Not all Inclusive Curriculum Reviews are Equal: Findings from the OU’s Inclusive Curriculum Student Consultant Pilot Project

Dr Caroline Derry, Steph Dunne and Dr Sukaina Haider, The Open University

Email: s.haider@open.ac.uk

Session recording

Presentation

Click to download the presentation Not all Inclusive Curriculum Reviews are Equal: Findings from the OU’s Inclusive Curriculum Student Consultant Pilot Project (.pptx)

Abstract

The Wonkhe and Pearson research on belonging (Blake et al, 2022) found that inclusion relates to both the accessibility of the teaching and learning environment and the diversity of the course content. The Open University’s (OU) Inclusive Curriculum Tool, based on Kingston’s Inclusive Curriculum Framework, is a list of prompts that supports the user’s evaluation of module content. The reviewer considers, for example, whether the language used is respectful, whether the content is representative and diverse, and whether students are encouraged to consider how their own perspectives are shaped. At the OU, the staff who design and produce the curriculum, as well as those who have been applying the Inclusive Curriculum Tool are often white, able-bodied, cis-gender, heteronormative and middle-class.

In July 2022, the OU’s Centre for Access, Participation and Success, building on good practice in the sector, employed 6 student consultants with diverse lived experience to review its curricula using the Tool. The aim of this pilot project is to increase staff awareness of the importance of inclusive pedagogical approaches as an initiative to close the racialised minority ethnic awarding gaps and disability awarding gaps. The Student Consultants were provided with full training.

This presentation and interactive workshop, relevant to colleagues working throughout HE, will draw on the findings from the Student Consultant project to make the case that curriculum reviews are not of equal value.  It will be argued that it is not enough for universities to review their curricula for inclusivity, there needs to be awareness about the lived experience of reviewers when considering the feedback.

In the session presenters, with different roles in the Student Consultant project, will advocate that student reviewers, with lived experience of the barriers that limit inclusion, are best placed to help universities understand how to make the learning environment more inclusive. The co-presenters will highlight the importance of empathy to robust curriculum review. Steph Dunne, a profoundly deaf Student Consultant will provide powerful examples of the ways she has increased the awareness of staff of the barriers faced by disabled students. Dr Caroline Derry, a Queer autistic senior lecturer in law and EDI specialist, will provide examples of how partnerships with students with diverse lived experience benefits the academics who produce module materials. Dr Suki Haider, the racialised minority manager of the OU Student Consultant project, will argue that the richest inclusive curriculum reviews are provided when a team of students, with a range of protected characteristics, review module content in collaboration.

In breakout rooms, the workshop participants will be invited to share their experience of reviewing the inclusivity of curriculum.

The workshop will raise the awareness of participants of the value of diverse lived experience and collaborative reviews. Secondly, it will support participants to facilitate real progress on inclusive curricula at their institution.

References

Blake S., Capper, G. and Jackson, A.,(2022), Building Belonging in Higher Education: Recommendations for developing and integrated institutional approach: https://wonkhe.com/wp-content/wonkhe-uploads/2022/10/Building-Belonging-October-2022.pdf [Accessed 28.2.2023]

Kingston University’s Inclusive Curriculum Framework (n.d), https://www.kingston.ac.uk/aboutkingstonuniversity/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/our-inclusive-curriculum/inclusive-curriculum-framework/ [Accessed 28.2.2023]

Dr Caroline Derry

Senior Lecturer, School of Law, The Open University

Dr Caroline Derry is a Senior Lecturer at the Open University, in the School of Law, where her teaching ranges from access level to PhD supervision. She joined the Open University in 2017, after fifteen years at London Metropolitan University. Before that, she had practised as a criminal defence barrister and a solicitor in a large legal aid firm. Caroline’s lived experience as an autistic, lesbian woman and first-generation graduate informs her work as Law School EDI lead. Her research interests centre upon gender, sexuality and criminal law and legal history, particularly legal temporalities and the legal history of lesbianism. She also explores women’s entry into the legal professions and is the co-author of textbooks on criminal law and gender and law.

Steph Dunne 

Inclusive Curriculum Student Consultant, The Open University

Steph Dunne started her student journey with the Open University (OU) in 2019, studying criminology. She became a member of staff, as one of the 6 student consultants in July 2022. The student consultants review the inclusivity and accessibility of OU module materials and  each consultant has intersecting protected characteristics. Since becoming a student consultant, Steph has championed increasing the use of disabled academics and diverse case studies that embrace and celebrate inclusivity. Steph and the student consultants have open, rich and thought-provoking discussion with OU module teams and senior management around a broad range of topics. For example, the barriers disabled students face, from the formatting of materials to issues with accessing timely support and adjustable assessments. Steph, and the team of student consultants she represents in this session, are promoting change so that all students are able to achieve their potential, goals and ambitions.

Dr Sukaina Haider 

Inclusive Curriculum Senior Supervisor, The Open University

Dr Sukaina Haider (known as Suki) works for the Open University (OU) on projects that involve students in EDI.  For several years she has facilitated student-staff partnership projects to increase the belonging of traditionally marginalised groups. These have drawn on innovation and best practice in the sector by providing student partners with safe and empowering spaces to share their perspectives. At the OU, Suki enables staff to recognise the educational value of the student voice to the production of inclusive curricula by facilitating dynamic conversations between staff and their student partners. She also designs EDI training for the OU’s associate lecturers. She uses her experience as a first-generation graduate, racially-minoritised woman, and as a carer, to highlight barriers that limit inclusion. Her research interest is in decolonising histories of African enslavement.