Learning students’ names: Why?

To create and nurture a sense of belonging, communicate interest in your students, and reduce anonymity, we encourage you to learn students’ names earlier in the semester. Mispronouncing or misspelling a person’s name can be viewed as a microaggression (Sue, 2010).

How?

If you are an instructor of record, you can see your students’ names and photos (along with other information) on MAUI.

You can ask students to record their names on MyUI so that it is available to you in your class lists. (You can also record your name using the same link.) Recordings can also be found in the university directory.

Googling “pronunciation [name]” often yields recordings you can use to practice.

References

Gonzalez, Jennifer. “How We Pronounce Students Names, and Why It Matters.” Cult of Pedagogy, April 14, 2014. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/gift-of-pronunciation/.

Ochoa, Gerardo. “Getting It Right: Why Pronouncing Names Correctly Matters.” TEDx Talks, February 26, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58tDCaEWfHI.

Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. John Wiley & Sons.