Inclusive Teaching what informs your practice Sarah Flynn

Inclusive Teaching – what informs your practice? Sarah Flynn Learning & Teaching Institute Dr. Gill Popple Professional Lead for Counselling School of Psychology Marcella Wright Equality Unit 1

Introduction to the seminar • • Explore inclusive teaching, learning and assessment practice Focus on sexual orientation as part of LGBT History month Sharing experiences and developing ideas on how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender perspectives can inform and influence our teaching and learning practice • • • Latest research on LGBT experiences of staff and students Ideas for learning, teaching and assessment practice Scenarios to work through in small groups For further information: Sarah Flynn 01707 281317, s. j. flynn@herts. ac. uk Marcella Wright 01707 284982, m. wright@herts. ac. uk 2

The experiences of LGBT students in higher education UHR Cardiff 26 November 2009 Chris Hall Equality Challenge Unit 3 3

About ECU Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) supports the higher education sector to realise the potential of all staff and students, whatever their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief, or age, to the benefit of those individuals, higher education institutions (HEIs) and society. 4 4

About the study q ECU study of staff & students in HE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. q Draws on an evidence base of: q 4205 on-line survey responses from 134 out of 149 HEIs in England, Wales and N. Ireland q 2704 students q 1501 staff q 12 focus groups with LGB staff & students in six different HEIs q 8 additional interviews to explore experiences of mature students, postgrads & senior staff q 10 interviews with trans staff & students q LGB & Trans routing through the surveys 5 5

Background to the study q q q Sexual orientation is a private concern HE is a liberal academy No HEIs in Stonewall top 100 employers Shocking homophobia in schools An evidence base is needed (little previous work) q Aim: to support HEIs by identifying what and where efforts can be best placed to develop the LGBT part of the diversity agenda 6 6

The positive story q Broadly positive space … q Students able to discover/identify themselves q Gay-friendly universities and colleges are attractive to staff and students q Safe spaces “Great news for VCs and Principals attracting talent” Dianne Willcocks – V-C York St John University 7 7

Student discrimination 8 8

The rest of the student story q Experiences differ depending on: q type of HEI q location and country of HEI q subject studied q Fear of losing financial support q 15% of LGB undergrads and 34. 8% T undergrads fear losing financial support if they come out to their parents q Significant issues about proving estrangement q Self Exclusion q sports societies q Halls 9 9

Impact on studies q Taking time out of studies q 20% of LGB students have taken time out of their course – reasons include problems relating to their sexuality, homophobic discrimination and bullying q 28. 5% of trans students have taken time out of their course because of trans related issues and harassment q Impact on attainment? “Inclusive strategies represent sound business sense” 10 10

Trans discrimination Students q Over 1 in 10 suffered physical abuse from other students q Nearly 1 in 10 suffered sexual abuse from other students q 1 in 20 suffered sexual abuse by tutors Staff q 40% treated negatively by colleagues q 8% received physical and sexual abuse from colleagues and students q 63. 6% did not know if their institution has a supportive procedure for reporting transphobic discrimination Common issues q Anxieties about the use of correct gender pro-nouns q Access to toilets appropriate to people’s preferred/acquired gender q Misunderstanding of Gender Recognition Certificate duties 11 11

The Law q Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 q Civil Partnership Act 2005 q Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 q English v Thomas Sanderson Ltd q Edwards v Modelzone q Taj v GBM Services Ltd q Remember the facts q 72% of LGB staff unaware of maternity/paternity/bereavement rights q 11% of staff suffer homophobic abuse by colleagues 12 12

Equality Bill q General duty to: q Eliminate discrimination q Advance equality of opportunity q Remove/minimise disadvantages q Meet different needs of protected groups q Encourage participation in public life where low q Foster good relations q Tackle prejudice q Promote understanding q Specific duties? 13 13

What areas of our practice do we need to consider? Student led activity Face to face Online / distance Learning and teaching environment Opportunity for E&D debate / discussion / disagreement Specific E&D topics Resources you link to Undergraduate projects Subject content Research environment Postgraduate supervision Own research Scenarios you use Pastoral care Additional roles Personal tutees Non tutees 14

Resources • Loutzenheiser, L. (2005) ‘Working fluidity, materiality and the educational imaginary: a case for contingent primacy’, in Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies vol. 3, no. 2. , pp. 27 -39 Looks at the pedagogy of normal within educational spaces • Ellis, S. (2009) ‘Diversity and inclusivity at university: a survey of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) student in the UK’, in Higher Education, vol. 57, pp. 723 -739 Recent UK study, focuses on campus climate but some interesting learning/teaching content • Toynton, R. (2007) ‘the de-representation of science and queer science students in higher education within the queer/gay discourse’, in Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 12, nos. 5 -6, pp. 593 -605 Perspectives of science as a discipline that can lead to self-marginalisation for G/T students • La Salle, L. A. (1992) ‘Exploring campus intolerance: a textual analysis of comments concerning lesbian, gay and bisexual people’, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 20 -24 th 1992 Useful analyis of a very LGB-phobic campus environment – to see the extremes • Work of Dr Vicky Gunn, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Glasgow http: //www. psy. gla. ac. uk/~steve/qee/vg/pmwiki. php for links to her work 15

Key web references • Equality Challenge Unit ‘Experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans staff and students in higher education: research report 2009’ available as pdf/word file from: http: //www. ecu. ac. uk/publications/lgbt-staff-and-students-in-he • Equality Unit at UH http: //www. herts. ac. uk/about-us/equality-and-diversitypolicies/promoting-equality/home. cfm • Prism, ‘How to be LGBT friendly’, available from: http: //www. llgbc. com/files/how_to_be_lgbt_friendly_small-2295. pdf • The Open University, ‘Equality, diversity and accessibility in the curriculum – guidance for faculty management, programme committees and course teams’ available from: http: //www. open. ac. uk/equality-diversity/pics/d 101205. pdf • The Open University, ‘Equality and diversity in language and image – guidance for authors and communicators’, available from: http: //www. open. ac. uk/equality-diversity/pics/d 101215. pdf 16