1. Implementing Inclusive Practice
All Inclusive! 18th January 2017
Dr Graham Holden
Director of Learning and Teaching
g.j.holden@shu.ac.uk @GrahamJHolden
2. Causes of differences in 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 differences in 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
Pauline Hanesworth, 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 can we 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 belonging and
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 diversity through
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 practice self-
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.
10. What next?
Themed workshops for 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 we doing 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 we doing 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 we doing 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 are we 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
Sheffield Hallam 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 Graham Holden
Director of Learning and Teaching
Directorate of Learning Enhancement andAcademic Development
g.j.holden@shu.ac.uk @GrahamJHolden
Implementing Inclusive Practice
Notes de l'éditeur
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.
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....
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
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
backgrounds, experiences, unconscious – and conscious – biases and assumptions
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
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.