A new article in the September issue of the Journal of Faculty Development, From Access to Inclusion: A Faculty Learning Community Curriculum, was co-authored by Dr. Stephanie Cawthon and Drs. Sara Schley, Carol Marchetti, and W. Scot Atkins.
The Access to Inclusion project designed and implemented a semester-long professional development program for faculty that provides a scaffolded, applied approach to strengthening inclusive teaching with respect to students with disabilities in higher education.
Faculty in higher education often do not have the training or ready access to teaching strategies that allow for equitable, inclusive learning environments for all students. The program provided instructors an opportunity to work with other faculty and with students to learn about inclusive teaching practices, identify “sticky” challenge points in one of their courses, brainstorm solutions, and design, implement, and evaluate the solution.
This project was unique in its setting within a faculty learning community, its feedback process, and its inclusion of students with disabilities who were both trained in inclusive teaching practices and positioned as partners in the pedagogical development process.