{"id":12983,"date":"2020-09-16T16:33:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T06:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/?p=12983"},"modified":"2021-07-29T22:53:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T12:53:07","slug":"engaging-students-through-inclusive-teaching-conversations-with-dr-samantha-mcmahon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/engaging-students-through-inclusive-teaching-conversations-with-dr-samantha-mcmahon\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging students through inclusive teaching: conversations with Dr Samantha McMahon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inclusive <\/span>teaching describes a range of teaching approaches that consider the many different needs, backgrounds, and ways of learning of all students.<\/span> Knowing how to build inclusive teaching practices into your classroom can be tricky, particularly in the new context of remote learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To help navigate this challenge in your classes, either online or face-to-face, Educational Innovation recently sat down with Dr Samantha McMahon from the School of Education and Social Work, to discuss the ways in which teachers can build inclusive and engaging learning environments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Educational Innovation (EI): <\/b>Can you introduce yourself to our readers? What is your field of focus?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Samantha McMahon (SM): <\/b>Hi everyone, I am an e<\/span>ducational sociologist<\/span> in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, teaching our students who are qualifying to teach in early childhood, primary and secondary school settings. I also run some professional learning courses for teachers who are already working in schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Educational sociologists are obsessed with educational equity. We are always trying to seek answers to why teaching opportunities don\u2019t produce equal outcomes for all social groups. My passion is moving beyond describing these problems to inspire teachers to level the playing field. My research really focuses on how different ways of knowing students can impact how inclusively you might teach them. <\/span>You can read a sample of my research via<\/span> Pedagogy, Culture, and Society<\/span><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

EI: <\/b>Starting off, I\u2019d like to ask how you approach the challenges of online teaching. What advice do you have for teachers working in this space and making the pivot from face-to-face to remote online teaching?<\/span><\/p>\n

SM: <\/b>It goes without saying that there has been an enormous amount of work done by teaching staff to adapt their lessons to suit online learning. With that said, there is a danger in seeing online learning as another \u2018thing to blame\u2019 for inequity in teaching. I\u2019m thinking here, for example, of Chris Sarra\u2019s work at the <\/span>Stronger Smarter Institute<\/span><\/a> and his focus on asking educators to take responsibility rather than blame things external to themselves for what can and can\u2019t be achieved in classrooms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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There is a danger in seeing online learning as another \u2018thing\u2019 to blame for inequity in teaching.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Last semester, it was reasonably common for myself and colleagues to say things like \u201cwe just can\u2019t do that online\u201d.<\/span> I\u2019m totally honest about the fact that \u2018online teaching\u2019 isn\u2019t my speciality – there\u2019s plenty of wonderful literature out there already on this. <\/span>I kind of got better at teaching online when I stopped saying \u2018can\u2019t\u2019 and started asking better questions<\/b>: \u201c<\/span>what pedagogic principles drive what I normally do?\u201d<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>\u201cwhat online platforms and technology can help me appropriate these into an online learning space?\u201d.<\/span><\/i> When you come back to basic pedagogic principles, I find teaching discussions turn from \u2018tips and tricks\u2019 to creative problem-solving. Some of the core principles I try and keep in mind are engagement, trust, participation and assessment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I kind of got better at teaching online when I stopped saying \u2018can\u2019t\u2019 and started asking better questions<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Sam discussing engagement over Zoom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EI: <\/b>Picking up on engagement for a moment, do students engage with a lesson in more than one way? And, the million-dollar question, how can we tell if students are engaged?<\/span><\/p>\n

SM:<\/b> Great questions. There\u2019s a bit of a disconnect between the technical definition of educational engagement and how university educators use it colloquially. A useful starting point is<\/span> Jennifer Frederick\u2019s<\/span><\/a> and colleagues\u2019 theorisation of engagement as having three dimensions:<\/span> behavioural, emotional, and cognitive<\/b>. If we think about these multiple dimensions of engagement, we can think about multiple ways of recognising and responding to student engagement more broadly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We often associate engagement to visible student behaviours and emotions such as boredom or disaffection. The online equivalent could be, for example, the Zoom \u2018black box\u2019. Notwithstanding reasons of internet bandwidth and privacy, why do students not appear to engage in their own learning?<\/span> In their research, <\/span>Parker Palmer<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Nell Noddings<\/span><\/a> show that classrooms can be fearful places<\/strong>. To them, students often associate participating in discussion with risk-taking. For this reason, I re-conceptualise student behavioural engagement (or participation) as an act of trust, and in some sense, bravery.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I re-conceptualise student behavioural engagement (or participation) as an act of trust, and in some sense, bravery.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There are numerous strategies you as a teacher can use to build trust and lower the risk level of participation for students:<\/span><\/p>\n