Use Classroom Safe Space to Tear Down Barriers to Inclusion

Abstract

The assumption that a diverse environment or setting is inclusive is problematic. Organizations still practice a barrier to inclusion, tokenism, which involves an overemphasis on recruitment of an arbitrary number of underrepresented group members. Tokenism may contribute to the appearance of a diverse organization, but it undermines underrepresented group members’ abilities to contribute in an organization’s decision making, leadership, and community outreach. One way to mitigate tokenism in society is to address it with university students. This study examines ways to use the classroom as a safe space to effectively incorporate the similarities—differences dialectic and the Staircase Model of Intercultural Communication Flexibility in intercultural pedagogy. Thematic and statistical analysis of 32 students’ sensemaking activities revealed five themes regarding students’ experiences with diversity and inclusion. Analysis of student responses to a course assessment questionnaire indicates that the classroom provides accessible ways to communicate about the similarities—differences dialectic.

Keywords

Pedagogy / peer-to-peer communication / identity / tokenism / inclusion

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