Centering Student Stories
119
images to represent all genders and cultural groups in examples and objective assessment questions.
Rethink Class Participation Participation points often show bias toward boys and young men (Aguillon et al., 2020). Instead of awarding grades solely based on participation, Megan and Nina advocate for reimaging ways that students can show their understanding and knowledge of course material. For example, they have both committed to offering many different ways to participate in class, including through writing, one-on-one conversations, and small-group dialogues.
Create Experiential Programs Despite better academic performance, young women often show less confidence and interest in leadership and STEM roles compared to their young-men counterparts (Kay & Shipman, 2014). Create experiential programs and assignments to help build confidence. Examples include job-shadowing experiences with women in the field of interest, internships, and mentoring programs. Coding and robotics clubs provide experiential opportunities. Virtual clubs offer the added benefits of flexibility and connection with girls from around the world.
Greg Soden: How International Travel Inspires Culturally Responsive Teaching Greg Soden is an instructor in world religions and English language arts at Mizzou Academy. He is the producer and host of The Classical Ideas Podcast (Soden, 2017–present), on which he aims to empower students with the core knowledge of major world religions and improve citizenship and agency in a diverse society. As a first-year teacher living in Mexico, I was an immigrant and a racial minority (though still a privileged one, due to my ability to come and go as I pleased), something I had never experienced. After Mexico, I taught in the United Kingdom. Suddenly, I was in the most globally and religiously diverse school I had ever worked in. On any given day, I had students from the United Kingdom, Poland, Pakistan, India, Jamaica, Guyana, Turkey, and
©️2022 by Solution Tree Press
Teachers and experts are also participants in the class community. Therefore, in considering whose voices and stories to center in the classroom, you should also bring in guest experts and leaders who represent the gender and cultural diversity in your class. Megan and Nina intentionally invite women leaders and guest experts.
