Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1040675
with students about the ways that language and grammar are tied to various forms of privilege. I am far from being an expert on having these conversations with students. What I hope to offer here is simply an occasion for viewing our interactions with students in light of the broader social context. If we view NCU in the greater context of the complex higher education system in the United States, and of our social structures more generally, it sheds light on the important work that we're doing in terms of enabling greater access and promoting equity in educational attainment. Additionally, approaching our teaching relationships with a higher level of critical consciousness can change the spirit with which we approach our teaching. In this spirit of thinking about our work with students at NCU in the context of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I've included a few resources that I've found helpful in my own work. I hope they are also helpful to you." Long Beach City College – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZGo45sR4g The video itself is over an hour long. While the whole video is valuable, what I found especially impactful starts at the 1:36-minute mark and lasts for about 14 minutes. Long Beach City College conducted a series of interviews with students talking about some of the life circumstances and challenges affecting their educational experience. Listening to these students made a big impression on me. I just kept thinking, "these could easily be our students here at NCU, either now or in the future!" and "I wish we could see interviews of our students like this!" Teaching online, we often only see very small slivers of our students' lives. Despite this, I think many of us strive to learn about our students in a holistic way. The effort you put forth here—to understand your students' goals, challenges, and unique life circumstances—really matters. For me, watching this video left me feeling a greater sense of connection to and compassion for my own students. PBS News Hour (Sept. 2016) – Why First Generation College Students Need People Who Get Them https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/first-generati on-students-need-mentors-get (3-minute video) The speaker featured in this video discusses her experiences as a first generation college student who has gone on to become a professor herself. She emphasizes a point that is relevant to our work at NCU, stating of her experience, "I didn't know what I didn't know." As I provide feedback to my students at NCU, I try to think about what knowledge they may need (and not yet have) in order to make use of the feedback I'm offering. On Mentoring First Generation and Graduate Students of Color – Article from the website for The Committee on the Literatures of People of Color (CLPC) https://clpc.mla.hcommons.org/on-mentoring-first-ge neration-and-graduate-students-of-color/ This article offers helpful guidance about supporting first generation students and students of color in graduate school, including suggestions such as: • Learn about obstacles students have overcome just to get to graduate school. • Communicate a balanced perspective on the difficulties of graduate school. • Examine your own assumptions about minority students and work to reduce your own implicit or unexamined biases. • Talk with students about career goals and ask questions that scaffold knowledge of how to attain those goals. • Encourage students to build relationships, make connections, and build their professional networks. • Actively support students in accessing opportunities to develop professional communication skills (for example, professional conferences). I suspect that the guidance offered here will fit with what many of you already do with your students. This article is helpful in terms of drawing attention to how essential these mentorship activities are in closing educational inequities and promoting inclusivity in graduate education.