More and more students are joining the university from diverse educational backgrounds.
Inclusive practice is a model approach for the design and delivery of education which takes into account the broad learning styles of students.
By anticipating barriers at the design stage and offering a diverse range of learning, assessment and feedback activities, students’ access to and engagement with their studies is vastly increased. This can have a dramatic effect on student success and progression, in particular meaning fewer individual adjustments for disabled students, better understanding for students whose first language is not English and a more representative curriculum.
How have we achieved this?
2012
In response to increasing individual recommendations for disabled students, the role of Inclusive Practice Manager was created to advise academics on how they could make their teaching and learning more accessible.
2013
The Inclusive Practice Manager provides one to one assistance to academics and workshops in schools and conferences.
2014
Changes to Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) announced with universities responsible for all in-class support and recommendations to make their curriculum more inclusive.
2015
All schools across the university provided with inclusive practice workshops with over 500 university staff (including 400 academics) attending.
2016
Further school-based workshops and conferences. Inclusivity identified as one of the four core values in the new university strategy. New online Inclusive Practice toolkit begins development.
2017
Inclusivity a key strand of the university-wide curriculum review. For inclusive practice to be recognised at the design stage it should be considered in the guidance for validation and periodic review for the first time.