inclusive teaching

Centre for Educational DevelopmentORHEP Project

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Inclusive Teaching

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Why seek to teach inclusively?• Teaching is one of the most rewarding activities

you can undertake – as long as it is done well. And good inclusive teaching is good teaching per se.

• The quality of undergraduate teaching can bear a good deal of improvement.

• Teaching ability is becoming increasingly important in promotions criteria for academic staff. Inclusive teaching is increasingly seen as a part of this.



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Time to reflect• What is the purpose of university

teaching?• Please spend five minutes discussing this

with the person next to you.• ‘To enable student learning’ (Ramsden,

2003).



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How do we enable learning for all students?• Adopting ‘inclusive’ teaching practices that cater to

a diverse range of students.• Question: What do we mean by ‘inclusion’ and

‘Diversity’? Please spend five minutes discussing this with the person next to you.

• “Terms used in broadest sense to mean issues relating to all student and to types of teaching and learning that fully and equitably include everyone in the classroom or in the programme cohort” (Grace and Gravestock, 2009).



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Rationale for inclusive teaching“Harkening back to the time when coalminers took canaries into

mines to monitor air quality, if the canaries died, they knew that the

atmosphere threatened the miners’ well-being too. We are also at a

‘coalface’. The international student ‘canaries’ thankfully show us

their difficulties in less dramatic ways but nevertheless point out

aspects of our teaching that all students will probably experience as

challenges. By paying attention, we can change conditions to make

sure that everyone can thrive in the higher education environment. If

we improve conditions for international students, we improve them

for all learners”.

Ryan and Carroll (2005)



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Some key considerationsHow should we understand ‘inclusive teaching’? Some considerations:• Good teaching for diverse groups is good teaching per se.• Inclusion and diversity are fluid concepts• A student-centred approach.• Good teaching cannot exist in a vacuum; support from

above and appropriate university structures are important.• The scholarship of learning and teaching are important.• Flexibility of approach and avoidance of stereotyping are

paramount.• Take 10 minutes to discuss with the person sitting next to

you.



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Approaches to learning (Ramsden, 2003). • Structural aspect of learning (Act of organising

and experiencing). • Holistic approach: Preserves the structure,

focuses on the whole in relation to the parts. Relating the components of a given task in a connected structure.

• Atomistic: Distorts the structure, focuses on the parts, segments the whole. Keeping the components of a given task isolated.



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Approaches to learning cont. (Ramsden, 2003)• Meaning aspect of learning. Attaching

significance to the task. • Deep approach: Focuses on what the task is

about (e.g. authors intention in writing an academic paper).

• Surface approach: Focuses on the ‘signs’ (e.g. the word-sentence level of the text, such as memorising passages rather than understanding the meaning of text).



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Approaches to teachingA note on approaches to learning and teaching: the same student or teacher often takes different approaches in different subjects and/or different contexts.



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Stereotyping• OED describes stereotyping as: ‘Something

continued or constantly repeated without change’.• In pairs, consider:

– What is your own ethnicity?– How do you react to stereotypes based on your

ethnicity?– Do you conform to the stereotypical view? If not, how

not?– How do you think making assumptions about your

students would affect their learning?



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Fluidity of inclusion and diversityProgression of thinking about diversity:• Multiculturalism (Three S model). Danger of stereotyping

(Cousin 2006).• Cultural hybridity (our mongrel selves) recognises

diversity in the individual (Hall 1992).• Critical Race Theory (Gillborn 2008).• Cosmopolitanism (linked with global citizenry). Sees

diversity as a strength and recognises shared humanity of all (Fine 2007, Gilroy 2000, Kant 1965)



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General principles of inclusive teaching practice• Constructivist theory of learning (NOT

constructivism about knowledge).• Transformative education. Student experience goes

beyond the transfer of skills/knowledge.• Reflective practice involving interrogation of our own

learning processes. • Move from pedagogic practice to andragogic

practice (Knowles, 1990).• Internationalised curriculum and sensitivity to

different points of view.



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General principles of inclusive teaching practice cont.• Student-centred approach; student

experience is focus of teaching strategy• Learning experience goes beyond

classroom activities• Diversity in programme and curriculum

design: Representation, expression, and engagement.



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Example: Assessment and Feedback

Good inclusive practice includes:• Offering a range of (innovative) assessment

methods• Offering “practice” assessments throughout the year• Offering peer assessment• Encouraging students to write about their own

contexts• Assessors finding out about assessment practices

elsewhere• Giving clear, unambiguous feedback



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From pedagogy to andragogyHallmarks of pedagogic practice:• Dominant form of teaching in HE is pedagogy: Didactic,

traditional, and teacher-centred. (Knowles, 1990; Nelson, 2007).

• In pedagogic practice the teacher decides what is learned, how it is learned, and when it is learned (Knowles, 1984).

• Pedagogic practice places learner in submissive role to teacher.

• Pedagogy actively encourages the learner to become dependent upon the teacher (Knowles, 1984).

• Pedagogic approaches may well be appropriate for children.



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From pedagogy to andragogy cont.Underpinnings of an andragogic approach to teaching:• Learners are encouraged to move from dependency

to self-directedness in their learning.• Adult learners have a wealth of life experience that

can be used a resource for developing learning.• Engagement with learning is driven by complex

factors such as career aspirations and problems encountered in real life.

• More focus on learner development and performance (rather than being subject centred).



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Andragogy and inclusive practice• There are a number of overlaps between andragogic

teaching practice and ‘inclusive’ teaching practice.• Student-centred learning sits at the heart of both

andragogy and inclusivity.• As well as accommodating ‘diverse’ student

populations, inclusive practice also accommodates intra-group differences (E.g. differences in learning styles).

• Inclusive practice/andragogy is not about ‘dumbing down’ or lowering standards.



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Levels of inclusivityLeicester (1996) identified four categories of equal opportunity practice:• Promoting equal opportunities as removing

unfair/irrelevant barriers• Promoting equal opportunities as increasing ability

and motivation• Promoting equal opportunities as the development

of ‘respect for all’• Promoting equal opportunities as social engineering



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Depth of inclusivityWe make a (tentative) claim:

The more effective inclusive practice is, the more invisible it is



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Three levels of embedding• Surface embedding: active encouragement across

university for staff to engage with issues of inclusion and diversity.

• Intermediate embedding: procedures for removing barriers to learning identified and specific policies and guidelines for practice have been developed.

• Deep or ‘invisible’ embedding: Issues of inclusion and diversity rarely arise because teaching and learning practices are developed to such a degree that good (inclusive) practice is part and parcel of what the university does.



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Suggested reading• Ramsden, P. (2003) Learning to Teach in

Higher Education (2nd edn) Routledge, Abingdon.

• Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University (3rd edn) SRHE and Open University Press, Buckingham.

• Race, P. (2006) The Lecturers Toolkit (3rd edn) Routledge, London.


inclusive teaching

Education

good teaching

teaching ability

inclusive teaching practices

andgood inclusive teaching

purpose of university

student learning ramsden

learning cont

scholarship of learning