Employing Culturally Affirming and Equity-Minded Teaching and Learning Practices to Advance Institutional Equity
Community College faculty play an essential role in institutional efforts to close equity gaps and achieve student success, yet many campuses struggle to engage a broad constituency of faculty in these efforts, leaving many to wonder, “What is my role and responsibility in advancing equity efforts in my classes and beyond?” Thus, in this address, the presenter will:
- (a) discuss the role all faculty must embrace to advance and achieve institutional equity and
- (b) propose culturally affirming teaching and learning strategies that must be employed by all classroom faculty to address inequity and disproportionate impact. The insights of this presentation will be derived from experiences working with community colleges across the United States in a range of equity-related efforts and initiatives.
J. Luke Wood, Ph.D.
Dr. Luke Woods is Vice President of Student Affairs & Campus Diversity and Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Education at San Diego State University. Wood also serves as the Co-Director of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL), a national research and practice center that partners with community colleges to support their capacity in advancing outcomes for underserved students of color.
Wood’s research focuses on factors affecting the success of boys and men of color education, with a specific focus on early childhood education and community colleges. In particular, his research examines contributors (e.g., social, psychological, academic, environmental, institutional) to positive outcomes. Dr. Wood has delivered over a 1,000 scholarly professional and conference presentations. His research has been featured by NBC, New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Huffington Post, Fortune Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, C-SPAN, and National Press Club. Dr. Wood has authored over 160 publications, including more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 books.
Dr. Wood is a former recipient of the Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from which he served as research fellow at the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research (SIHER), Stanford University. Wood received his PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education and master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education from Arizona State University (ASU). He also holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership with a concentration in Student Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Black History and Politics from California State University, Sacramento. Luke is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.