Nursing education and practice are at an inflection point that demands a fundamental culture shift. Preparing nurses to address persistent and widening health inequities requires educators to possess a deep understanding of the historical, structural, and ideological forces that shaped both healthcare systems and nursing education. Nurses are uniquely positioned to mitigate inequities (American Academy of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2019); however, this capacity is contingent upon educational environments that foster critical awareness, ethical action, and the ability to interrogate and dismantle oppressive systems (Villarruel & Broome, 2020). Without intentional disruption, nursing education risks reproducing the very hierarchies and inequities it seeks to address.

The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to acknowledge the historical and generational influences shaping contemporary nursing education; (2) to argue for the disruption of traditional educational models through the development of faculty competencies grounded in inclusive teaching and emancipatory learning; and (3) to present a framework that guides nurse educators in operationalizing these competencies. This paper describes the iterative process undertaken by a task force of educators, students, and alumni to develop Inclusive Teaching and Emancipatory Learning competencies for nurse educators. The resulting framework provides clarity, structure, and practical guidance, positioning inclusive and emancipatory pedagogy as a shared professional responsibility and a foundational expectation for nursing education.

Historically, formal nursing education in the United States evolved from a British colonial model rooted in rigid social hierarchies across race, gender, class, and ability (Tobbell & D’Antonio, 2022). These origins shaped curricula, pedagogical norms, and professional identity formation in ways that privileged eurocentric knowledge, reinforced hierarchical authority, and constrained critical inquiry (Iheduru-Anderson and Waite, 2024). Although nursing's professional values emphasize social justice, advocacy, and care for the most vulnerable, educational structures have often remained misaligned with these commitments. Despite the nursing profession's commitment to respect the inherent dignity of every person and “identify and mitigate bias or prejudice,” (American Nurses Association, 2025, para 1) in nursing education, race is routinely portrayed as a risk factor and a biological rather than social construct, thus continuing the colonial practice of race-based science and medicine (Zappas et al., 2021). The nursing workforce is also disproportionately made up of White individuals who are more likely to be in positions of power in clinical and academic settings and to earn more than their colleagues from other racial groups (Zappas et al., 2021). Contemporary political and social pressures further threaten progress by discouraging critique and reinforcing traditional academic norms that center neutrality, compliance, and linear knowledge transmission - stances that conflict with nursing's ethical obligations to address injustice.

Inclusive teaching and emancipatory learning offer a necessary counter-narrative to historical patterns. Inclusive teaching is defined as a pedagogical approach that recognizes and values diverse identities, experiences, and ways of knowing; removes structural barriers to learning; and intentionally supports the success of learners from historically marginalized communities (Sathy & Hogan, 2019). Emancipatory learning, grounded in the work of Paulo Freire (1970) and later expanded by scholars such as bell hooks (1994), positions education as a practice of freedom that cultivates critical consciousness, dialogue, reflection, and action. Together, these approaches challenge deficit-based frameworks and reposition learners as active co-creators of knowledge rather than passive recipients of expertise (Nouri & Sajjadi, 2014).

Despite growing recognition of the importance of inclusive and emancipatory pedagogy, nursing education lacks clearly articulated, evidence-informed faculty competencies to guide the consistent and effective implementation of these practices. In 2017, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) issued a position statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academic Nursing, calling for educational environments that prepare nurses to address health inequities, enhance civic engagement, and advance the common good (AACN, 2017). Responding to this call extends beyond curricular content and highlights the essential role of faculty in cultivating learning environments that promote advocacy, address racism, and support the development of professional identity grounded in equity and justice. As nursing education continues to evolve, increasing attention to the historical and structural contexts shaping learning environments, including the legacies of colonialism, institutional racism, and elitism, offers a meaningful pathway to more intentional, transparent, and transformative educational practice (Canty et al., 2022; Nye et al., 2023; Waite and Nardi, 2019, Waite and Nardi, 2021).

Faculty competencies, defined as the integration of knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that guide professional practice (Valdez et al., 2023), are critical levers for transforming nursing education. While the racial and gender diversity of the nursing workforce has increased modestly in recent years (Smiley et al., 2025), representation alone is insufficient to disrupt entrenched inequities. Learners from all backgrounds bring lived experiences shaped by intersecting systems of power and oppression that influence academic success and professional development (Fig. 1). Studies demonstrate that many nurse educators have limited awareness of the factors that hinder or facilitate success for underrepresented students and lack the pedagogical skills to address systemic contributors to inequities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes (Beard, 2016; Valdez et al., 2023).

Inclusive teaching practices formally emerged in nursing education in the early 2000s as a response to increasing learner diversity and the complexity of healthcare systems (Levey, 2016). These practices emphasize accessibility, universal design, and the creation of learning environments where all students feel welcomed and supported. The benefits extend beyond individual learner outcomes; inclusive classrooms foster richer dialogue, broaden perspectives, and enhance collective capacity to address complex health challenges (Charania & Patel, 2022). Moreover, inclusive teaching requires educators and institutions to actively reject harmful predicaments such as stereotype threat, anxiety produced by the perceived threat of being stereotyped, which has been shown to negatively affect learner performance and wellbeing (Thorpe, 2022).

Emancipatory learning deepens this pedagogical approach by explicitly addressing power, agency, and structural injustice. It involves cultivating critical awareness of social and institutional forces while supporting learners' capacity to act within and against those systems. In nursing education, emancipatory learning is enacted through dialogue, critical reflection, student-led inquiry, and the examination of how intersecting systems of oppression shape health outcomes and clinical decision-making. Structural competency, understanding how social, political, and economic structures influence health, is central to this approach. Yet, emancipatory learning remains underutilized in nursing education, in part because it challenges the hierarchical, uni-directional models of expertise that have historically defined healthcare education (Metzl & Hansen, 2014; Waite & Nardi, 2021).

The absence of explicit faculty competencies supporting inclusive teaching and emancipatory learning represents a critical gap. Without clear expectations and developmental pathways, these approaches risk remaining aspirational. Developing and standardizing faculty competencies will support educators to acquire the skills needed to facilitate transformative learning, promote equity, and prepare nurses to engage ethically and effectively in complex healthcare environments.