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Inclusivity in learning, teaching & assessment Viv Thom, Education Developer Student Experience Team Quality Enhancement & Student Success QESS
Student Experience Team Student Experience Team in QESS : our role is to • support academic staff in course development • develop learning resources • contribute to policy development and strategic planning • extend inclusive practice • analyze, disseminate and develop student surveys eg.NSS • increase student engagement • we have backgrounds in disability and international student support
Student Corporate Plan 2011-13 Distinctive Features of Sheffield Hallam University A strong national reputation for recruitment students from a broad range of social backgrounds, securing high rates of the retention and progression, and a strong focus on equipping our students for employment and further study
Improving the Student Experience Group 'Retention and Student Success' Background research undertaken by ISEG (Mike Bramhall) listed the "main factors that enhance student retention and success" Active learning and inclusive teaching and learning strategies • An excellent reputation for the quality of our teaching, and pride in the provision of a very supportive student experience • A track record of being responsive to both our partners and to students • A commitment to advancing inclusion as a key feature of all our activities, as we believe this is ethically right and socially responsible and contributes to the academic and business strengths of the University.
Inclusive Practice • "Inclusivity limits the use of additional practices for disabled students and adapts routine practices to meet the needs of all students." (HEFCE (Dec 2009) para8, p.2) • "increasing participation does not of itself represent inclusive education." (Waterfield and West (2006)p.5) • Barton (2003) “inclusion is not about assimilation or accommodation of individuals into an essentially unchanged system of educational practice.” • Instead it is about the “transformation of those deep structural barriers to change”. (quoted in Waterfield and West (2006))
Academic engagement in diverse groups occurs when teachers • Create safe, inclusive spaces • Get to know students as individuals • Establish ground rules for collaborative learning
Develop strategies that harness students' experience and Knowledge • Start with what students know, then apply theory (biographical turn) • Connect with students’ lives, backgrounds and future aspirations • Facilitate uncertainty, confusion & difference • Encourage public articulation of thinking & collaborative problem solving
Teach reflexively and with sensitivity to individual & cultural difference • Mindful of own beliefs and identity and their impact on student learning • Coordinate interaction, mixing different students (with a purpose) • Anticipate students’ requirements and interests • Respond flexibly to emerging needs and interests of student (Christine Hockings "Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research" HEA.)
In your subject discipline….. what might you do to: • Create safe, inclusive spaces • Develop strategies that harness students’ experience and knowledge • Teach reflexively and with sensitivity to individual & cultural differences
Create safe, inclusive spaces • Students need inspirational teachers whose enthusiasm inspires them to learn • Students need teachers who listen and respond to ensure they understand where students are struggling and suggest techniques to help them • The real world and first hand experience teach us so much- build in opportunities to talk to people in companies and organisations and use case studies and role play to try out problem solving prior to consultancy and work-placements • Authenticity is important- for students and for teachers. being able to feel comfortable and safe creates the context for sharing • value the diverse cultural, life and work experiences of your students • encourage students to value one another and work across cultures and other differences
Bibliography • Barton, L. (2003) ‘Inclusive Education and Teacher Education – A Basis for Hope or a Discourse of Delusion’, Professorial Lecture, Institute for Education, University of London quoted in Waterfield and West (2006)) • Waterfield, J and West, B (2006) 'Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change' University of Plymouth: Plymouth • HEFCE Policy development Report (2009/49) 'Outcomes of HEFCE review of its policy as it relates to disabled students' Carroll, J. and Ryan, J. (2005) Teaching International Students, Routledge, SEDA, Birmingham. Hockings, Prof. C (2010) "Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research" York: Higher Education Academy presentation here Quality Assurance Agency (2010) Code of Practice Section 3: Disabled Studentshttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/AssuringStandardsAndQuality/code-of-practice/Pages/default.aspx QAA ‘International students studying in the UK – Guidance for UK higher education institutions 2011http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/International_students_guidance.pdf