Reflective Report (Inclusive Practices Unit)

Word count (not including Bibliography): 1,650 words

This report is a reflection of my artefact, in relation to my personal journey on the course, where I will link theory to practise. This module has been an insightful and at times uncomfortable process – as a lecturer I am always walking a line between the personal and professional when interfacing with students, and this module is forcing me to look at the “self” and the meaning of “I” within my teaching practice. I am a white bisexual female associate lecturer in my 30s, who also freelances as a filmmaker. I attended a non-selective state secondary school, and I have had a job since the age of 14. My parents describe themselves as “white-collar” workers, however I would describe my own upbringing with my sister as middle class. I was brought up in the Church of England, and I respect and appreciate religion; however I myself am no longer religious. I am currently undergoing a “Specific Learning Differences (SpLD)” screening at UAL. This module teaches a ‘responsibility of thought’, of which ‘the potential for alliance between and among black and white women depends upon it’ (Mirza, 2004, p.77); forcing me to reflect deeply upon the importance of my positionality when considering inclusivity and embarking on any form of creation and critique – this could include this reflective report, my artefact, designing a course, reading list or even the assessment process (Finnigan and Richards, 2015, p.7). 

Within UAL I teach on the Diploma in Professional Studies at London College of Communication which is the equivalent to the third year of a four year BA course. This intervention, including my artefact and integration of inclusive learning theory into the course, is important because the LCC cohort is fantastically diverse and it is our responsibility as lecturers and as part of an institution to reflect the current society and student cohort in our teachings and work towards making every student feel welcome with a strong sense of belonging (Finnigan and Richards, 2016, p.3). We as lecturers support students to feel safe moving from the concrete to the ambiguous (Finnigan and Richards, 2015, p.6). The Diploma in Professional Studies is a very specific module where students spend a year working in industry, supported remotely by lecturers through a weekly lecture and tutorials. 

I have been considering the question of “why is your work important within the Academy?” – I am not sure if I can argue this coherently and influenced by Kwame Anthony Appiah’s powerful Reith Lecture on Creed I am going to take the position of ‘doubt’. Through ‘doubt’ I will continually interrogate my position and become comfortable with being uncomfortable. As a white female lecturer in a position of power I have used this power where I can to employ people of colour, working class and LGBTQI+ artists to speak to the students. The next step I could consider for the future is whether to step aside from opportunities. I am aware that unconscious bias diminishes white supremacy and maintains white innocence. The time for empathy and understanding has passed and we need to take action; it is shocking the attainment gap for Black students in the UK is 33% (Finnigan and Richards, 2016, p.4). 

When considering inclusivity and discussing personhood, identity and disability, Ikaheimo defines respect as seeing someone as having authority over oneself (2009). What is important to note here is that it is the act of ‘seeing someone as’ which is central to respect; it is dialogical, community based, reflected. This links to Appiah’s view that religion and belief is continually in the process of being re-made through community and practice – therefore requiring constant action and contribution not only with ourselves but with and alongside others, which strongly supports ideas within Social Justice Education (Hahn Tapper, 2013). Rather than a set of rules or steps The TRAAC Framework by Tran (2019) used for decolonising the curriculum centres around a group of questions – provoking dialogue and conversation – once again, there are no definite answers, it is a process to be continually created and developed together. As a result we need to listen to and recognise individuals’ lived experiences. The importance of listening appeared again and again in the module and influenced my ‘active listening’ exercise in the artefact. Hahn Tapper claims that the primary goal should be to have students teaching one another about social identities and intergroup dynamic using critical thought (2013, p.415). 

My artefact is a self-care toolkit to foster resilience and to enable the students to pay closer attention to themselves and the wellbeing of others around them. The self-care tool kit is built through the students interacting with Padlet and the questions/provocations I set for them, following a 20 minute interactive presentation and a 10 minute “active listening” exercise. The student will come away with a series of lists, questions and personal provocations which form their tool kit, the workshop also has a resource list. The target audience is disabled, neurodiverse students and those suffering with mental health and mental wellbeing. I first delivered this workshop on Friday 20th May to the entire Diploma and Professional Studies cohort online (around 70 students). 

The artefact was constructed to encourage modes of mutual learning, challenging the traditional expert-novice relationship (Macfarlane, 2004, p.96), through the reflections on the active listening exercise and the padlets where the students were encouraged to make them their own. In order to develop this one step further I could invite the students to provide their own references in relation to self care and resilience, this would also draw upon learnings from the inclusive practices unit through enabling students to see themselves reflected, encouraging a sense of belonging, process, and ownership; considering students as practitioners themselves (Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall, 2009, p.347) and what they could also bring to the course from their perspective and identities. 

After the event I considered formalised feedback in the form of an online student survey. However decided against it due to the ethics and dynamics surrounding students providing lecturers with direct formalised feedback. We are in a privileged position as lecturers, and I would have been asking the students to donate their time/work for free, therefore I would have had to consider what the students would gain in return for their contribution, whether this be a credit on any research produced or academic writing. In terms of this particular reflective report and the student feedback required, I asked myself how necessary is it for this report? Therefore I am only including the informal student feedback and the feedback from my tutor (Samia) and peer (Joey) – one whose job role it is and the other who mutually benefits from the feedback as it was reciprocal and I in turn gave feedback on their artefact. 

Joey, a white woman of Polish descent and a PgCert peer, gave feedback on my artefact and stated that it was a “rich resource” for the students and that it had provoked many questions for her own practice. She noticed that I was “providing an online artefact similar to the Inclusive Practices course itself which is also online; there is a mirroring”. She also asked me questions such as, “How explicit do you want to make the anti-racism in your artefact?”. I understand that a lot rests on my delivery and contextualisation of the material. Therefore if I were to do this again, could I make the positionalities explicit of all the women (artists, writers) I feature and also the differences in their positionalities, for example Rebecca Solnit versus and Audre Lorde; both women come from very different backgrounds. Could I have provided the students questions around self-care and resilience in advance of the workshop to get them thinking and give them more time to digest the subject matter and formulate their thoughts in readiness for the workshop. 

My tutor Samia Malik’s detailed and constructive feedback on the artefact included this provocation, “how do you plan to design the artefact to be direct and transparent in working towards anti-racism?”, followed by “the structure is not indicating an assertive action towards working towards and building anti-racist practices”. Whilst I drew upon a diverse range of sources to create my artefact and references for the students including ‘Sick Woman Theory’ by Joanna Hedva (2022) and ‘The Cancer Journals’ by Audrey Lorde (2007), both of whom were written by women who are or have been disabled by chronic pain. After reflecting further on the rich sources we have been provided through this unit and by Shades of Noir I realise that the artefact is lacking in the voices of disabled people of colour. The artefact would benefit from being refocused using Inclusive Learning theory and Social Justice Education theory; constructing a research methodology centred around content taught in Inclusive Practices focusing on anti-racism and its visibility in the intersections of resilience and self-care. Then once refocused I can remove some of the current references and replace them with more black and brown artists and writers.

Through my journey on this module I have realised again and again, ‘it is impossible to think of education without thinking of power’ and Hahn Tapper sets the provocation that we must ‘reinvent power’ (Hahn Tapper, 2013, p.414). I conclude through the evaluation of my artefact and the feedback I have received that we must make pedagogy more personal, the personal is political and we need to be explicit about the positionality of the authors and artists work who we feature. As ‘Critical pedagogy has to have links to real educational happenings’ (Why Critical Pedagogy video) we need to build structured environments in which students feel welcome enough to share their identities and their own personal expertise within both their own intersectional communities and within the wider student cohort – but this must be supported at all times by willing lecturers and institutions who priorities listening. 

Bibliography – 

Aaron (2013). A pedagogy of social justice education: Social identity theory, intersectionality, and empowerment. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30, pp.411–445. doi:10.1002/crq.21072.

Appiah, K.A. (2016). The reith lectures: Creed, kwame anthony appiah – mistaken identities. BBC Radio 4.

The Care Collective (2020). CARE MANIFESTO : the Politics of Interdependence. S.L.: Verso Books.

Finnigan, T. and Richards, A. (2015). Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: an art and design practitioner’s guide. The Higher Education Academy.

Finnigan, T. and Richards, A. (2016). Retention and Attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design. Higher Education Academy.

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (2009). A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education : enhancing academic practice. New York ; London: Routledge.

Hahn Tapper, A.J. (2013). A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp.411–445. doi:10.1002/crq.21072.

Hedva, J. (2022). Sick Woman Theory.

Ikäheimo, H. (2009). Personhood and the social inclusion of people with disabilities: A recognition-theoretical approach. In: K. Kristiansen, T. Shakespeare and S. Vehmas, eds., Arguing about Disability : Philosophical Perspectives. Routledge.

Kristiansen, K., Shakespeare, T. and Vehmas, S. eds., (2009). Arguing about disability : Philosophical perspectives. Routledge.

Lorde, A. (2007). The cancer journals. San Francisco, Ca Aunt Lute Books.

Macfarlane, B. (2004). Teaching with Integrity : The ethics of higher education practice. London | New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Mirza, H.S. (2004). Black British feminism : a reader. London: Routledge, Pr.

NUS (2011). Liberation, equality, and diversity in the curriculum. National Union of Students.

Radical Self-Care, Analysis, (2020). BBC Radio 4. Oct.

Shades of Noir (2016). ‘Black Faces in White Spaces’: Spotlight on Rhian Spencer. [online] Shades Of Noir. Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/black-faces-in-white-spaces-spotlight-on-rhian-spencer/ [Accessed 14 Jul. 2022].

Shades of Noir (2017). Mental Health & Creative Healing. Shades of Noir.

Shades of Noir (2018). Peekaboo We See You: Whiteness. Shades of Noir.