Abstract:

In the context of the Equality Act (EQA) 2010 that required UK Higher Education (HE) institutions to actively promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities the number of students disclosing a disability has significantly increased and continues to rise (HESA, 2014). Part of ensuring that students with a disability are not at a substantial disadvantage, compared to their non-disabled counterparts, is to make anticipatory reasonable adjustments.

At Glasgow Caledonian University it is the Disability Team’s role to meet with students who disclose a disability, assess their needs and make recommended adjustments that are then distributed to academic teaching staff. It is then the responsibility of academic staff to implement these adjustments. However, literature shows (Couzens et al, 2015) that across the UK HE sector disabled students continue to experience barriers to learning because academic staff can struggle to make the adjustments needed to deliver an inclusive learning experience. This mirrors the GCU Disability Teams' experience based on in-depth student feedback about their learning environments. As an institution GCU has committed to making programs and teaching accessible and inclusive for disabled learners in alignment with the university's Strategy for Learning 2020 and the Equality Act (EQA) 2010. Despite this commitment, there are clear gaps and inconsistencies in how inclusive teaching and learning environments are implemented.

To try and bridge this gap I will create a How Accessible Is Your Teaching? checklist. The checklist will aim to condense the detailed inclusive teaching and learning materials available to staff on the Disability Team’s website. Along with a set of minimum standard requirements for making programs and teaching more accessible and inclusive developed under the GCU’s Strategy for Learning 2020. The checklist will be designed collaboratively with disabled students, academic staff and staff on the Disability Team. It will be an eye-catching one-page poster covering 6 main areas of teaching and learning, teaching preparation, teaching, environment, module handbooks, assessment, placement, and accessible teaching material design.

In conclusion, the checklist will create an opportunity to tackle some of the barriers teaching staff face in making teaching practices more accessible, such as time restraints and experience in teaching disabled students. It's quick to reference colourful poster format will create visibility around accessible teaching for both staff and students. One of the overarching effects of the checklist will be to create a platform for raising awareness and creating conversations around inclusive learning and teaching and the ways in which pedagogy, curriculum and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible and inclusive to all.

Keywords:

Accessible, teaching, checklist, teaching aid.