Neal Malik, an Assistant professor at California State University-San Bernadino, spoke at the Lilly Conference last month about “Inclusive Practices in Student Engagement.” Malik mentioned that they have been teaching in higher education for fourteen years and continue to learn. Malik noted publishing a recent article on inclusive practices. Malik shared a 30-second problem: “Find the number that best completes the sequence below… 19 37 55 73 9?” and the correct answer is 1. When Malik explained the rationale students shared, we learn that there are multiple explanations! The numbers add up to 10… for example.
Ensure that EVERY student has an equal chance for success. There are many paths to reach this ultimate goal!
Neal Malik, Lilly Conference Online 2022
Malik asked “was the authority of teachers and other elders assumed or did it have to be earned?” and warned that authority should not be assumed. Malik defined culturally-responsive teaching as students’ knowledge and new concepts being scaffolded by cultural knowledge. Further, effective information processing and safer space for learning are improved by culturally-responsive education (Kalyanpur 20212, Tatum 2009). Similar to the session I watched yesterday, Malik mentioned we can learn a lot from marketers! Malik explained the lookalike audience idea. Malik connected this to course design by explaining the importance of validating students’ experiences, racial identity… and culture. Some recommendations based on literature were shared. Malik reminded us of the importance of tone. Malik shared a syllabus and how they changed to a motivational syllabus. Using a template from the CSU system, they started with a welcome and have motivational quotes throughout. Next, Malik said: “be intrusive” and check-in and communicate with students. This was a fun session: Malik is conversational and encouraging. The advice includes bits that can be incorporated easily. I will also need to look into Never Work Harder than Your Students!
