Diving In to Creating a More Inclusive Syllabus

A course syllabus serves multiple purposes. It is a document that communicates the design of a particular course: learning outcomes, a schedule of content covered, instructional activities, assessments (assignments, projects, exams, etc.), grading and feedback practices, and so forth. It communicates a particular mood or tone for a course, and for the instructor(s) leading it, through language choices, the course design, and explicit and implicit statements about the kinds of behaviours that are welcomed in the learning space. It is an informal contract between instructors and learners, a promise about a course's design that learners can rely upon and that will not change without their consent. And, most importantly, it helps students learn, both by articulating the course's design and the strategies and steps needed for success.

Yet a syllabus can also be authoritative, controlling, and serve to reinforce a dominant culture's norms and values. Consequently, many instructors are exploring ways to write a syllabus to make it more inclusive, anti-racist, decolonizing, humane, learner-centered, just. This resource collects many of these ideas into a single document.

It is important to remember that inclusion cannot be reduced to a checklist. It is helpful to have starting places, but building inclusion in teaching and learning, and elsewhere, is an ongoing process that takes continuous time and development.

This resource is divided into three sections based on how deeply you wish to "dive in" to creating a more inclusive syllabus at the present moment.

• Floating on the surface: quick and easy shifts
• Snorkeling the shallows: medium changes
• Diving the depths: deep commitments