Building Community in the Classroom

What is it?

A classroom community is an inclusive space for social and academic support and connection as students and instructors engage in open discussion and collaboration.

Why is it Important?

A strong community within the classroom allows students to engage more deeply with instructors, peers, and learning materials while encouraging students to share their perspectives in a constructive environment. Community builds confidence for both students and instructors and increases buy-in towards desired learning outcomes.

How can faculty apply it?

  • Follow an existing model - The Community of Inquiry Model provides an effective framework for creating a meaningful educational community through three elements:
    1. Social presence - Create relationships and communicate purposefully with your students. This is the students’ community experience.
    2. Teaching presence - Organize and facilitate meaningful learning experiences. This is the students’ connection to the content.
    3. Cognitive presence - The ability of students to express what they have learned through reflection and discussion. This is the students’ experience in exploring and applying knowledge.
  • Engage students to facilitate aspects of class - Giving students shared responsibilities of the class will allow them to better engage with the content and help them appreciate peers’ contributions to the classroom (e.g contribute to the reading list, set up classroom ground rules, norms, etc.)
  • Embrace student variability - All students are different! An essential part of building community in the classroom is a common sense of belonging. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers a framework and implementation guides for helping everyone feel included in the learning process while providing multiple pathways to engage.

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