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Developing effective PDP for Disabled students

Barbara Walmsley and Bernard Melling CHSSC, September 2007

‘Is it empowering for a disabled student,

facing the challenge of HE, to have to

cope with employing support workers

and negotiating with lecturers for early

access to lecture notes?

Are these additional demands simply

adding burdens and requiring disabled

students to accept responsibilities

not faced by non-disabled peers?’ (HEFCE/HEFCW 1999:8).

Students’ view

There is no central place for all the information that disabled students

require. When sought information is given in a fragmented way. Could a hand

book be created for students with disabilities, that is given out at the early

stages of admission.

Project

A Widening Participation study which carried out a limited impact assessment of policy and practice with respect to Personal Development Planning (PDP) and Disabled students in the School of Community Health Sciences and Social Care (CHSSC).

Project aims

To examine legislation, policy and practice in the wider Higher Education (HE) context, the University of Salford and CHSSC.

To draw attention to key issues, concepts and practices anticipating that staff will be then able to engage in developing an effective PDP strategy for Disabled students.

Students’ view

There needs to be more training for staff. There is a need for staff training in disability awareness but also more

practical issues of how to respond to the students’ support document

(Assessment document).

Legislation and policy

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005

imposes a positive duty on HEIs to

promote disability equality.

QAA code of practice 3; students with

disabilities, sets quality standards in HE

with respect to disability.

Doing the Duty ( www.dotheduty.org ) DDA 2005

• impact assessment of policies and practices

• Disability Equality Scheme that will map current

performance i.e. what HEIs are doing well or not doing well with respect to the student lifecycle and employability agenda.

• how do educational policies and practices take into account the requirements of disabled students and how do these effect the educational opportunities and achievements of disabled people.

What will success look like?

Students’ view

Students give up making requests, seeking adjustments it becomes too much of a

hassle, it is easier and preferable to struggle on their own.

We find one member of staff (who is not connected with our programme) who is

approachable, accommodating and responsive, he is fantastic.

Gus John Report (2005)

There is absolutely nothing mainstream orcorporate about E and D at Salford. (p27).

The approach to E and D and the general culturein the place as far as anti discriminationlegislation is concerned is “do just enough and no more’’’.

(p27).

I have experienced the quality of support given disabled students as very poor. I know of no procedures that tellsyou who gives that support and how. (p30).

I feel staff desperately need training on disability and race.They don’t appear to know what is involved in the DDA.

(p31).

University of Salford Equality and Diversity Strategy (2006)

Generic goals• Effective leadership• Active use of data to review policies and procedures• Promotion of communication and commitment• Fostering of awareness and understanding of equality

and diversity

Student-focused goals• Fair student admissions• Accessible learning environments for all students

Staff-focused goals• Fair recruitment and selection of staff• Positive staff experience of life at the University

Students’ view

A student considered that it was very hard to ‘come out’ as disabled.

Positive attributes of students with disabilities are not recognised and/or

developed.

The Equalities Review (2006)

Widening participation and employability

• A disabled 16 year old is twice as likely to be out of work, training or education; 15% compared with 7% for a non-disabled 16 year old.

• For people over 50 the figures are 32% disabled compared with 18% non-disabled.

• 50% of disabled people are in long-term employment compared with 80% among non-disabled

• 10% of non-disabled and 20% of disabled lack qualifications across the range.

Employability Strategy, University of Salford

‘Reflecting our commitment to equality anddiversity we recognise the need to address theway in which the challenge of studentemployability can be best met for all our students.

Our Employability Policy and Strategywill therefore ensure that data is available to theUniversity, and reporting lines established, toenable impact assessment to be undertaken,areas of disadvantage to be identified andresponses to these needs to be addressed.’ (p3)

Students’ view

The quality of discussion at placement meetings about student requirements

is poor.

My placement tutor was insensitive when she said at the end of a placement meeting, ‘Oh by the way X has got dyslexia’ it was more or less just a

passing comment.

Personal Development Planning

‘structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development,’

(ltsn, June 2002)

Students’ view

No individual plan is drawn up or revisited during the course to check all

is well.

Personal tutoringPersonal Tutoring – Roles and Responsibilitiesand Code of Practice document (AQA 2005-06), states (p2) that,

‘In order to realise their full potential most students need to know that someone is interested in their progress, is willing to discuss it with them and to encourage them to think about their own development and the best ways of achieving what they want to do.’

Students’ view

We need to have a relationship, need to discuss quite personal things, need someone to confide in. We need one

person who takes an interest, our allocated tutor is not always interested,

need someone to take a real interest.

Assessment of need (Disabled students)

Students are required to:

‘Reflect on the effects of their disability,consider all the requirements of the

prospective course, explore, evaluateand identify best strategies to overcomeparticipation barriers and ensure as far

as is possible independent study.

(Lamb, Bowers and Richmond, 2006)

Students’ view

A student has no one to talk it through with, the assessment document is not

discussed with anyone. The assessment document is not used, I’m unclear about use and who has it, what

happens to it.

CHSSC, along with Art and Design had a consistentlyhigher percentage of entrants with a disability than all

other Schools (www.ags.salford.ac.uk/statistics, )

CHSSC University

F/t first degree 12% 8%

P/t first degree 10% 5%

P/t other UG 7% 6%

F/t PG (T&R) 14% 8%

P/t PG (T&R) 10% 5%

Resources and management

A memo (13/02/06) from the school

administrator to the Academic Registrar

identified the following extra resource required

for exams:

• 13 invigilators, • 13 separate rooms, 8 with a word processor, • 2 amenuensis, • 1 reader, • 2 students require rest breaks which means

longer invigilation

Disability Premium Fund

A memo (13/02/06) was sent to the Academic Registrar re. the

allocation of the Disability premium fund that identified extra

costs for:• examination provision, • academic support, • future requirements to include additional learning support to

encourage retention, • staff development, • additional hours for disability co-ordinator, and • administrative support.

The aim was to create more hours in CHSSC for a “Learning

Support Coordinator”, for PDP, Personal Tutors involved

with disabled students, and assessment/exams.

Underpinning principles of CHSSC PDP strategy

• The strategy must be sensitive to the diversity of the School, its programmes and its students

• The PDP process needs to be student owned and led

• While the model for PDP is inclusive, it must be sensitive to the additional needs of students who have learning problems and other disabilities

CHSSC strategy for the implementation of PDPCHSSC 5 year strategic planning document(commencing 2004/5) an objective was to,

‘Optimise the student journey through the PDP initiativeand increased use of personal tutor hours with disabledstudents and those with literacy issues’.

In an Optimising the Curriculum document (September2005) it was recorded that,

‘Our Equality and Diversity Action Plan……..has achieved little success…’ due to lack of resources beingmade available with respect to the 150+ disabledstudents in CHSSC (TLDSC/05/18).

Recommendations

Team development• The establishment of a team to develop and monitor PDP

and E&D within the School. This requires liaison with and support for Programme Teams.

• The team should have the responsibility to identify training needs for staff and provide opportunities for these needs to be met. This may involve staff from our EDU.

Student experience• Involve disabled students in designing PDP portfolios• Establish improved feedback and consultation activities• Develop a disabled students guide to PDP• Develop a tutors guide to PDP and disabled students

Localisation• The gap between the assessment of disabled students and

curriculum delivery needs to be addressed by developing effective information flows between disability specialists and lecturing staff.

• To be more effective in meeting the requirements of Disabled students monies could be re-distributed from the centralised University agencies to the localised schools and programmes.

Resources• The implementation of a PDP policy that can meet equality

and diversity requirements should be integrated into the workload of academic and support staff and acknowledged within the workload balancing scheme.

Systems• The student support document becomes the starting point

for PDP and a baseline for the students’ progress, to be monitored, reviewed and developed throughout the students’ HE experience.

Strategies• The promotion of reflection and reflective learning

opportunities could be the key pedagogic approach in the development of PDP portfolios.

Employability• A Recognition of the disadvantage faced by disabled

students in a competitive job market. A clear focus of PDP should be the facilitation of skills which enhance employability, to build on the strengths, qualities and experiences of Disabled students, particularly those that may be linked to negotiating the barriers erected by dominant, so called ‘able-bodied’ society.

Quality enhancement• An indicator for success could be a PDP system backed up

by effective personal tutoring that is responsive to the requirements of Disabled students.

PDP, Personal Tutoring and the process ofproducing the disabled student’s support

document are currently parallel processes thatare underpinned by similar principles based

on the need to reflect on performance, identifyconcerns and strengths and produce an action

plan which enables successful progress throughUniversity into employment. The challenge is tounify these principles and processes in orderto achieve a cultural shift in HE that aims to

prioritise positive outcomes for disabledstudents.