Coming from a background in social services, there are two tenants I apply actively to my approach to teaching: first, that each person is the expert of their own life. Second, that the path to social justice exists in all facets of our lives. It’s difficult to pin down how the latter translates into a classroom any more than it would anywhere else; the obvious use is to promote a safe space for marginalized folks through strong wordage on the syllabus that class be safe and accessible, shutting down any oppressive speech or attitude that may still arise, and keeping an eye on equity in grading, lecturing, and facilitating discussion. It is essential to keep an eye out for one’s internalized or subconscious biases and actively work to unravel them.

The first tenant—each person is the expert of their own life—has been particularly on my mind as of late. Each individual is coming to me from a different background with different strengths, weaknesses, experiences, abilities, identities, needs, and desires. Who am I to tell them what they should get from class? I can’t, then, see myself as impressing a curriculum upon passive students or being the wealth of knowledge that they should (and should want to) draw from.  I have a resources, as my place in this institution, and my job is to make that resource as accessible and welcoming as possible. I don’t always have to lead—does my student have something that inspires them? Let’s capitalize on that. Let’s let them lead, too.

This belief also necessitates acknowledging the value of each individual. And I don’t get to use my worldview to establish what is valued. This doesn’t mean not doling out incompletes to assignments that don’t meet the criteria. Each student has access to the criteria and if I’ve succeeded as an instructor, I’ve welcomed and given ample opportunity for questions, additional instruction, flexibility, and creativity in those assignments, and I’ve made available the tools (information, material) to succeed.