The Higher Education Academy - enhancing the student experience Teaching, learning and the disability agenda Yvonne Dickinson Adviser: Disability NADO Annual conference July

Aims of the presentation ■ Update on the national partnership arrangements for embedding disability support across HE ■ Consider the role of the HE Academy re disability issues and learning and teaching ■ Re-visit the ‘manifesto for mainstreaming Inclusive practice’ (an NDT legacy) ■ A ‘to do’ list for embedding disability in the learning and teaching agenda.

National arrangements for disability support in HE Action on Access Equality Challenge Unit HE Academy Equalities L & T WP DEP

Early outputs and outcomes of the new DEP arrangements Outputs ■ Publications ■ Presentations and workshops ■ Content for websites ■ Joint briefings ■ Bi-annual bulletin ■ Helpdesk facility and FAQs ■ Direct support to HEIs re DED preparations ■ Survey/questionnaire on DES Outcomes ■ New partnerships and collaboration. ■ Sharing of expertise, ideas and resources ■ Improved understanding of legislation and equality and diversity issues. ■ Raised awareness of disability issues across the HE sector ■ Agreed joint themes and priorities

The Higher Education Academy: What are we doing? ■ Disseminating good practice in Learning and Teaching across the sector ■ Raising the profile of inclusive practice and supporting staff to embed this in all aspects of their work within the Academy ■ Working with Subject Centres and their discipline communities ■ Working with key stakeholders who may have a ‘common interest’ eg PDP and disability issues ■ Supporting the transfer of good practice from funded initiatives such as - CETLs, FDTL, NTFS

The Higher Education Academy: What are we doing? ■ Engaging with other Academy related activities that are progressing work in areas of widening participation and assistive technology (WP and TechDis teams) ■ Contributing to National, regional, local and Institutional events and meetings to maintain the profile of disability in HE ■ Working in partnership with ECU, Action on Access, and other key stakeholder groups such as DRC, Skill, NADO.

A manifesto for mainstreaming inclusive practice: National ►Undertake strategic thinking and strategic action ►Harness the sense of social justice, equality and fairness that motivates most higher education practitioners ►Recognise the fuzzy and complex nature of concepts of ‘disabled’ and ‘disabled student/learner’ which makes inclusivity challenging on occasions ►Capture and effectively disseminate good professional practice ►Recognise the considerable achievements to date in improving inclusive practice.

A manifesto for mainstreaming inclusive practice : Institutional (1) ►Build credibility through creating a rigorous and evidence- based pedagogy ►Promote pragmatic and engaging academic/staff development ►Actively engage in research into inclusive learning and teaching ►Balance the need for subject-specific materials and case studies with generic approaches ►Use technologies in support of inclusive practice effectively ►Engage disabled students in a debate that goes into curriculum design ►Maintain a focus on learning from a learner’s point of view.

A manifesto for mainstreaming inclusive practice : Institutional (2) ►Think inclusively when designing assessment instruments ►Ensure that standards are maintained in terms of the quality, scale and scope of work expected ►Embed disability matters into the curriculum for all students ►Recognise that the same kind of issues and challenges are often faced across an institution ►Continue to reflect regularly on our practice to ensure continuous improvement ►Recognise that there is a good business case to be made for actively recruiting students as disabled people.

A manifesto for mainstreaming inclusive practice: Disability Practitioners ►Stop adopting practices which predominately focus on adjustments and start thinking about supporting inclusive curriculum and assessment design which offer all students choices that align with their abilities ►Recognise that disabled students, like other students, are consumers of higher education ►Look for synergies between different types of disability practitioners and make use of constructive partnerships between staff in a range of roles across HEIs. ( Adams, M. and Brown, S. (Eds), (2006) Chp16. p.187 Towards Inclusive Learning in Higher Education: Developing curricula for Disabled Students, London, Routledge).

Engaging academic staff: ‘To do’ list ■ Think ‘subject discipline’ ■ Build on the credibility of academic champions in your institutions, subjects ■ Engage with the Higher Education Academy priorities and themes: eg. CETLs, FDTL, NTFS, Accreditation, Change Academy, commissioning of research, Subject Centre work ■ Attend staff development programmes ■ Consider inclusive practice at curriculum design, accreditation, validation and review of programmes ■ Engage with institutional practice in areas such as using External examiners effectively, QA committees and groups.

Engaging disability practitioners: ‘To do’ list ■ Think ‘Out of the office’! ■ Connect with WP teams, HR, Staff development, Student services etc ■ Inform strategy – use the DED as a ‘tool’ ■ Get senior staff on board and keep them engaged ■ Engage in Induction for new staff ■ Use your champions within your institution ■ Use nationally available resources and good practice ■ Use each other effectively.