Seeking Nominations for Social Justice-themed Innovative Teaching Showcase

November 9, 2017

Every year, the Center for Instructional Innovation & Assessment creates the INNOVATIVE TEACHING SHOWCASE, an online publication featuring best practices of Western's most dynamic instructors. This year's Showcase, themed “Engaging Social Justice,” seeks to honor faculty who work to engage students actively in the people and problems of society in engaging ways: by creating meaningful, immersive, enlivening content or processes for exploring social justice issues. This Showcase aims to highlight teaching approaches that help students grow into responsible citizens who participate actively and productively in society. 

We are looking for faculty who are willing to share how they utilize instructional practices designed to raise awareness, build knowledge, develop skills, or facilitate action in a variety of ways, such as:

  • Highlighting themes of social justice, equity, inclusion, and/or democratic engagement in course content or materials;
  • Making space for challenging discussions among peers and professionals around issues of diversity, current events, and society;
  • Using instructional methods that facilitate exploration of identities;
  • Designing projects that encourage students to engage with diverse communities and develop cultural competence;
  • Facilitating activities that promote understanding of privilege and oppression;
  • Developing assignments that help students identify and confront patterns of inequality or discrimination.

 

“Social justice education aims to help participants develop awareness, knowledge, and processes to examine issues of justice/injustice in their personal lives, communities, institutions, and the broader society. It also aims to connect analysis to action; to help participants develop a sense of agency and commitment, as well as skills and tools, for working with others to interrupt and change oppressive patterns and behaviors in themselves and in the institutions and communities of which they are a part.”

– Lee Anne Bell, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice

 

Please use the Showcase Nomination Form by Friday, Nov. 30 to let us know who should be featured in this year's publication.
 
If you would prefer to be included in this year's Showcase via the Profiles section, please submit a brief description of what you do via the Showcase Profiles Submission Form. 

The CIIA will announce selected instructors in January for the 2017-18 Innovative Teaching Showcase, published in June 2018.