NUS Liberation, Equality and Diversity
I was interested to read that 90% of disabled people /students have a hidden disability. During my college days a disability like dyslexia wasn’t acknowledged, so it was refreshing to see on the PG Cert introduction day that disability leaflets and help was available should it be needed. As a visiting lecturer I’m not involved in planning or structuring a course so it was interesting to read that equality, diversity and liberation should be embedded into a universities curriculum. However these are big words and I’m left wondering if it’s a tick the box exercise or can real change be made? What is Liberation after all? I was none less interested to read about Dr Charles setting up a course with diversity at its core and can see this is a positive way forward.
I’m pleased that diversity and sustainability are key topics on our PG Cert course, by reading and learning about these key topics we can help to bring them into the teaching practise, this is the sort of staff development, which is recommended on page 14 of the report. Its hard no to disagree with the statement “ A curriculum which addresses issues of liberation, equality, and diversity and includes all students as equal participants is a vital part of improving the quality of learning and teaching in higher education.”
Commonplace Website
I wasn’t aware that UAL had a survival guide and I loved the diversity of subjects covered from the lonely hearts “ Long distance relationships, tips to make it work,” to “Making London cheap as chips” (with a pic of Lidl, as you might say ….priceless advise!) The 20 facts about UAL are an eye-opener….”Grayson Perry receiving a 2nd year CSM dress each year!”
Amazing really that this site exists with all these top tips and lists of advise, particularly helpful with UAL’s student profile being 50% international. I imagine as well as reputation of the six art colleges, its coming to live in London which is a huge attraction so to have lots of great advise, all on one easy to navigate website much be hugely helpful for UK and International students. It was good that the site has tips on overcoming language barrier for international students. It was also pleasing to see that topics like being a shy student were placed at the top of the site, along with quite personal advise on “Beating Stress, Feeling Apprehensive about university”. In fact the whole site is jammed packed with personal advice and I liked that the stories were personalised with name and photos. The overall design of the site has to be applauded, it’s welcoming and full of great advise and I would definitely recommend it to students as pretty much everything is covered!
Questions
Question one, I found hard to answer, as I’m not involved in induction, and the other two questions are quite big questions. Question two, What makes students feel included and excluded in my teaching? I would say I try and be open, honest and positive when discussing their work, offering advise and showing examples to encourage, inspire and make them reflect on the brief or lecture given. One of the downsides of part time teaching and giving lectures is the lack of oomph which some students display, passively watching and not interacting, it seems from watching other tutors that there is often little or no reaction given and getting students to be vocal can be tricky!
Question Three, Bringing students own life experiences into the learning of a course? …this often works best when a brief is set which involves a personal choice. For example I recently taught moving image designers on a brief “to make a 2 minute film on any subject” with the learning outcome to show creativity, organisation, planning and production. This led to interesting personal films, from a Bangladesh student talking about prejudice, a friends family member who had dementia and a film about the students father making a wedding ring, all these subjects enabled the students to draw on their own life experiences.
Hi Mark!
I noticed something about Commonplace that you also pick up on – it seems to be a truly inclusive environment for all students, be they shy, international, nervous etc. I wrote about it on my blog but I struggled with the categorization of students in the NUS report so it was refreshing to spend some time on Commonplace and find all students represented – not just those who fit into well defined categories (BAME, student parents, etc.).
I did notice the ‘Articles’ section of the website has a specific section for International students which I thought was noteworthy and jars slightly with my reading of the rest of the website.
Oh and I really like the project you describe and how it effectively enables shared learning from students’ own life experiences. I wondered whether, after the films are complete, do the students engage with each other’s work? Is there a screening or chance to discuss the two-minute pieces? It strikes me that sharing and discussing the work is as important as making it, in this situation. I would imagine it creates a space for students where students can learn from each other’s diverse backgrounds.
When students make personal films even when a tutorial is in pairs it has to be handled with care particularly if their film involves relatives as they can be quite sensitive about their family. The plan is for the students to share their final personal films in front of the group, which is a good thing as their work deserves an audience. Importantly as a filmmaker one has to stand up and be counted, be able to talk about the content and why one has chosen a subject and dedicated so much time to make the film, a good learning curve.
Hello Mark
I am glad your post alerted me to the very high percentage of disabled people having a hidden disability, which I had missed. That throws up so many questions. Which of these disabilities affect learning and in what way? You mention dyslexia, which – according to the British Dyslexia Association – 10% of the population has. That in itself can have quite different effects. I never know whether – when a student tells me they have dyslexia – I should ask how exactly it affects them. Now that I’ve just written that down it seems obvious that I should. But then I do not want to come across as someone who does not seem to know what the student is talking about. Some students might not want you to know that they have a hidden disability.
Is it just me or did disability not feature much in our session? I realise you cannot cover everything and maybe UAL is doing better with disability than with BAME students. Or is the legislation more clear-cut?
Like Hannah, I found it fascinating what your students chose to do their film project about. I am wondering how big the student group was overall, i.e. how many students chose to do something quite personal and what did other students do? Then I found myself wondering whether it would be good to change the brief so it encouraged picking a more personal subject. But I dismissed that as some people do not want to talk about themselves or their families. I can see that tutorials can be difficult in this situation and also it is hard to predict the reaction of the other students.
Lastly, I had not seen the Articles section of commonplace. I just checked the International Students bit and what Julia says about napkins cracked me up. To come back to a personal topic for a film – it is quite an anglo-American thing, it seems to me, to enjoy talking about yourself. I remember when my father, after a trip to the US in the 1970s, tried to explain to me what stand-up comedy is. I did not get it at all.
Hi Beatrice,
Just to pick up on a small thing you mention in your comment about asking students how their dyslexia affects them. In the past I have asked students how I can best support them in the way I teach, rather than asking how their disability affects them. I have no idea if that’s ‘best practice’ but I feel it’s better to shift from their challenges to the solutions I may be able to offer, if that makes sense!
Hi everyone,
Hannah, I think that disability is such a huge topic that perhaps it was considered just too much to add into the day. Although, I am really surprised at just how little was said. I am curious to know whether, as a visiting tutor, anyone ever tells you anything about the student group that you are about to work with? For example, a hearing impaired student who lip reads well. (I would like to know this so that I could curb my pacing around when I lecture.) Or a student with mental health issues who has stated that they prefer not to engage with group exercises. Does anyone ever talk to you about ISA’s (Individual Support Agreement). Do you know that an ISA is a clear statement of what the University will do to support the students and so you do actually need to know? With regard to students not wanting other people to know that they have a disability – there is legislation in place and a student has to declare a disability before the issue can become subject to discussion. Not declaring actually has all sorts of disadvantages for a student but it is entirely and utterly a students choice. Disability information is treated with immense discretion and is usually only made known to those members of staff who are in direct contact with the individual concerned.
Mark, I am very impressed with your film project. I would not be worried about students who do not want to talk about themselves. Firstly, I think that students are very familiar with curating their lives (as in social media). Those who are uncomfortable can be encouraged to find a topic, perhaps something they just love, that is less autobiographical. The context, film, is so clearly going to be about communication with an audience, that I think a discussion with students around what is / is not appropriate for the maker as well as the viewer is going to be straightforward.