Zozan Balci is the recipient of the 2022 UTS Learning and Teaching Award for Teaching by a Casual or Sessional Staff Member, which she received for creating inclusive learning spaces through enhancing student belonging. Zozan was part of the panel for the first FFYE Forum of the year – keep an eye on the blog for an upcoming recap post.
Confident students are much more likely to speak in class, ask for help when needed and share their ideas. They are more likely to make friends at university, engage with their tutors and feel comfortable in and around campus.
In turn, students who lack confidence are left behind and may never say a word in class. They leave tutors wondering whether they are engaging with the material or need help, and they struggle to make friendships. This is not only a loss for those students, but detrimental to everyone’s learning experience because class discussions will inevitably lack diversity of thought, creating barriers for critical thinking.
So how do we teach ‘confidence’, especially in first-year students?
I teach courses in the Social and Political Sciences, which can be especially challenging as students are encouraged to examine their assumptions about citizenship, democracy, and diversity.
Without a thoughtful teaching approach, many students – especially first-year students – may feel too self-conscious to speak, don’t feel they have enough knowledge to properly participate, and ultimately end up feeling intimidated and excluded. This can be very demotivating and result in a missed opportunity for the entire class to develop critical thinking skills through debate and diversity of thought.
To ensure that my teaching practice is intentionally inclusive, there are a number of practices I have implemented to motivate students to participate. One of these practices is based around building confidence.
Becoming an ally
Speaking about social issues and politics in front of a group of strangers can be very daunting. Students worry about saying the wrong thing and being judged, and many suffer from imposter syndrome.
What has worked well is to implement a scaffolded approach to class discussions. Having discussions in smaller groups, rather than as a whole class, is very useful to get students talking. But that alone does not increase their confidence to eventually participate in bigger groups or in other settings.
One helpful practice I use is to walk around the class and physically sit down with students during small group discussions. Physically sitting down makes it less intimidating for students to speak to their tutor, making the tutor more approachable and giving the feel of a casual chat. Online, this practice can be adapted by entering and participating in small breakout rooms.
The tutor’s role in this moment is to encourage those students who tend to be less vocal to share their ideas or ask a question, now in a more comfortable setting. This works well in getting all students out of their shells, and to consider the tutor an ally to their learning, as someone who genuinely cares about what they have to say.
Asking for consent
There is arguably nothing worse for a student than being put on the spot in front of everyone and being forced to answer a difficult point. It is why I have made it my practice to ask for consent before calling upon students during the first stage of the session.
During the small group discussion when I sit with my students, I reassure them that their idea was insightful, or that their question is valid. I then ask one or two individual students at this table whether they would be comfortable with me calling upon them during the all-class discussion to repeat their point. I then physically get up and sit down at the next table.
Once the class comes together to share ideas from the smaller group discussions, I call upon only those who have given me their consent, and those who voluntarily raise their hand.
Seeking consent does four important things:
- Students who would not typically raise their hands are now given time and space to speak. This ensures diversity of thought.
- Students feel reassured that their ideas and questions are not embarrassing – quite the contrary, they are worth sharing.
- I have sought their consent before calling upon them and thus ensure no student is ever put on the spot feeling unprepared and unsure.
- Rather than answering their questions, asking them to pose them to the class and eliciting answers as a group develops everyone’s confidence and critical thinking.
Impact
This practice is diligently repeated for the first few weeks of the session. Towards the halfway mark, this practice is no longer necessary as students have developed the confidence to participate in all-class discussions and debates without my assistance, and students voluntarily raise their hands to share their ideas.
This is the greatest impact on their confidence, a universal tool that will serve them well throughout their time at university and beyond.
Student feedback speaks volumes about how meaningful this is, as can be seen in this feedback:
I loved how interactive and entertaining Zozan made this class, as well as how comfortable she made students feel to voice their opinions and ideas.
Student feedback