# The ‘I’ in inclusion

**Source**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/the-i-in-inclusion/
**Parent**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/page/3/

Are
educational
institutions
sensitive
to
gender
and
diversity?
What
does it
take to
create
an
inclusive
classroom?
What can
we do to
increase
awareness
among
teaching
professionals?
Dr Heike
Pantelmann,
Managing
Director,
Internationalisation,
Gender
and
Diversity
in
Teaching
at the
Freie
Universität
Berlin,
argues
diversity-sensitive
teaching
is good
teaching

**Heike
Pantelmann**

One of
the
first
impressions
when
coming
from
Germany
to
India,
and to
the
beautiful
campus
of IIT
Madras,
is the
diversity
of the
student
population
– the
same
probably
applies
to staff
and
faculty
as well.
Compared
to
Germany,
India’s
diversity
is much
more
complex
and
multifaceted.

The
variety
of
languages,
ethnicities,
religions,
and as
well as
castes,
adds
weight
to
India’s
diverse
demography
that
German
Higher
Education
institutions
do not
have in
the same
sense.
Broadly
speaking,
diversity
is often
seen as
an
asset.
However,
to be
anti-discriminatory
– and
this is
what a
modern,
international
university
wants –
diversity
has to
be
“managed”.

Managing
diversity
at a
university
can mean
different
things.
In this
context,
it
refers
to
managing
a
diverse
student
population,
aptly
reflected
in their
everyday
interactions:
preferences
and
tastes,
food
choices;
the
subjects
that
interest
them,
and
their
leisure
activities.

Faculty
are
experts
in their
respective
fields,
but they
are
mostly
not
trained
to teach
in
diverse
classrooms.
They
have to
be aware
that
students
come
from
diverse
socio-economic
backgrounds
(from
rural or
metropolitan
cities)
and have
different
gender
identities,
and
beliefs.
They
have to
factor
that in
when
teaching.

To
support
good
academic
teaching,
a
toolbox
on
gender
and
diversity
was
introduced
at the
Margherita
von
Brentano
Center
for
Gender
Studies
at Freie
Universität
Berlin.
Since
its
launch
in 2016,
it has
become a
renowned
platform
for the
cause.
It is
available
for free
in
German,
English
and
Spanish,
and the
team
offers
workshops
for
academic
teaching
in all
departments
at Freie
Universität
Berlin.

The
toolbox
gives
insights
into
sensitive
academic
teaching
– from
skills
and
methods
to the
sensitive
use of
language
and much
more.
Moreover,
it
offers a
starter
kit for
a quick
overview
of
gender
and
diversity
in the
German
Higher
Education
system.

The five
dimensions
that
play a
significant
role in
any
university
are
framework
(environment),
teachers,
learners,
teaching
methods,
and – of
course –
content.
The
following
are
suggestions
on how
to
improve
academic
teaching
in a
diversity-sensitive
way.
Framework
(environment)
relates
to
questions
such as:
Does the
time of
the
course
collide
with
family
responsibilities?
Can
everyone
in the
classroom
see and
hear
well? Is
there
enough
space
for
everyone?
Are
classrooms
and
restrooms
easily
accessible?
Is the
room
organised
in a way
that
everyone
feels
comfortable?
These
questions
might
seem
trivial.
However,
they
influence
the
learning
outcome.

As a
teacher,
it is
very
important
to
reflect
on your
role,
and to
be aware
of
diversity,
to avoid
discrimination
in the
classroom;
to
identify
and
broach
the
topic of
discrimination
in any
form:
sexism,
racism,
classism,
and
ableism.
Teachers
serve as
role
models
and set
the tone
for
communication
on
campus.
Therefore,
they
should
be
conscious
of the
language.

In the
classroom,
it is
important
to be
aware of
the
learners’
backgrounds
in terms
of their
social
dimensions
such as
gender,
sexual
orientation,
disability,
ethnicity,
caste
and
religion.
This
helps us
address
questions
such as
“Who
speaks
and in
which
order?”,
“Who
gets
more
time to
speak or
less?”
and “Who
is
heard?”
– not in
the
acoustic
sense
but in
the
sense of
who is
being
heard.

It is
also
important
to
encourage
students
to use
diversity-conscious
language
to avoid
peer
discrimination
and to
encourage
them to
create a
diversity-aware
organisational
culture
at the
university.

The
choice
of
teaching
methods
should
reflect
the
diversity
of the
students.
And of
course,
there
shouldn’t
just be
one
method
of
teaching,
so
variation
is the
key. The
method
you
employ
should
also be
accessible
by
students
with
disabilities.
The use
of
teaching
material
(handouts,
leaflets,
presentations
etc) too
should
be
accessible
by all.
It is
often
believed
that
Humanities
and
Social
Sciences
are two
disciplines
that can
accommodate
gender
and
diversity
in the
content
being
taught.
However,
other
disciplines
can do
it too.

Addressing
issues
related
to
diversity
in
occupational
fields
includes
not just
the
assessment
of the
profession’s
emergence
and
evolution
but also
the
current
factors
and
trends.
Likewise,
the
academic
critique
of one’s
discipline
encompasses
the
history
of the
discipline
and its
knowledge
production.
Applying
and
using
scientific
findings
might
include
an
assessment
of the
impact
and
implications
of
specific
research
on the
perpetuation
or
modification
of
inequalities.

Want to
learn
more?
Check
out the
toolbox:
[https://www.genderdiversitylehre.fu-berlin.
de/en/toolbox/](https://www.genderdiversitylehre.fu-berlin.de/en/toolbox/)

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