Faculty Forward Virtual Book Club: A New Way to Engage with Colleagues
Lunchtime became a bit more interesting this fall as Faculty Forward launched our inaugural Virtual Book Club for faculty and staff. Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally by Emily Ladau proved to be an engaging selection as we gathered on Zoom over three sessions to discuss this approachable book on disabilities and inclusion. According to the CDC, 26% of people have a disability and most of these (up to 90%) are hidden disabilities (CDC, 2023). As the author reminds us, “Disability is something we will all likely experience at some point in our lives” (Ladau, 2021). Disability is a minority group that anyone can join at any time through accident or illness, and cuts across race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomics, and culture making it the essence of diversity, by definition (Kaufman, 2020).
Whiting School of Engineering is committed to inclusive teaching and disability inclusion, and Cathie Axe, Executive Director of Student Disability Services, recommended the book. Dr. Olysha Magruder, Director of Learning Design for CLDT, moderated these thought-provoking, hour-long sessions. Book Club members were encouraged to consider their professional, classroom, and personal life experiences to enhance the dialogue. The group explored ways we have experienced intersectionality between life’s roles and confronted the history of disability in society and disability in the media. The discussion of disability etiquette garnered many questions and aha! moments.
“The book club was really great. The book that we read was an excellent choice — well-written, designed for all audience levels, and about a crucially important topic. I also met (conveniently on Zoom) interesting colleagues with varying viewpoints, and Olysha was the perfect moderator. She even divided up each meeting’s readings into just a few chapters at a time, which eliminated worry about being prepared. Very enjoyable!” – Susan M. Vazakas, Librarian
Several participants told us Demystifying Disability should be required reading for all faculty and staff. You can find additional information in these resources.
- Article on the Hub: Emily Ladau on disability, ableism, and being proud of who you are
- Accessibility at JHU website: Demystifying Disability A Fireside Chat with Emily Ladau
- Faculty Forward Magazine: Inclusive Teaching – Disability as Diversity
Join Us This Spring!
Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Blum & Kohn, 2020)
We select books that are timely, relevant, and meaningful to our roles at the university, and expect an equally lively discussion around our next book selection – Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Blum & Kohn, 2020). The controversial idea of ungrading has garnered praise and criticism across the education sector in recent years, and the authors challenge us to consider the impact of our grading practices on student learning and engagement.
Are we still lecturing—which, as the writer George Leonard observed, is the ‘best way to get information from teacher’s notebook to student’s notebook without touching the student’s mind’?” ― Susan D. Blum, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)
Our three synchronous sessions will discuss the ideas and experiences presented by the 15 educator-authors in three parts: Foundations and Models, Practices, and Reflections. We anticipate stimulating discourse about grading and ungrading and the implications of both on learning, including our responses to these questions and more:
- Why do we grade?
- Have you ever received a grade in a course that you do not think reflected your knowledge in the course? Or a grade that was lower (or higher) than what you thought you deserved in a course?
- Are there viable alternatives to grading?
“The more [student] attention is directed to how well they’re doing, the less engaged they tend to be with what they’re doing.” ― Susan D. Blum, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)
Whether you have prior experience with ungrading or this is a new idea, we would love to hear your experiences and thoughts. Register for the Spring Book Club sessions on our website and begin reading the book in preparation for our discussions.
WSE Spring 2023 Book Club Meeting dates, from 12-1 pm:
- March 30th
- April 27th
- May 25th
Access the eBook through the JHU Library website or request a free print copy by emailing: [email protected].
References
Blum, S. D, & Kohn, A. (2020). Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Disability impacts all of us (Infographic). CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
Ladau, E. (2021). Demystifying disability: What to Know, what to say, and how to be an ally. Ten Speed Press.
Source America. (2020). An inclusive future of work: A systems approach. https://www.sourceamerica.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/2020-fow-report_0.pdf
Keywords: Accessibility, Engineering Education