Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a conversation on approaches to transforming teaching and learning in a college classroom from the perspectives of faculty members who implement inclusive pedagogies and students’ insights into their course experiences. It discusses opportunities for enacting the inclusive excellence (IE) framework at a predominantly white institution (PWI) through various models.

The goal of this paper is to examine the process of pedagogical shift necessary for faculty to recalibrate their practice in preparing the next generation of college graduates and specifically future teachers in a complex 21st century global classroom, within the context of a binational university. The objectives of the paper are to present a variety of frameworks to illustrate human diversity in education, provide conceptual understanding of approaches to integrating multicultural content and global perspectives in the curriculum.

A qualitative methodology is used to address three research questions:
(1) What is the inclusive excellence framework?
(2) How do core principles of the framework and additional models support inclusive pedagogies and transform teaching and learning?
(3) How does the institution support the implementation of the inclusive excellence framework in the new atmosphere hostile to DEI?

Methods include a literature review, an inclusive excellence survey and course analyses. Various frameworks and classroom practices are examined to illustrate examples of approaches to implementing inclusive pedagogies conducive to transforming teaching and learning.

The author presents both faculty insights into implementation of inclusive transformative teaching and students’ perceptions of transformative learning in their college courses. Frameworks include Inclusive Excellence (Alma Clayton-Pederson (2005), Bennett’s (1986) Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), Cushner et al.’s (2024) Culture Learning Process, Banks’ (1993) Knowledge Typology, Banks & Banks’ Framework for Integration of Multicultural Content (CATS), and Hanvey’s (1975) Framework for An Attainable Global Perspective. These models along with data from the survey and course assignments are used to design faculty professional development on inclusive pedagogies as well as course assignments that highlight graduate students’ insights into inclusive transformative teaching and learning experiences. Results are encouraging. One can observe a momentum in implementation despite some clear policy limitations. In conclusion, the integration of various frameworks makes the understanding of diversity in education and implementation of research-based, humanizing approaches to inclusive intercultural pedagogies transformative. This in turn supports transformative learning in college classrooms.

Keywords:

Global classroom, Inclusive excellence, intercultural competence, collaboration, motivation, on task behavior, equity pedagogy, classroom management.