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Implementing Inclusive Practice
This document outlines the importance of inclusive practice in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) to address outcome gaps for specific student groups. It discusses key factors influencing student experiences, practical strategies for educators, and institutional efforts to enhance inclusivity through curriculum design, staff training, and awareness initiatives. The document emphasizes collaboration with students and continuous reflection on biases as essential elements in fostering an inclusive learning environment.
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Implementing Inclusive Practice
- 1. Implementing Inclusive Practice AllInclusive! 18th January 2017 Dr Graham Holden Director of Learning and Teaching g.j.holden@shu.ac.uk @GrahamJHolden
- 2. Causes of differencesin student outcomes, HEFCE 2015 Inclusive practice is fundamental to addressing the outcome gaps for specific groups of students in UK HEIs A central challenge for many institutions is to go beyond ‘piecemeal’ and time-constrained projects…towards the achievement of widespread cultural change which extends across institutions, and is embedded at the strategic level as well as in the day to day provision of HE” http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/I ndependentresearch/2015/Causes,of,differences,in,student ,outcomes/HEFCE2015_diffout.pdf
- 3. Causes of differencesin student outcomes, HEFCE 2015 Four types of explanatory factors are identified in the research: • Curricula and learning, teaching and assessment practices. • Relationships between staff and students and among students • Social, cultural and economic capital • Psychosocial and identity factors
- 4. The practical implications PaulineHanesworth, in her recent work on equality and diversity in the curriculum for the HEA identifies 4 key underpinning principles : • Interrogate your disciplinary norms • Teach to nurture student belonging and engagement • Interact with diversity through learning and teaching • Encourage and practice self-reflection
- 5. • How canwe vary our teaching and assessment practices to encourage the active participation of all our students? • Central to this is understanding who are students are and challenging the assumptions we make around: • disciplinary language • level of disciplinary knowledge • prior personal, academic, cultural experiences • Peer assisted learning and mentoring schemes are powerful and proven ways to address this REACT Project Interrogate your disciplinary norms
- 6. Nurture student belongingand engagement Creating safe and collaborative learning spaces conducive to student learning and that foster interaction and academic challenge in a supportive environment. For example think about the way that you use: • the learning space to encourage interaction • facilitate / use group interaction in your teaching session One way to approach this is to work with our students as co-creators and co-producers of the learning experience, empowering them to take responsibility for their own, and each other’s, learning.
- 7. Interact with diversitythrough learning and teaching How do you integrate themes of equality, diversity and cultural relativity into your teaching / curriculum? How visibly diverse are the images and examples you use? How diverse are your source materials? In what ways does your approach to teaching provide opportunities for students to share their diverse experiences and relate these to the curriculum content?
- 8. Encourage and practiceself- reflection Just as our disciplines are not neutral, neither are we. We all have, from our own backgrounds, experiences, unconscious – and conscious – biases and assumptions. How do we reflect on and challenge these? How do you use student feedback and outcomes to support this? Peer review and observation are a useful vehicle for reflection in how you use the learning space and facilitate sessions.
- 9. Simple actions caneffect change
- 10. What next? Themed workshopsfor individuals or small teams who wish to make a change to their practice to enhance inclusivity in one key area: 1. Induction and Transitions (including from-school, mature and international students) 2. Curriculum and Assessment Design 3. Classroom teaching (large and small groups) 4. Placements and work based learning For more information: https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/lead/
- 11. What are wedoing as an institution? (1) 1. Raising awareness • Introduction of 2 e-learning modules for staff that focus on equality and diversity and unconscious bias • Staff development activities: e.g. Minding the Gaps: REACTing to improve BME attainment (Nov 2016) UDLL (Universal Design for Learning – License to Learn) Erasmus+ project (Feb 2017) 2. Embedding reporting of differential outcomes into our routine and periodic review processes
- 12. What are wedoing as an institution? (2) 3. BME Steering Group and BME Development Plan BME Development Plan has identified 4 themes: • Creating a more inclusive culture • Developing an inclusive curriculum • Building organisational capacity for BME success • Generating and sustaining impact Recent activities have focused on: • Raising awareness • Sharing of practice (what works) • Reporting and monitoring of performance at department/subject level
- 13. What are wedoing as an institution? (3) 4. Responding to changes in DSA funding 5. Developing the use of learning technologies: • Lecture recording pilots • Development of a Teaching Activity Recording Policy which focuses on the recording of teaching activities beyond the lecture 6. Reviewing and refreshing the University’s resources for staff (Inclusive Practice Toolkit) 7. Reviewing and refreshing the University’s Inclusive Practice Framework
- 14. What else arewe doing as an institution? (4) Sector wide network The issues of embedding inclusive practice at an institutional scale are emergent from the magnitude of the task and not identified through the aggregation of pockets of existing good practice. .
- 15. Find out more SheffieldHallam University - Teaching Essentials Inclusive Practice Toolkit https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/ip Realising Engagement through Active Culture Transformation (REACT) http://www.studentengagement.ac.uk/ Gunn, V., Morrison, J. and Hanesworth, P. (2015) Equality and diversity in learning and teaching at Scotland’s universities. Higher Education Academy. Hanesworth, P. (2015). Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: a model for learning and teaching practitioners. Higher Education Academy. Varia (2015) Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: discipline-specific guides. Higher Education Academy.
- 16. Thank you Dr GrahamHolden Director of Learning and Teaching Directorate of Learning Enhancement andAcademic Development g.j.holden@shu.ac.uk @GrahamJHolden Implementing Inclusive Practice
Editor's Notes
- #2 Who I am and what I do and this relates to the event and to the title of the session I have been asked to present. I have been asked to: provide a reflection on the challenges of implementation from an institutional perspective and from that of an individual practitioner or a group of practitioners In doing so share with you recent developments here at Sheffield Hallam Before I do I would just like to a further reflection on the TEF and the direction of travel that this represents for the sector in terms of differential outcomes.
- #3 This research report was commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). It explores why different types of student achieve different outcomes in UK higher education (HE). It examines the possible causes for differential outcomes and evaluates the steps being taken by institutions to close outcome gaps. The report identifies....
- #4 Four types of explanatory factors are identified in the research: Curricula and learning, including teaching and assessment practices: Different student groups indicate varying degrees of satisfaction with the HE curricula, and with the user-friendliness of learning, teaching and assessment practices Relationships between staff and students and among students: A sense of ‘belonging’ emerged as a key determinant of student outcomes. Social, cultural and economic capital: Recurring differences in how students experience HE, how they network and how they draw on external support were noted. Students’ financial situation also affect their student experience and their engagement with learning. Psychosocial and identity factors: The extent to which students feel supported and encouraged in their daily interactions within their institutions and with staff members was found to be a key variable. Such interactions can both facilitate and limit students’ learning and attainment
- #5 Interrogate your disciplinary norms e.g. Fundamental to this is an assessment of assumptions – linguistic (e.g. what level of competence in disciplinary language do we assume our students have?), experiential (e.g. upon what experiences – personal, academic, cultural – do we predicate our teaching?) and practical (e.g. of what level of disciplinary knowledges and practices do we assume our students have experience?). Teach to nurture student belonging and engagement This means also paying attention to pedagogy: to what extent do we work with our students as co-creators and co-producers of the learning experience, empowering them to take responsibility for their own, and each other’s, learning and enabling them to connect their lived experiences to disciplinary contents? Interact with diversity through learning and teaching e.g. by integrating themes of equality, diversity and cultural relativity into materials (how visibly diverse are the images and examples we use?), activities and content (how diverse is our source material?) Encourage and practice self-reflection Just as our disciplines are not neutral, neither are we. We are human, with our own backgrounds, experiences, unconscious – and conscious – biases and assumptions
- #6 backgrounds, experiences, unconscious – and conscious – biases and assumptions
- #11 During the workshops, each participant will develop their own project with guidance from experienced colleagues and will be supported in implementing their developmental ideas after the event via a network of peers
- #12 On 29th November 2016, Student Engagement, Evaluation and Research (STEER) is hosting a Sheffield Hallam University staff conference entitled Minding the Gaps: REACTing to improve BME attainment The event will focus on understanding and addressing the degree classification attainment gap between our White UK students and UK students from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups. At the event, we will be sharing our experience of being involved in the HEFCE Catalyst funded initiative Realising Engagement Through Active Culture Transformation (REACT) which aims to investigate the impact of different forms of student engagement on student retention and attainment. We will also launch the Sheffield Hallam University BME Development Plan, and there will be workshops to explore the impact of using peer learning and curriculum co-design to enhance student retention and attainment, as well as an opportunity to learn about the experiences of some UK BME students.