Dear members, I would like to know of policy and practices
which have advanced equality for disabled student in higher
education. I teach in social work , I am non-disabled.
I have set up a faculty subgroup with staff and disabled
students to review current provision and systems. We are
appointing disablity equality consultant to support
disabled students attending to assist in their expression
of perspective and ensure we do not exploit their
experience. This is a beginning to map out future work so
disabled students are higlighting issues but are not being
used to develop access strategy etc which should be fully
commisioned.
We have found two approaches - one based on the student
concerned with support and "special arrangements" for
teaching and assessment in university and placements. The
other is a rights approach which considers inclusive
education in terms of curriculum, provision and delivery
not per individual students but as an equality strategy
across higher education. The former I understand to be a
medicalised "special" model, the latter to be
rights/entitlement social model. The first leading to
tales of "extra work" and the second, for me a movement
like class and gender struggles finnaly including disabled
people and mainly led by disabled people. It would help me
to hear suggestions and have any references - there some
papers I have read but they too focus on "additional
costs", I see the resistence to disabled people's
contribution as an unacceptable form of loss to higher
eductation staff and student body and all that comes from
higher education - so something that links the school
inclusion philosphy and practice to higher education - any
conferences due? Any models of addmissions, range of
assessment approaches? Please do challenge me. I would
also like to know if there are any disabled student
mailbase networks to pass on to student union. thank you
tillie curran
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Curran, Tillie
Email: [log in to unmask]
"University of the West of England"
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