Building a Welcoming and Inclusive Class Culture

As both faculty and students adjust to our rapid shift to remote learning, a sense of belonging and community are critical to ensuring students remain engaged and enthusiastic learners. When in-class interactions are gone, we have to think critically about how to create a sense of belonging virtually. Students who are new to learning online are more likely to feel more disconnected, uncertain, or even get distracted in their new learning space.

A well-known and researched model of presence in the classroom is the Community of Inquiry Links to an external site. (COI) which looks at the learning experience through the intersection of Social, Teaching, and Cognitive Presence.

An educational community of inquiry is a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding.

The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful (collaborative-constructivist) learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements – social, cognitive, and teaching presence.

Social presence is “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.” (Garrison, 2009)

Teaching Presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001).

Cognitive Presence is the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001).

Inclusive Teaching Strategies

Inclusive teaching refers to practices that support meaningful and accessible learning for all students. The strategies covered on this page aim to recognize the diverse strengths students and instructors bring to class. To leverage those strengths, instructors can draw on five core practices... Links to an external site.

Creating a Sense of Belonging

7 ways to give students a sense of belonging in your online classroom:

Make introductions immediately and get started on the right foot.
Introduce yourself. Write a personal note about what your class is going to be like this quarter. Do an online ice breaker Links to an external site..
Prioritize high-quality teacher-student relationships
Schedule office hours or one-on-one meeting times. Make sure to get to know your students, and to allow them space to discuss their needs and individual questions.
Create a supportive and caring learning environment
Model vulnerability and resilience. Talk about your own stories of failure and resilience. Commend student strengths.
Be sensitive to students’ needs and emotions
Not all students learn in the same way. It may take some students time to learn to speak up in class in a group discussion—consider other ways they can participate in discourse, such as via a class blog or via journaling.
Set standards and expectations for discourse
For instance—talk about the language and help your students to learn, the language in which you expect classroom discourse. Each student is different, so the commonality here will be the educational materials and assignments and the discourse thereof. Actively challenge stereotypes that students might be internalizing.
Show interest in students
This isn’t necessarily about knowing every detail of their weekend, but really practicing this interest within your pedagogy as an educator. Practice active, student-centered learning. Consider assigning an essay centered on their experiences and opinions.
Foster a sense of community in the classroom by establishing classroom respect and fair treatment.
Encourage the voice of your students. Invite your learners to brainstorm Ground Rules for discussions, online team/group activities. Establish these rules together. Get student buy-in. If there are a couple of ground rules on which you are firm, write those in to start, and encourage your students to provide supplemental rules.

A sense of belonging is important in our diverse classrooms where students come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and experiences--while we are different, we are also equal and deserving of inclusion and respect. We want to give students a safe and supportive space that enables learning. Bottom line: we all belong.

Additional Resources