Cognition and Emotion Group Workshop | Curtin University

Building Inclusive Classrooms: Workshop with Curtin University’s Cognition and Emotion Group

I had an absolute blast running a workshop with the wonderful Mx Hanna Saltis for the Cognition and Emotion Group at Curtin University!

Hanna was lucky enough to be there in person, holding down the fort and keeping the discussion flowing while I joined via video call, giving everyone a very close-up experience of my giant floating head on the big screen (see picture).

We kicked things off by sharing a bit about our research and what inclusion means to each of us. Here’s what I shared:

I grew up rurally, in Carnarvon, on a fruit and veg farm. I was lucky to move to the big smoke (Perth/Boorloo) to study psychology, completing my undergrad and honours and graduating in 2019. Inclusivity is really important to me, not only as a queer person, but also when I think back to myself as an 18-year-old starting university, completely overwhelmed by the pressure and workload.

For me, inclusivity means being able to show up as myself, without fear of ridicule or feeling 'too different.' That’s critical to learning. But it’s also about those students who might be stepping into higher education for the first time, unsure of how anything works or feeling like they don’t belong.

I struggled a lot in school and in my early years of uni. I worked hard, but I wasn’t really flourishing. I was trying to keep my head above water. It wasn’t until I scraped into honours that things shifted. My supervisor actually listened to me, valued my ideas, and one day she said, offhandedly I think, “Have you thought about research? You should do postgrad, I think you would do a great PhD project.”

She probably doesn’t even remember saying it, but for me, that comment changed everything. It made me feel like I belonged, like I had a place in this space. That’s what inclusion does. Sometimes it’s not grand gestures, it’s small acts of recognition that can change everything.

After that bit of vulnerability, we moved into a lively and practical discussion about how inclusion can be embedded in classrooms, from learning outcomes and curriculum content to the everyday language we use.

We ran a group exercise where participants brainstormed ways to embed inclusion across three key areas:

• Unit learning outcomes: examples used in class, readings, assessments, and guest speakers.

• Classroom environment: language choices, normalising pronoun sharing in introductions or email signatures, setting participation norms, and dealing with backlash through curiosity and conversation.

• Institutional and structural signals: inclusive policies, visible representation (posters, cues, networks), and awareness of LGBTQ+ supports and counselling services.

The group asked such thoughtful and important questions. It was inspiring to see how committed everyone was to making classrooms safer and more inclusive for all students.

Seeing Hanna’s facilitation skills in action was a real joy! They have a wonderful way of engaging the group and ensuring every voice is heard.

A big thank you to the Cognition and Emotion Group for hosting us, and to everyone in the group for being so engaged and welcoming. Always a joy to chat about making classrooms better for everyone!