As in a F2F traditional classroom, an online classroom can be a rich and exciting teaching/learning environment where participants from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds meet to share knowledge and growth.  In order for teachers to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students, it may helpful that a culturally inclusive curriculum communicate the advantage of education is available and appealing to all alike. The following guidelines may assist educators in developing an inclusive online learning environment or classroom. While many of these guidelines are suitable for any culturally inclusive classroom, they have been slightly adapted to reflect the online focus of this website.  Please note that there may be many more guidelines that can be kept in mind. ​

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Please note that the following guidelines have been compiled by the contributers of this website through their research of other resources for general interest and knowledge. We do not claim to be experts or professional
cultural inclusivity gurus. ​

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Personal considerations:

 

​1. Reflect on personal teaching philosophy and approach to cultural inclusivity:

​While planning to adopt a culturally inclusive strategy in an online classroom, it may be helpful for the educator to reflect on their own definition of what this practice means to them. An educator may consider the following questions as starting points: ​

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a. What is my definition of “diversity” and how can I create a culturally inclusive and welcoming online environment?

b. Can I adapt my online course platform to accommodate the diversity, cultural, linguistic, religious and educational backgrounds of my students.

c. How can I adapt my online teaching practices to be more responsive to the unique needs of diverse student groups?

d. How do I respond to my students (emotionally, cognitively, and behaviourally) through online communication?

e. What experiences do I have as a result of living, studying or working in culturally and linguistically diverse cultures? How can I capitalise on this experience?(Adapted from Griffith University Good Practice Resource Booklet-Designing Culturally Inclusive Learning

and Teaching Environments - Classroom Strategies)

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In addition, McLoughlin (2001) also provides some key questions an educator may ask themselves in a  web based culturally inclusive course:

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a. What kind of learning environment is most familiar to my students?

b. How do I support transition to an online environment?

c. How does the cultural background of the learner influence their view of learning tasks?

d. What cognitive and learning styles characterise the student group?​

e. How can the technology support communication and dialogue that is supportive of diverse learning needs? 

 

Design Considerations:

 

2. Consider the design of the online course:

 

​​​1) According to McLoughlin and Oliver (1999), a culturally informed model of instructional design is one that plans for “diversity, flexibility, interactivity and interconnectivity.” They recommend the following Design Guidelines as essential for establishing a culturally responsive online teaching and learning environment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, Henderson’s (1996) cultural model of instructional design calls on educators to design resources that:a. reflect the multicultural realities of society;b. include multiple cultural ways of learning and teachingc. promote equity of learning outcomes.(These criteria can also be helpful for online educators as they are choosing their online collaboration tools and course management systems.)

 

​Delivery Considerations:

 

3. Establish Inclusion:

 

Norms:

• Emphasize the human purpose of what is being learned and its relationship to the students' experience.- Share the ownership of knowing with all students.

• Collaborate and cooperate. The class assumes a hopeful view of people and their capacity to change.

• Treat all students equitably. Invite them to point out behaviors or practices that discriminate.

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Procedures:

• Collaborative learning approaches; cooperative learning; writing groups; peer teaching; multidimensional sharing; focus groups; and re-framing.

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Online, this might mean: making use of wikis and blogs; encouraging students to learn from and teach one another about topics they are interested in in a variety of ways (e.g. videos, podcasts, write-ups, photos, artwork, music videos, etc.).

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Structures:

• Ground rules, learning communities; and cooperative base groups.

 

​Online, this might mean: encouraging students to get to know each other on a personal level by asking them to work in small groups on an assignment or to solve a problem; encouraging the sharing of some personal information online (e.g. sharing a picture and a few personal things about yourself or your narrative as a mandatory portion of the online course); having whole class online discussions as well as small-group online discussions to foster a sense of "class" community as well as to allow students to develop more personal relationships; assigning partners to ask for help, feedback, or assistance with technical issues or coursework.

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4. Develop Positive Attitude

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Norms:

• Relate teaching and learning activities to students' experience or previous knowledge.- Encourage students to make choices in content and assessment methods based on their experiences, values, needs, and strengths.

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Procedures:

• Clear learning goals; problem solving goals; fair and clear criteria of evaluation; relevant learning models; learning contracts; approaches based on multiple intelligences theory, pedagogical flexibility based on style, and experiential learning.

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Structure:

• Culturally responsive teacher/student/parent conferences.

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5. Enhance Meaning

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Norms:​

• Provide challenging learning experiences involving higher order thinking and critical inquiry.

• Address relevant, real-world issues in an action-oriented manner.

• Encourage discussion of relevant experiences. Incorporate student dialect into classroom dialogue.

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Procedures:

• Critical questioning; guided reciprocal peer questioning; posing problems; decision making; investigation of definitions; historical investigations; experimental inquiry; invention; art; simulations; and case study methods.

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Structures:

• Projects and the problem-posing model.

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6. Engender Competence

 

Norms:

• Connect the assessment process to the students' world, frames of reference, and values.- Include multiple ways to represent knowledge and skills and allow for attainment of outcomes at different points in time.- Encourage self-assessment.

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Procedures:

• Feedback; contextualized assessment; authentic assessment tasks; portfolios and process-folios; tests and testing formats critiqued for bias; and self-assessment.

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Structures:

• Narrative evaluations; credit/no credit systems; and contracts for grades.

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Based on Wlodkowski, R. J., and M. B. Ginsberg. (1995). Diversity and Motivation: Culturally Responsive Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.