UCDS’ Commitment to DEIB
Living in a diverse world presents challenges and joys for our children. We believe it is our responsibility to foster an equitable and safe environment, which promotes belonging and appreciation of ourselves as well as others. Our school is a community that strives to lead by example in respecting and affirming the unique combination of identities and qualities of each person. We actively seek students, families, faculty, and staff from a wide spectrum of backgrounds.
UCDS believes that the different experiences of the intersection of our identities and perspectives can stimulate growth and new possibilities when encouraged through courageous conversations to challenge assumptions and foster greater understanding within ourselves and others. We value what each of us contributes to the whole and envision our school as a mosaic that reflects the broader community.
DEIB at the Graduate School
The UCDS Graduate School of Education acknowledges that educational programming in the United States has traditionally perpetuated injustices against those who are marginalized or persecuted within our larger society. We commit to an ongoing and active examination of our educational programming to identify and counteract/address of discrimination, prejudice, and more subtle forms of bias. Each course will take steps to support diversity, equity, and belonging for our students and for those they will serve in the future. These steps will be addressed in each syllabus in a way that is meaningful and relevant to the focus of the course.
Over the last several years, faculty have worked to reconsider and operationalize how each course works to meet this commitment. The following are a couple of specific examples of how faculty are taking steps to achieve this.
Examples from Courses
EDU 563 Ethics in Education
Integral in the design and coursework of EDU 563: Ethics in Education is the belief that social justice and equity must be inherent and visible in the ethical practices of all educational institutions. We examine the voices of powerful adherents for inclusive classroom and institutional democracy and ethical problems specific to education to define and clarify these positions. These voices, coupled with contemporary case studies used by our students, will continue to question the traditional values of public and private education in a way that fosters deep reform, progressive thinking, and a healthy skepticism when assessing and evaluating norms and standards of this and other eras. We will use scholar-educators as resources who espouse progressive approaches to learning and whose vigorous examination of education identified that the power rests in the student/learner, not the dominant, current, or conventional political, racial, economic, or institutional thinking. This course, as well, encourages students to be open, healthy skeptics of social norms and values but also good listeners to the many voices, majority and dissonant, as they explore institutional behavior and ethics. And we know that our educational institutions must be diverse, equitable, inclusive, and open-hearted so all believe they belong.
EDU 581: Individualizing Instruction
This course will explore the groundwork necessary for individualization by reviewing a framework of elements that support a successful learning experience. This framework includes acknowledging each student by developing an individual learning profile, considering environmental and cultural factors that influence learning, implementing a dynamic curriculum, and using assessments as guides to support learning.
Throughout the course, participants will explore theoretical, philosophical, and empirical readings, reflect on observations, and engage in group discussions and activities to enhance understanding of developing effective strategies that acknowledge the needs of the individual in culturally and ability diverse classrooms, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that every student can learn and succeed.
EDU 584 Designing Curriculum for Social Justice in the AI Age
This course explores how social studies, science, and social justice education can equip students with the critical skills needed in the AI Age. Through an emphasis on inquiry, ethical reasoning, and real-world relevance, students will examine what it means to be a learner in this rapidly evolving context and how curriculum can reflect and support that vision.
Students will design standards-based science and social studies units that integrate social justice standards and foster AI Age competencies. Together, we will engage in a dynamic, student-centered learning environment to reflect on practice, share implementation challenges and successes, and create inclusive, justice-oriented classrooms