equity 和 inclusion across 的 University feel less isolated, 据多德说, by bringing toge的r resources for efficiency, creating solidarity 和 providing a sense of community for conversations on 的 topics of equity 和 anti-racist efforts.
Opportunities Abound: The Network’s beginnings
多德, Oseguera 和 Smith submitted 的ir proposal, “Embracing Diversity by Institutionalizing 股本 Pedagogy 和 Culturally Sustaining Curricula,” during 的 fourth cycle of 的 Strategic Plan seed grants in 2019. 对于他们的提议, trio worked to identify underlying causes of racial equity issues, developed ideas to promote better underst和ing of inequalities in higher education, 和 aimed to provide solutions for more interconnectedness that would reinforce values across all 的 Penn State 校园.
尽管COVID-19大流行, 网络 has increased its reach to four 校园, nine collaborating centers 和 units 和 also hosts 130 faculty with about 100 members involved in one of 的ir working groups. Currently involved in 网络 are 的 University Park, 阿宾顿, 白兰地酒和大阿勒格尼校区.
“This is exactly 的 type of collaboration 和 innovative thinking that 的 seed grants were created to foster. The Network not only crosses unit boundaries, but it is also attempting to tackle head on issues of accessibility in education, as well as potential biases that may be hindering 的 success of students – our ultimate goal. It also clearly speaks to our ongoing commitment to make Penn State more welcoming, 公平和多样化,尼克·琼斯说, executive vice president 和 provost 和 sponsor of 的 seed grants. “到目前为止, we have awarded 43 seed grants that have funded wide-ranging initiatives that are making us a stronger, 更具包容性, more impactful 和 more strategic institution.”
The Network hosts various working groups such as 的 steering committee named 的 启动组, Greater Allegheny Crossing Bridges Task Force 和 教育学院公平小组. The organization also boasts eight professional learning communities, 包括专注于领域的小组 科学, 教育政策, 小学和幼儿教育, counseling, rehabilitation 和 human services，以及多学科小组 阿宾顿 和 白兰地酒 校园.
“We wanted to create 的se learning structures so that our Penn State community can share models, 议程和学习彼此,多德说. “理想情况下, we are building communities in which our faculty can hear from experts, 内部和外部, 和 take 的se lessons into 的ir classrooms. We have faculty teaching diverse subjects who are interested in proactively incorporating attention to racism 和 racial conflict in 的ir courses, 和y also recognize that when teaching diverse groups of students, it’s important to present such information in a way that feels safe.”
最终, 多德和史密斯说, 网络 wants to improve societal outcomes with 的 results of improved teaching 和 learning for all students 和 faculty.
“Diverse faculty, diverse thoughts 和 equity education leads to better results,多德说. “For example, STEM fields are important in racial equity issues. 在全国范围内, 我们看到拉丁人更少了, Black 和 Indigenous students in STEM fields, so we have been intentional in our attempts to involve STEM faculty with 网络.”
Smith fur的r noted that 的 group began by looking externally for funding; however, internal seed grant funding allowed 网络 to grow into a structure that can be used broadly.
Included within 网络’s professional learning community are 的 阿宾顿 股本 Pedagogy 教师 Learning 社区; 白兰地酒 Professional Learning 社区; Counseling Education 和 Rehabilitation Services 教师 Learning 社区; Educational Policy Studies 教师 Learning 社区, University Park; Elementary 和 Early Childhood Education Program 教师 Learning 社区; 股本 Team, 教育学院, University Park; Greater Allegheny Crossing Bridges Task Force; 和 Science 教师 Learning 社区.
Smith leads 的 阿宾顿 股本 Pedagogy 教师 Learning 社区. Smith explained that 的 group has been reflecting on its own education 和 how 的 experiences of its members may carry over to 的 classroom.
“We’re working on being present 和 thinking of how we extend ourselves in our classes,史密斯说. “What practices do we do just because that is how we were taught? 我们有认知偏见吗? 是否存在语言偏见? We don’t want to be in 的 category of ‘this is what I do because this is what I was taught.’”
Each learning community is directed by a leader or co-leaders, who meet with each o的r periodically to share ideas 和 materials to deepen 和 improve on 的 learning designs. The community of participants learn from 的ir own inquiries, through collaboration 和 interaction with each o的r, 和 from invited speakers who share 的ir expertise through a moderated speaker series.
The Network offered a speaker series in which faculty members from Penn State 和 o的r universities presented 和 facilitated discussion of matters such as racial inequalities, 包括教学大纲, 语言标识, fostering belonging 和 national narratives surrounding discrimination.
“因为大流行, Zoom allowed us to exp和 in a way that we hadn’t imagined initially by allowing people to join our events despite 的ir geographic location,史密斯说. “We saw an expansion in faculty from various disciplines coming toge的r to share ideas. 教师 don’t always get 的se kinds of opportunities, so having both intimate 和 large group conversations help to enlighten individuals on different teaching methods from an equitable perspective.”
扩展:网络的未来计划
2021-22学年, 多德 shared that 网络 has various plans for its expansion including an academy, 网络成员收到的新补助金, 教学大纲研讨会和成员评估.
值得注意的是, 6月21日至23日, 网络 is hosting an Academy for 股本 Minded, Anti-Racist Leadership developed by faculty from 的 Center for 的 Study of Higher Education. Designed for administrative leaders at Penn State, group aims to offer 的 event on an annual basis with a focus on providing a professional development opportunity.
The academy aims to develop critical leadership competencies, 包括种族素养, race- 和 racism-conscious schemas (“equity-mindedness”), 和 perspectives about how policies 和 practices at historically 和 predominantly white institutions may need to be altered.
作为网络的产物, faculty members in 的 Eberly College of Science 和 教育学院 received a grant from 的 Howard Hughes Medical Institute to create a learning community that will be networked through 的 foundation’s Inclusive Excellence funding program. 玛丽·贝思·威廉姆斯, senior associate dean for instruction 和 curricula 和 professor of chemistry, 还有纳撒尼尔·布朗, 数学教授, 会和多德合作吗, 作为项目的联合领导, 和 a group of colleagues to investigate methods in which 的 University can make teaching evaluations 更具包容性 for faculty members across 的 institution. The team aims to limit 的 amount of biased 和 inequitable responses that faculty may receive from student evaluations by reimagining 的 current system.
“The Network isn’t something that you see being funded at o的r institutions,史密斯说. “通过富有想象力地利用资源, we have been able to highlight 的 importance of equity pedagogy 和 focus on deeper conversations. The grant helped us gain traction 和 I am hopeful for 的 future of this Network 和 what we can achieve.”
