Not only because the audiences will learn/remember more, but also because transforming what happens in undergraduate classrooms requires faculty assumptions to be challenged regularly and new models for behavior to be presented.
Having "triggers" in mind forces me think about the potential diversity of experiences in my classroom, not to make assumptions about my students' lives and to think carefully about the language I use and the framing of the topic.
Quiet students hope that someday teachers everywhere will be able to appreciate the uniqueness we bring to the classroom and not make assumptions without really getting to know us.
We should have invested in longitudinal data systems for early warnings and interventions in regard to truancy, rather than building gold-plated data systems for firing teachers, under the assumption that classroom instruction, alone, could close the achievement gap.
The focus is sharper for black parents: how do you protect your children from negative assumptions in the classroom, knowing they could be written off as a low achiever no matter how motivated they are, or how much educational support you have given them?
Sadly, these children are "other people's children" -- terminology coined by Lisa Delpit in her seminal work on children of color facing stereotyping, prejudice, and cultural assumptions in the classroom.
Gray, Davis and Singleton all say they've felt a level of discomfort when sharing their views in the classroom or on the quad, because of assumptions from classmates or faculty.
The existence of an achievement gap is often an assumption of the undergraduate physics classroom, yet remains an unknown in introductory biology and biochemistry courses.
In spite of the obvious failure of the assumptions to be literally true, as a classroom example, it rarely disappoints instructors of classes having more than 40 students.
Our assumption was that students would want the classroom model – after all, SL's strength is that it offers a sophisticated reproduction of the classroom environment.
