discovering diversity - equality network _partners _discoverin… · discovering diversity...

© Discovering Diversity at FE Providers Equality Network

This publication has been developed for the FE Providers Equality Network. The publication resulted from a peer learning project between Leeds College of Building, York College, Askham Bryan College and Selby College. The purpose of the project was to identify best practice models for integrating equality and diversity effectively into the curriculum. You are welcome to copy this publication for use within your organisation.

Contributors: York College Leeds College of BuildingAskham Bryan CollegeSelby College

DISCOVERING DIVERSITY

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Table of ConTenTs Welcome to the Discovering Diversity booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Diversity themes in curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 How to discover diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Citizenship and diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Discovering and celebrating diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Diversity and inclusive practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Key pointers for classroom management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Diversity in employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 How to design a college-wide strategy to deliver equality and diversity through the curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Leadership and management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Workforce development and performance management . . . . . . . . . . 16 Involving students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sharing expertise and good practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Observation of teaching and learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Resourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Examples of good practice in embedding diversity into teaching and learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Appendix 1 - Staff Development Workshop Lesson Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Appendix 2 - Observation of Teaching and Learning Grade Descriptors . . 28


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DisCovering DiversiTyWelcome to this workbook which has been developed to help you to build on and enhance your working practices by embedding equality and diversity into your curriculum areas.

You may know about Equality and Diversity and be very committed to promoting it in your lessons, but not sure quite how to. This workbook has been written to enable you to do this successfully. By working through each section it should:

• Helpyoutorecognisehowperceiveddifferencesbetweenstudentscan be used as opportunities in teaching and learning and not seen as obstacles or problems to overcome.

• Encourageyoutothinkabouthowyourteachingreflectsthediversemake up of the students in your classroom and help you to recognise and meet the learning needs of ALL your students.

Notallcurriculumareaslendthemselveseasilytoreflectingandembeddingequality and diversity. However this workbook will show you some of the many subtle opportunities that can be utilised in order for you and your students to gain an increased understanding of what diversity is all about.

What follows is outline guidance to help incorporate equality and diversity into your schemes of work and lesson plans and to support induction, performance review, and observations of teaching and learning. You will also find a training plan to help trainers to deliver a session to their staff on how to use this booklet. We have also included in this guide an outline of what a good or an outstanding lesson could look like in the context of equality and diversity taking into account inspection judgements.

This booklet is written in three parts:

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(1) Gender Identity includes people who have expressed an intention to undergo, are undergoing or have completed a process of gender re-assignment. Other related words are transgender, gender re-assignment or transsexual. (2) The legal definition of Disability includes ‘learning difficulty’ and may include some ‘medical conditions’ or a temporary disability. (3) The legal definition of ‘Religion or Belief’ also includes ‘Non Belief’ and ‘Philosophical Belief’.

1. The first section of the booklet ‘Discovering Diversity’, breaks equality and diversity down into four headings, which makes the task of including it in your lessons easier to plan and achieve. This section is for staff who are involved with developing and delivering teaching materials.

2. The second section is aimed at those with responsibility for managing a course, programme or curriculum area, for curriculum managers and those who may be involved with planning curriculum provision.

3. Finally the matrix at the end of the booklet offers practical ideas on how various curriculum areas can link to diversity topics.

Throughout the guide action points have been included to help consolidate your ideas.

The (tick box) section should help you gather your thoughts and ideas together quickly before you move on to make notes which you can refer back to when looking at your lesson planning.

We hope to present you with the tools to develop your own list of opportunities to include equality and diversity in your lessons and the focus to consider important searching questions.

The guide has been designed to upskill staff in recognising what equality and diversity student outcomes are needed to truly embed it into teaching and learning.

The nine protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act [2010] include;

1. Race 6. Age 2. Gender 7. Marriage and Civil Partnership 3. Gender Re-assignment (1) 8. Pregnancy and Maternity 4. Disability (2) 9. Sexual Orientation 5. Religion or Belief (3)


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Diversity themesin the curriculum

1. Citizenship and diversity

This is about students understanding their own rights and responsibilities as well as the rights of others in relation to discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation. 2. Discovering and celebrating diversity

This is where students learn about their own identity, culture and difference in relation to others. Opportunities to understand, celebrate and value the achievements of other diverse groups of people should take place under this theme. 3. Diversity and inclusive practice

This is about your own teaching practice and ensuring that you are able to assess the diverse needs of your students and plan your curriculum delivery to incorporate inclusive teaching strategies to meet the needs of all student groups.

4. Diversity in employment

Many employers explicitly require their employees to adopt non-discriminatory and inclusive practices in the workplace and with a wide range of customers. Students should be given the opportunity to think about and understand the diverse needs or requirements of their customers in the context of equality and diversity whilst at work.

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How to discover diversity

5 Please use the tick boxes provided

Research the history of the subject.

Identify key individuals who have made significant contributions to the trade or subject (by; men / women / ethnic background / disabilities / sexuality / age / religion).

Identify any relevant anti-discrimination legislation / regulations which impact on the subject or business sector.

Identify equality and diversity employee competencies that the students need to develop to meet the diverse needs of their customers.

Include content that promotes awareness around; Religion or Belief, Race, Age, Disability, Gender, Gender Re-assignment, Sexual Orientation, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity.


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Citizenship and diversity


Can you incorporate information about your students’ employment rights and responsibilities in relation to the Equality Act [2010] into any course modules or tutorial programme?

Do students know about the benefits of being a European citizen?

Where in the curriculum can you explain the legal terms bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination?

How are your students going to learn about the different organisations that can help and advise them about their rights if they suffer unlawful discrimination (ACAS, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Citizens Advice Bureau)?

Do students have the opportunity to learn about the courts and the justice system?

Notes: Please give your own examples.

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Discovering and celebrating diversity


Have you included case studies that represent non-traditional perspectives into your curriculum materials?

Can specific issues relating to equality and diversity be incorporated? i.e. disability access in construction?

Have you encouraged students to be curious beyond their own cultural and group boundaries?

How do you raise awareness of the different religious and cultural events during the academic term?

Can global perspectives of your subject be utilised within the course to aid understanding and celebration of cultural diversity? E.g. business etiquette in another country.

Can you incorporate the knowledge and understanding that diverse students bring to your course.

Canyougivestudentstheopportunitytorecognisetheinfluenceoftheirowncultural experience and identity in their response to course materials?

Why are you using certain resources? Do they lend themselves to raising awareness of equality and diversity among students? Are people from diverse backgrounds, socio-economic groups and people with disabilities visible in the resources?

Do examples include representations from a variety of people / backgrounds? Including: Religion or Belief, Race, Age, Disability, Gender, Gender Re-assignment, Sexual Orientation, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity.



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Diversity and inclusive practice


Do you produce resources that represent the variety of students in your group?

Use a variety of teaching methods; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles.

Is the assessment of learning fair and non-discriminatory against any student?

Is the language you use non-discriminatory?

Are discussions managed skilfully to ensure the students’ language is appropriate and non-discriminatory?

Are materials and topics presented in a way that is sensitive to equality and diversity?

Are resources adapted to ensure that students can access information and meet individual needs (large print, on tape, using symbols)?

Is stereotypical thinking challenged?

Are teaching resources accessible for all students?

Do students require additional resources to help them to access information? (Initial assessment, individual learning plan).

Encourage students to share with you their own cultural, personal, social and religious traditions and any information that could impact on their teaching and learning experience. For example, you may need to think about assignment dates clashing with religious festivals.



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Key pointers for classroom management


Consider students’ circumstances such as ages, backgrounds, family life and lifestyles, as well as the ability to ensure your lesson is inclusive and relevant.

Create an environment of respect, confidentiality and equality.

Promote good relationships between students from different backgrounds.

Challenge ‘banter’ when this is discriminatory.

Challenge all inappropriate behaviour and comments e.g. homophobic, racist, sexist and religious bullying.

Meet a range of dietary needs (if providing, preparing or discussing food).

Ensure that all students have the opportunity to disclose any disability / learning difficulty at all stages in the learning process so they can discuss what support they might need.

Provide support to report and challenge discrimination, harassment and bullying.


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Diversity in employment (Equality and diversity is incorporated into all the following aspects of Human Resource Management)


Objective interviewing techniques in recruitment and selection.

Performance management.

Leadership behaviours that support diversity.

Bullying and harassment.

Grievance and disciplinary procedures.

Creating an inclusive culture.

Reward and recognition.

Flexible working / work-life balance.

Internal communications – appropriate and non-discriminatory.

Working with clients, suppliers and contractors.



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How to design a college-wide strategy to deliver equality and diversity through the curriculumThe following best practice model may give you some ideas which can help you design a strategy that will work for your College. When you think about developing your own strategy, give some consideration to the following:

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Leadership and management (implementing equality and diversity in the curriculum)


Who is responsible for the strategic and operational planning of the programme?

What are the roles and responsibilities of senior managers, human resources, course managers and teaching staff?

Are objectives and targets set at a senior, programme area, department and individual level?

Who is responsible for measuring the achievement of the work?

Notes: Please comment on your own organisation.


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Workforce development and performance management


Has the training and development needs of teaching staff and managers been identified?

Do the Observation of Teaching and Learning (OTL) team need training to effectively carry out their role looking for evidence of equality and diversity in teaching?

Does the College staff induction underpin its expectations of equality and diversity?

Have you developed equality and diversity competencies for teaching staff which specifically relate to embedding equality and diversity into teaching and learning? Do these form part of the performance reviews for those staff?

How do staff evaluate and assess their own performance in relation to equality and diversity?


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Involving students


What do your students already know about equality and diversity?

What do students want to learn and what do they need to learn for their course?

When are students asked about the student experience and equality of opportunity?

Is the knowledge and experience of your students included in your teaching materials?

How do students evaluate and assess their own learning about equality and diversity?



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Sharing expertise and good practice


Who are the individuals who have expert knowledge about equality and diversity in your organisation?

Where can staff review curriculum materials that have already been developed for equality and diversity (internally / externally)?

How can teaching staff access information, advice and support from your existing partnerships with external organisations?


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Observation of teaching and learning See Appendix 2 (page 28) - Observation of Teaching and Learning Grade Descriptors


How is the promotion of equality and diversity throughout the curriculum measured on the OTL forms?

How do you record the students experience in relation to equality and diversity and how do you use this information?

Is embedding equality and diversity included in the College’s Self-Assessment and Operational Plan (SAOP)?



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Resourcing


Is there a staff development budget in place to fund workforce development?

Will teaching staff be entitled to curriculum development hours to develop resources for equality and diversity?


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