ABSTRACT
Meeting the challenge of teaching in today's environment is perhaps greater and more urgent in community colleges, whose mission is defined by the commitment to access for all, responsiveness to community need, and above all equitable practice toward justice. As institutions of higher education continue to face challenges of rapidly diversifying student-bodies and the resultant cultural divides in classrooms, it is imperative that educators realize that they must—in addition to simply teaching their specialty/discipline—provide the necessary space for students to develop intercultural competence in perception, understanding, and empathy to help bridge the racial divide in classrooms, on college campuses, and in the global workplace. The authors of this article suggest a three-tiered approach in developing these spaces, including the adoption of invitational theory as a teaching philosophy and culturally responsive, inclusive pedagogies and practices to foster a safe space in which students and faculty engage in dialogue for change and learning together. The authors offer personal, anecdotal examples of their adoption of liberatory practice, as well as challenges they have experienced by embracing the approach.
