Teaching for Diversity and Inclusivity:

Protection of Human Rights and Rights to Learn

Natsumi Ikoma (Professor of Literature and Director of Center for Gender Studies)

*This article was written in 2017 and revised in 2022. The academic and administrative titles stated above are those held at the time of writing.

[日本語]

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ICU campus is a community of students, faculty and staff members with diverse backgrounds in terms of age, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality, and physical function. As faculty members of ICU, we need to pay attention to protect everyone’s human rights, rights to learn, and individuality, and to offer a safe environment where everyone can study and do research. Human rights violations occur even if one is not particularly discriminatory and can be avoided by having the proper knowledge and awareness. Please make use of this information to make your classroom or senior thesis seminar inclusive and LGBTQ friendly and a place where every student feels welcome. We cannot make this campus suddenly inclusive; only by working together bit by bit can we create a safe environment for everybody. Your contribution is much needed!

Your Classroom Is Already Diverse

There will be students with different sexualities and/or with various kinds of disabilities in your classroom. Don’t assume all students are single, heterosexual, cis-gendered, and able-bodied.

According to research, the LGBTQ population in Japan is 7.6%. This means that 1 in 13 students are sexual minorities. Chances are, there will be sexual minority students in your classroom. We cannot determine LGBTQ students from their appearance alone. A physical handicap might be more easily spotted, but students with learning disabilities are harder to notice. Students’ racial and cultural backgrounds or faiths are even harder to decipher from the outside. There may be students who are the main caretakers of young children or the elderly in their families. Always bear in mind your classroom is always already diverse.

You are probably aware that you should not say discriminatory things or make fun of age, sexuality, disability, religious affiliation, marital status and nationality, etc. Make sure you are also aware that ignoring their differences is in itself a violation of their human rights. For instance, your simple questions such as “What do want in your future partner in marriage?” or “What do you think as a man / as a woman / as a Japanese?” can be hurtful. There are people excluded from marriage system, and some people may look female, male or Japanese, yet have different identities. By forcing preconceived notions upon your students, you end up creating an atmosphere that exclude certain students within your classroom / seminar and where minority students’ rights to learn are violated.

Care for Students with a Disability

There will also be students with learning and/or physical disabilities. Some of them are connected to the Office of Special Needs Support Services (SNSS), in which case, the SNSS will contact you at the beginning of each term. It is not always the case, however. Some attention is necessary such as making your handouts and PowerPoint file available online (e.g., via Google Classroom or Moodle). Permit the use of a recorder or note taking with their computer. Take care that those students will not be put at a disadvantage. Avoid imposing inflexible rules to manage your classroom / seminar, but be flexible enough to accommodate individual needs when possible. Do not consider that they receive special treatment, but understand that the existing system has hindered their learning opportunities.

Make Your Classroom and Seminar a Safe Place!

Be aware that a classroom can be a hostile and unsafe place for some female and LGBTQ students. Some years ago, at Hitotsubashi University, a graduate student of the law school committed suicide after being outed by his classmate. ICU is sadly not free from racism or discrimination towards women and sexual minorities. As a faculty member, you have a responsibility to protect their human rights and ultimately their lives.

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t say/do something based on sexual orientation or race. As a teacher, you also need to pay attention to the atmosphere of your classroom. For example some students in your class may express some hurtful opinions based on their prejudice during discussions or group work. Or some guest lecturers you invite to the class may do a similar thing. Do not leave such an opinion as it is - you need to point out its discriminatory nature by constructive criticism and lead the class to a more inclusive attitude. Make sure you don’t tolerate any kind of discrimination in your class and this attitude should be expressed sooner than later. Be sure to provide correct information and be a positive role model because in most cases, discriminatory comments come from ignorance.

The Power Relationship Between You and Your Student Is Unequal

How friendly you are as a faculty member has a huge impact on students because their grade is decided by you. Your students might hold back their true feelings in fear of antagonizing you. Thus, it is important to create an atmosphere that you are easy and trustworthy to talk to by avoiding being too authoritative or moody. Also be aware that your students regard you as much older than themselves however young you may feel yourself. In a Japanese context, age difference creates extra barriers in communication: portray yourself as your students’ reliable advisor by staying open and flexible.

Gender Neutral Way to Address Students

In Japanese, use the honorific “san” as in “Taro-san” “Hanako-san” and “Tanaka-san”. Some professors customarily use “Taro-kun” for boys, and “Hanako-san” for girls, but it is inappropriate for a diversity sensitive classroom as you judge your students’ gender by name or by outer appearance. You cannot ask your students their gender in your classroom as it forces them to “come out” against their will. The safe option, therefore, is to use “san”. Some use “kun” for all, but it sounds a bit authoritative as it contains a condescending tone.

In English, you may prefer to use their first names. You may want to ask your students first what they want themselves to be called. Some transgendered students do not want you to use their official names. Avoid using honorific such as Mr. Miss, Mrs. or Sir.

Avoid Generalization

Be careful not to assume your experiences (e.g., of relationship, marriage, or life itself) as generally shared or “normal”. Students do not necessarily share your views or values, and your generalizations might exclude some students. Even those sensitive to women’s issues can be unaware of their heterosexism. Women’s issues and LGBTQ issues share some aspects but are not the same. A sufferer of one prejudice may inflict another prejudice on someone else.

Manage Discussion Time

At ICU, in-class discussions are encouraged as effective means to enhance educational effects. But be aware, for some students, discussion time can be tough. If the discussion topic is personal / requires students to reveal some private issues, you should be extra careful. As written in (3), the classroom is not necessarily a safe space for some students. They may feel threatened, intimidated, ridiculed, discriminated, and excluded, and when they do, they may stay silent without uttering a word or may even leave the classroom. If you find someone like this, go talk to them to find out what the problem is.

If you deliberately choose personal issues as discussion topics, you need to make the whole class pledge before the discussion that:

• • they need to protect everyone’s human rights,

  • they should be aware that someone in your group may be in a sensitive minority group,

  • they mustn’t judge people,

  • they mustn’t force others to say their opinion,

  • they mustn’t interrupt when others are sharing their opinion,

  • they should avoid being definitive,

  • they mustn’t disclose what is discussed after the class.

This won’t necessarily promise security and some students may still not want to participate in the discussion. Make sure you have alternative work for such students to make up for the discussion they miss.

Manage Group Work

You may want to require your students to do some group work. Again, this can create a challenge for some students. If the topic is related to personal issues, make sure you have other options for those who do not want to participate in group work. There may be students with caring duties for young children and/or elderly. There may also be students with a disability. They may have difficulties in taking part in the group work outside the usual class schedule, even when they want to. Manage your group work schedules for those students to participate easily.

Manage Assignments

Make sure students are offered multiple chances to be evaluated on their academic performance. Pay attention to the students with learning difficulties and physical handicaps especially. Talk to SNSS if necessary to figure out what is the best for them.

Select Inclusive Teaching Materials

Pay attention that the materials you use in class are also inclusive. Do they only reflect a stereotypical view? Do they include prejudicial / discriminatory words? Are they taken from a reliable source? You may want to use discriminatory discourse in order to provoke critical thinking. In that case, make sure you explain the historical and cultural context behind the discourse, and at the end of that class, make sure you criticize the discourse by pinpointing the problems. Do not just distribute such a hurtful discourse and leave it as it is. That will create misunderstandings that you want to reproduce the discourse and that the university allows you to disseminate discriminatory ideas.

Do Not “OUT” LGBTQ Students

Your students may “come out” to you that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning, or that they have a secret, in a personal communication with you such as through e-mail and comment sheets. Be aware that such action occurs only between you and that student. You are trusted by the student that you keep their secret. The student may not have been able to come out to anybody else for fear of hostility or ridicule from fellow students. Sadly, the student’s concern is not unfounded, as Hitotsubashi case plainly shows. Do not refer to such communication in a situation where the said student can be identified even after the student graduates - not to the student's classmates, nor to any other students or to your colleagues. Never disclose the student’s secret anywhere. “Outing” is a form of violence and it can destroy human lives. Be extra careful.

Utilize Criticism Against You to Improve Your Teaching

Even when you are very careful to be inclusive, sometimes you may receive complaints or criticisms. Your gut reaction may be to defend yourself and this is natural. But take a breath to keep calm and try to listen to their criticism first. There is much that the majority isn’t aware of because it is not them that suffer. Consider the majority status as a dark shade over your eyes. You may be too privileged to notice the difficulties that the minority encounters every day. You may be doing what seems “right” to you, but perhaps, from the minority’s point of view, it may not seem “right” after all.

Teachers who regard themselves as LGBTQ friendly tend to defend themselves extra hard in the face of criticism. We need to be aware that it is extremely difficult for the majority to put themselves into the shoes of the minority. Start the conversation with your critic from the very basic knowledge that you do not understand the minority issues at all. Harassment can only be noticed from the harassed, not the harasser.

Do Not Use Pseudo-Scientific Discourse

Most of you are familiar with popular pseudo-science today. Have you heard of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus? Or of Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps? Or terms such as “male brain” and “female brain”? You may easily see that such a stereotypical overgeneralization is harmful to anyone. Scientific (pseudo or not) discourses tend to focus on general tendencies and ignore individual differences. That may be valid in science but in human interactions, you violate human rights if you adopt such attitudes to an individual you are interacting with. What you are advised to do, as a faculty member of ICU, and also as a human being, is to respect individual differences and diversity. Do not impose on them the generalized notion or definition obtained from “scientific” discourses. The human psyche is more complex and our hope, desire, wish, gender and sexuality are not necessarily explained with biological, medical, or chemical discourses. Take care that the human rights of those with minority identity are not being violated.

Be Aware of Human Rights Issues on Campus

As a faculty member, you need to know that there are ongoing human rights violations on the campus of ICU. We have a Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Advisors working within ICU. There have been and are people, including students and faculty members, who feel their human rights have been violated. The university system itself is based on the assumption that all students and faculty members are heterosexual and cis-gendered. All students are assumed single and childless. The students with young children and LGBTQ students especially suffer. Students are systematically underpowered in the university education system. As a faculty member with power and privilege, you need to be extra careful to protect their human rights and their rights to learn.

When Your Student Is Pregnant / Caring for Young Children / Sick

As I wrote in previous section, pregnant students may experience many hostile reactions from various sections of the university. Depending on the situation, e.g. marital status, income, parents’ consent etc., the problem they may have differs. When they decide to go ahead with pregnancy, support them so that they can continue their study at ICU. It is not impossible to have a baby and study for a degree at the same time. In the past, ICU students have done it. We have a nursing room on the first floor of Honkan (you need to register at the Security Office to use this room) which is available to students as well as faculty/staff members. Visit Center for Gender Studies (http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/en/) for more information.

Your students may also want to take a leave of absence due to other reasons, such as their own health condition or their caring responsibility. The fee for absent terms has drastically been reduced, which helps students to take a break from academic life more easily. For sick students, it is always a good idea to refer them to the counseling center, where their health condition can be monitored and necessary measures taken.

Where to Contact

· HUMAN RIGHTS ADVISOR: You may feel the need to contact someone with regards to human rights issues. You yourself may have a minority identity and feel your rights have been violated. Or you may witness some of your students’ rights being violated. In such cases, please contact one of the Human Rights Advisors (http://www.icu.ac.jp/en/campuslife/health/HR.html#sec3.)

· Counseling Center: If your students have problem, you can advise them to go to ICU Counseling Center which welcomes those concerned with issues related to gender and sexuality. Booking of the session can be made through the ICU Counseling Center (DH 2F – Ex. 3499), and faculty members can contact the Center for the sake of students.

· CENTER FOR GENDER STUDIES: If your problem is less urgent, or if you are seeking a more LGBTQ / women friendly atmosphere, why don’t you visit the Center for Gender Studies at ERB 301? There is no appointment necessary; just drop in to have a chat, a cup of coffee, or to eat lunch with other faculty members as well as students. You may also advise your students to visit it. (Under the influence of pandemic, please check out the opening hours and booking necessity.)

· CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING: If your problem is a more general one, visiting the CTL might be a good idea. You will be able to obtain advice with regards to how you can better manage your class.