Faculty Collaboration and Inclusive Pedagogical Practice: An Introduction

Abstract

This book is the result of collaboration among the contributors over four years of seminars, conferences, book meetings, and sustained conversation about what constitutes good teaching. Supported by external funding, the authors have participated in semester-long, faculty-led teaching seminars on our own campuses and shared insights with colleagues at other New England—area colleges and universities at intercollegiate gatherings. Although our campuses, academic fields, and cultural backgrounds differ, our common experience of collaboration has convinced us that sharing information and teaching strategies among colleagues fosters improvements in student learning. Our experiences have taught us that this goal can be reached by introducing collaborative approaches into the classroom and into our relationships with students. These help define the classroom as a learning community and foster reflective student engagement with texts and writing.