Dr. Betina Hsieh Selected as TEDx Speaker

Dr. Betina Hsieh has been selected as a CSULB TEDx speaker for the spring 2020 TEDx conference, “Shattering Perceptions”.  Dr. Hsieh’s TEDx topic will discuss the importance of humanizing pedagogies in a time of increasing standardization.  Expanding further upon her topic, Dr. Hsieh shared:

Humanizing pedagogies are based upon the idea that we see and know the whole of people (both teachers and students) in classrooms, making connections to who they are and connecting their knowledge and experiences to the content that we want them to learn. In order to do this, we have to be intentional about creating space in learning environments, which all too often are reduced to an efficiency driven system of covering a breadth of content and concepts without an acknowledgment of the people who are engaged in the teaching and learning processes. We must build intentional and deep relationships if we want to bring access to the content and concepts in a course. It also means that we make space for people’s humanity, that we honor who they are, what they bring to the space, and that we are mindful of what they need to be fully present and ready to learn.  In many educational contexts, the growing idea is that we must standardize learning if we are to promote rigorous instruction and high standards for all students.  The idea of humanizing pedagogies does not take away from the importance of high standards and expectations for all students. Like a prism, this idea acknowledges the importance of a cohesive structure in learning environments, but shatters the notion that standardization will pave the way to opportunities for all students.  Humanizing pedagogies highlight the ways in which learning communities are made up of beautiful, diverse people with all of their collective experiences, wisdom, and journeys and that connecting with this will enhance both content learning and a cohesive sense of self.

CSULB is a diverse teaching and learning community.  As a Minority Serving Institution with large numbers of Latinx and Asian American students as well as many first-generation students, we are a campus that acknowledges not only racial and socio-economic diversity but also diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, ability status, immigration status, experiences and belief systems.  It’s critical for the idea of humanizing pedagogies to be brought to this space.  The core idea of humanization is essential in our relationships with each other as a community, in helping us to engage in dialogue across difference, in helping us to create affinity spaces where we can safely express who we are, and in supporting each of us as we navigate the dynamics of this large institution.  We cannot move towards greater equity until we can acknowledge one another’s humanity.