Inclusive practice, and promoting wellbeing for self and others, is a key part of all teaching roles at Coventry University Group. As educators, we need to ensure that our teaching, learning and assessment practice can be engaged with by all of our diverse learners. This could include moving towards more culturally diverse approaches to teaching, such as commitment to decolonise the curriculum, as well as recognising how our students’ (and our own) cultures impact how we perceive and move through the world. Students that are comfortable in their learning spaces learn more effectively.
At the same time, we need to play an active role in supporting wellbeing, not only for our students, but for ourselves and our colleagues. You may wish to pay particular attention to this as part of any supervisory responsibilities you have, and consider how the choice you make as course director or module leader impact the practices and wellbeing of others.
Essential Background
- Public sector bodies, including universities, are legally required to meet certain standards in terms of accessibility and inclusion- see this Jisc guide for an overview of what this involves.
- There are also compelling moral, financial and reputation reasons for the Coventry University Group to adopt an inclusive approach- after all, this aligns with the Group’s objective of providing a “high-quality, inclusive, and empowering global education”, as outlined in the 2030 Education and Student Experience Strategy.
- Familiarise yourself with what’s on offer in terms of student support at Coventry University Group, with units such as the Student Engagement Team, Student Success Coaches, Disabled Student Services, the Library, the Centre for Academic Writing and Sigma (stats support) on hand to help.
- The Wellbeing support sites for Students and Staff contain useful resources, activities and links to specialised advice services for both students and staff focusing on health, wellbeing, and support.
Getting Started
- Coventry University Group has a range of online resources to help you explore to this theme. A good place to start is Academic Development’s Equality diversity and inclusion page, and the resources listed there. Articles in the Accessibility and Inclusion section of the Teaching Knowledge Base provide practical guidance on how you can design your teaching with the needs of all learners in mind.
- Your assessment design should also be inclusive- see tips for Culturally Inclusive Assessment for some starting points.
- Consult the course booking system for sessions under the Inclusive Practice theme.
Take it Further
- Explore the Organisational Wellbeing member resource from AdvanceHE, which considered the impacts and effects of different institutional approaches to staff and student wellbeing.
- Consider some of these approaches to fostering inclusive classroom discussion from the King’s College London blog.
- The SCALE project at the University of Worcester is a self-paced series of resources with many suggestions for inclusive practice for students with a range of learning differences including dyslexia, sensory needs, and ADHD.
- Inclusive practice and inclusive pedagogies can have contested meanings and implementation. See Lauren Stentiford & George Koutsouris’ systematic scoping review for a thorough exploration of the range of different approaches found in the literature.
- Coventry University Group’s Community of Practice: Inclusive Curriculum is a network of colleagues from across the institution who are interested in sharing and discussing inclusive approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Please join the Teams site via the link above if you would like to learn more.
Try it Out!
- If it is in use in your programme, consider how you could use the Course Hour to introduce activities on student wellbeing. Perhaps you could invite student support services to attend, or run activities to build better student networks?
- Review the Education for Mental Health toolkit from AdvanceHE. Are there any activities or approaches you could add to your own practice?
- Many professional bodies offer support on developing inclusive practice; take some time to see what is on offer for your discipline.
Finished here?