"Creating the Nonsexist Classroom: A Multicultural Approach"

Theresa Mickey McCormick

This book was cited quite a bit in the literature I’d perused, so I was curious to check it out. It’s pretty dated, which I suppose is the catch 22 of something oft-cited from the 90s, but it still had a few good things to offer.

To be honest, the thing I found most worthwhile with this book was a bit of confirmation. Most of what McCormick had to say (and I only really read Chapter Three “Nonsexist, Culturally Inclusive Instruction: Issues and Strategies”) seemed really obvious to me. Which, at first, made me question the value of the book. But the more I thought about it, the more I gave myself a bit of credit: as a book published in the nineties, it devotes a lot of its time to explaining why instructors need to be conscientious about how they treat their students, especially when it comes to issues of gender and culture. It seems that in the 20 years since the book was published, we’ve all come a long ways, culturally, when it comes to even acknowledging the importance of cultural sensitivity. And that’s a good thing.

There was an entire section devoted to why an instructor needs to pay attention to her students: to be sure to treat them fairly, to listen to them, and to work to genuinely meet them where they’re at. I try to do that. McCormick talks a lot about an instructor being honest with herself about her own biases and prejudices, which is something I’ve become much more invested in.

I came away feeling encouraged, mostly, because McCormick, while offering a few practical in-class strategies, mostly wants to say that just trying makes a big difference. And I suppose I am.