Dr Rosi Smith, Dr Blessing Marandure, Yusraa Maryam and Dr Lamia Nemouchi
De Montfort University
Over the 2022/23 academic year, a group of student and staff co-creators from DMU, led by Dr Rosi Smith and Dr Lamia Nemouchi, have been collaborating to develop a Level 5 Inclusion and Diversity module on the BA (hons) Education Studies. The overarching aims of this project have been to a) Develop co-creation strategies compatible with the limitations of block teaching; b) Help address awarding gaps (40% for our BAME students 2019-2020) by foregrounding topics prioritised by diverse students; c) Develop cross-departmental, multi-disciplinary working to improve quality; and d) Develop pedagogical and anti-oppressive skills, supporting students’ emerging practitioner identities. The Inclusion and Diversity module was selected because of the emphasis on lived experience in key inclusion theory and practice, and because of student voice requests for greater curricular representation of certain groups, especially South Asian women and students with strong faith identities. There was also a recognition that the small module teaching team cannot represent the complex, intersectional identities of our students (or their future pupils) but that a wealth of specialist knowledge exists across DMU. Consequently, this project has involved 6 students from BA (hons) Education Studies who proposed topics of interest and relevance to them, which they then developed into teaching content together with academic and professional services staff from Education, Psychology, and Library and Learning Services, together with the co-chairs of DMU’s Disability and Wellbeing Network (DAWN).
For the Reimagining Higher Education Conference, we are proposing a panel discussion of our student and staff co-creators to reflect on their involvement on the project.
This presentation was delivered at Reimagining Higher Education: journeys of decolonising at De Montfort University, Leicester, on Wednesday 8th November 2023.
Curriculum co-creation as a decolonising tool: Reflections from student and staff co-creators
1. Curriculum co-creation as a
decolonising tool: Reflections from
student and staff co-creators.
Hadassah Andrews, Roze Arbaciauskaite, Jessica Leigh, Gillian
Page, Leanne Herbert, Jennifer Hing-Wilkinson, Blessing
Marandure, Yusraa Maryam, Jess McGowan, Lamia
Nemouchi, Rosi Smith, Meredith Wilkinson, Sarah Younie.
Contact: rosi.smith@dmu.ac.uk
2. Context 1: The need to decolonise.
•New 30 credit module on diversity and inclusion.
•Stark awarding gap.
•Student feedback.
•Student and staff demographics.
•Funding changes and government backlash.
6. The projects.
Students. Project title. Mentors.
Hadassah
Andrews.
Racialised students’ experiences of mental health
and neurodiversity.
Blessing Marandure
and Lamia Nemouchi.
Roze
Arbaciauskaite.
Building inclusion through social and emotional
learning.
Sarah Younie.
Jessica Leigh and
Jess McGowan.
How educational structures are built to exclude
neurodivergence and special educational needs.
Jennifer Hing-
Wilkinson.
Gillian Page. Barriers for learners with hidden disabilities and
medical conditions.
Meredith Wilkinson
and Leanne Herbert.
Yusraa Maryam. Inclusion for Muslim students in higher education,
especially in relation to interest-based loans.
Lamia Nemouchi.
8. Where we’re up to now.
• Most sessions planned.
• Some reflections completed.
• Integrating into the full module.
Next year.
• Putting it into practice.
• Evaluation, including student feedback.
• Writing for publication.
