As a 24-year-old teacher with brown skin, no gray hair and a slang-infused vocabulary, I am rarely seen by my students as a sage on a stage. But that’s OK, because my main concern when teaching is building an inclusive environment for my students. I don’t think there is enough being done in higher education to encourage creative, innovative teaching. As a student, I consistently wished for a teacher who provided explanations that I could relate to. I saw that what distinguished the great teachers was simply their ability to ensure a learning opportunity for all.
Every student helps me teach by sharing her or his experiences related to a topic. One topic for which this approach is especially helpful is environmental justice; most Clemson students grew up physically segregated from the non-white poor areas, which carry the burdens of pollution. Yet when students share diverse perspectives in class, someone inevitably has firsthand experience in an environmental justice hotspot. As one of the students said in their assessment of the course: “I was unaware of some of the environmental justice issues affecting the less fortunate, and discussing the issues from different viewpoints helped me understand.” As the issue becomes more tangible for everyone in the class, the future leaders of our state are better prepared to solve our local issues.
