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Being Welcome (For Oct. 12 in-class)

Below are some common classroom experiences that make me feel more or less welcome:

Positive experiences

  • opportunities to self-determine my learning
  • space to give and to revoke consent
  • individual attention
  • recognition of difference between students (race, sexuality, gender, interest, etc.)
  • teacher openness regarding and willingness to correct mistakes
  • acceptance and praise of student mistakes as part of the learning process
  • deliberate and explicit class and subject expectations
  • space for and acceptance of the need for physicality and movement
  • space and flexibility for questions and "off-topic" moments
  • organization and routine
  • respect for personal boundaries
  • teacher investment in my learning
  • positive interdependence and personal investment in my learning


Negative experiences

  • presumptive and gendered language (the scientist = he; the nurse = she)
  • cis-hetero-normative assumptions (binary pronouns used without checking, assuming that someone who "looks like" a woman must be married to a man)
  • feeling dismissed or having questions shut down
  • feeling trapped or bound by the material or the expectations
  • not knowing what to expect
  • not being seen as an individual

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