Toward a Humanist and Agentic Paradigm of Inclusive Teaching—Lessons from the United States Civil Rights Era for College Pedagogy

Abstract

Inclusive teaching is a potentially transformative mindset and approach to reimagining education. To realize its full potential, we must be willing to redefine what it means to teach. In this essay, I draw on the lessons learned during the civil rights work of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC) to make the case for a new paradigm for teaching college classrooms. SNCC identified three key principles that guided their work: — 1) families and organizing, 2) grassroots leadership, and 3) casting your bucket where you are. The late Robert (Bob) Moses, recalls these very principles in his post SNCC years when he founded the Algebra Project across the country. Similarly, I consider here how these principles, and their focus on centering relationships and trust, can be transformative for teaching in higher education.