TULSA — Educators, parents and advocates from across the state are learning how to eliminate barriers in the classroom so all students can be successful in school.
Tulsa Community College is hosting an Institute for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy with speakers who have spent years studying the topic.
Eunice Tarver, assistant vice president of diversity and inclusion at TCC, said many educators know their classrooms need to be culturaly relevant and inclusive but do not know how to get to that point.
The goal of the workshop is to give them the tools to take it from an idea and put it into practice.
TCC identifies first-generation college students, people with low income and people of color as the groups they want to focus on.
Tarver said it comes down to building relationships with each student.
"Can they see themselves in the materials that they are reading and the assignments?" Tarver said. "Really just the pedagogy, or the way that they go about their classroom. are you engaging everyone's strength in that classroom? Are you providing opportunities for them to know that they can ask questions?"
About 100 members of the TCC staff are attending the workshop.
One-third of their students are first generation college students and about 40-percent identify as a person of color. They hope to increase graduation rates by making a conscious effort to make everyone feel welcome.
Tonight, they are hosting a free town hall meeting on equality in education at the TCC Metro campus at 6:00 p.m.
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