By Hannah MacDonald, CELS Communication Fellow
Teaching isn’t just about helping students understand different aspects of science to Dr. Bryan Dewsbury, an associate professor in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. It’s about empowering students to develop confidence and a sense of belonging in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). He does this through an inclusive approach to teaching, a practice that emphasizes that teaching and learning are not one-size-fits-all. “Teaching is about coming together to discuss tough issues, solve difficult problems, and hear different opinions,” he explains. “It is about students having their identity and future self validated.”
Dewsbury traces his curiosity in science and his desire to protect the environment to his childhood growing up in Trinidad and Tobago. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Morehouse College, a historically black college, and his master’s and doctorate degrees from Florida International University where he studied the ecology and economics of seagrass.
He says he had no idea that teaching would be his calling prior to graduate school at Florida International University (FIU), but he says the stars aligned when funding became available for a teaching assistant position in FIU’s biology department. “As a grad student, I was actively discouraged from spending too much time as a teaching assistant because teaching wasn’t really considered part of my training,” he states. With little instruction on how to teach, he listened to students as they explained what they wanted to get out of an educational experience. “It made me reflect on what inclusion means, my own journey, and who listened to me when I was a student,” Dewsbury remarks, who credits the students with transforming his interest in marine biology to teaching.
Dewsbury also learned some difficult lessons when he first arrived in the United States at the age of 19. He says he faced microaggressions at school and at conferences and had to learn what it means to be Black in America. “I didn’t grow up in American culture and all its fractiousness,” he explains. “I had to have those experiences of microaggressions to fully understand and internalize what it meant.” Those challenges coupled with the experience of teaching for the first time motivated him to pursue a different style of pedagogy, inclusive teaching. “It all came together to let me know I had an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students and to help them see that they can grow up in a different kind of America,” says Dewsbury.
He was hired as an assistant professor by CELS to lead the Science Education and Society Research Program (SEAS). SEAS explores broad questions relating to the delivery and practice of teaching to support education as a driving force for improving social equity. Their research focuses on pedagogical practices in the classroom and the role social context plays in students’ learning experiences. “This position gave me the most breadth to pursue the opportunities that I wanted,” he says about the national program that provides professional development training and consulting. “I am very interested in not just putting out the research but seeing how inclusive practices play out in the classroom space and at the institutional level.”
Dewsbury practices inclusive teaching in the introduction to biology course he teaches in CELS, which he says is about much more than an introduction to biology. “I really enjoy the challenge of helping them see themselves as college students, future scientists, and self-motivated learners,” he explains. His inclusive approach has resulted in a reduction in failure rates in the introduction to biology course, which has also helped to improve retention rates and encouraged more students to choose biology as a major. Broader inclusive practices are also being noticed beyond CELS as Dewsbury’s successful pedagogy percolates across campus and throughout the country. “I work hard to keep pushing that envelope, keep that conversation going, and keep getting allies and people to support the cause and to see themselves as agents of change,” he says.
Those agents of change also include groups like Voices of Inclusion in Communities of Education and Science (VOICES) at URI, a group of students, faculty, and staff dedicated to facilitating continuous and mutual learning around topics of inclusion, equity, diversity, and representation in higher education. Dewsbury believes that VOICES is creating a more inclusive space by going beyond superficial initiatives and striving for a mindset change within the URI community and beyond.
Dewsbury believes his recent promotion from assistant to associate professor is in recognition of his work to advance inclusive teaching. However, he’ll be the first to tell you that he is not resting on his laurels. He sees it as an opportunity to be an advocate for junior faculty and to support their efforts to include diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in their research and programs. “There’s a sense of responsibility that comes with being at the associate level: you have more ways to help others,” voices Dewsbury.