Nationwide Inclusive Facilitator Training: Mindsets, Practices and Growth

Abstract

Advancing diversity in STEM requires competent and confident faculty and staff who can lead local professional development in inclusive teaching to improve classroom instruction and support all learners. This paper examines how a facilitator training model designed to promote inclusive facilitation impacted inclusive learning community facilitator self-reported confidence and practices. This mixed methods study reports on survey data from project trained facilitators (n=75) collected over four course runs. Facilitators reported significant increases in confidence, with the largest effect sizes in areas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and identity. Qualitative findings indicate the training model effectively aligned facilitators with our approach to inclusive facilitation. Findings demonstrate that professional development in inclusive teaching, and by extension in other equity and diversity topics, can be successfully done at a national scale by centering identity, power, and positionality while upholding "do no harm." This paper provides a strategy for how DEI-focused faculty development efforts can select, train, and support facilitators on a national scale while maintaining high fidelity to project values and goals.