Care & Equity in Teaching: How We Created a Cultures of Growth Pod Without Even Realizing It
A visitor walking past our college classrooms last fall might have overheard students discussing their perfect day, whether they would like to be famous, or what they are most grateful for. Those aren’t our typical subject matter, and indeed, we later resumed our coverage of research methodology (taught by Dr. Christine Logel) and academic writing (taught by Bethany Dixon). But for a while there, a lot of students were talking about, for example, what they would save in a house fire. That’s because multiple instructors in our building—including us—were trying out the Fast Friends Activity from the Equity Accelerator (EA)’s Classroom Practices Library as part of our Care & Equity in Teaching Initiative at Renison University College.
The goal of our initiative has been to encourage instructors to use scientifically-validated teaching practices to improve students’ experiences and learning, especially in ways that would foster classroom equity. The Fast Friends activity is one such strategy; it encourages connections in the classroom, which supports students’ sense of belonging. Feelings of connectedness are a contributing factor to students' social belonging and are essential elements of student satisfaction, academic success, and retention.
Students who feel a sense of social connectedness are more likely to have better social and academic experiences during college, including higher emotional wellbeing, and better health (Jose et al., 2012; Walton et al., 2012; Yoon et al., 2012). Positive relationships—both among students and between students and instructors—can boost self-efficacy and social belonging, and promote greater engagement, academic achievement, and persistence among students (Gurin et al., 2002; Mendoza-Denton et al., 2002; Daempfle, 2003; Chang et al., 2006; Locks et al., 2008; Vogt, 2008; Micari & Pazos, 2012; Christe, 2013) and can have an especially positive effect on students from equity-deserving groups, who face underrepresentation and prejudice on campus, and therefore have reason to question their belonging there. Christine’s previous work as part of the Student Experience Project with EA featured the Fast Friends activity, among others, in a set of evidence-based, field-tested resources they created that are now freely available on EA’s website.
We knew that most instructors want to use evidence-based teaching practices, but they are balancing this goal with so many other needs and priorities. We wondered: how could we support uptake by busy college instructors? Ultimately, we landed on the idea of creating small groups of instructors who would train together and implement practices to show care and increase equity in their courses each year. In doing so, we inadvertently created our own pod.
EA’s Founder and CEO Mary Murphy introduces the idea of pods in Cultures of Growth. Pods are small groups within larger organizations that support one another’s learning and growth in a safe, collaborative space. The Care & Equity in Teaching group at Renison has become that for us—and if we can do it here, we know that it is possible for other organizations, too. Here is how we got there, and what we learned along that way, that we hope can help you create your own pod:
Partnership is key. The Care & Equity in Teaching initiative lagged at times, but it picked up once Bethany stepped in as co-director. Since then, Christine and Bethany have had each other to bounce ideas, give feedback on outward-facing communications, and co-facilitate meetings.
Keep it doable. Our initiative meets approximately once a semester, and fellows set as few as two goals each year: trying at least one classroom practice plus evaluating that practice. Fellows have had some big ideas for the initiative, and the group has seriously considered expanding our work. But, for now, sticking with a light time commitment lets us continue momentum through the ups and downs of fellows’ workloads.
Consider recognition. In addition to the intrinsic value that educators get from building community and using transformative classroom experiences, it is important to us that they get recognition for the time they dedicate to the work. Our dean was enthusiastic, agreeing to provide letters and certificates, giving members something concrete to put in their teaching portfolios.
Look for funding sources. Christine and her partners found seed funding through their campus Centre for Teaching Excellence. In return for evaluating the initiative and sharing what we learned, they paid for a student assistant and meetings. That full launch year saw five new fellows, and 12 more in other departments, who attended meetings and committed to using the resources. Our surveys found that instructors appreciated the resources and group format; students reported experiencing less stereotype threat over time; and they were perceiving their instructors as communicating more of a growth mindset in their classrooms. Although students reported feeling more stressed at the end of the term, they also reported being more confident in their ability to cope with stress.
Change is inevitable. The postsecondary sector is facing challenges, and so are some of our fellows. Flexibility has been key. Some fellows were involved for one term and then went on to other commitments as their contracts changed or ended, while others have been able to stay involved and returned to support the new members.
Like a Culture of Growth pod, the Care & Equity in Teaching Initiative supports our learning and growth in a safe, collaborative space. It provides dedicated time for us to talk to like-minded colleagues about how we can grow as educators. If you want to start your own pod, Mary Murphy has created these materials to get you started.
And again, this fall, a visitor walking past our classrooms is likely to hear our students discussing deep questions. If they catch us at just the right time, they might overhear the Care & Equity in Teaching fellows discussing how the Fast Friends activity worked out this year, and how we might improve it and our other practices in the future.
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