Intervention to promote inclusive learning within my practice
300-word summary proposal
This project proposes inviting students and alumni to run a workshop—or series of workshops—within the 2025–26 academic year. These session(s) will support integration within the BA1 Textile Design cohort, creating space for informal interaction, shared learning, and the discovery of common interests. The aim is to bring more diverse voices and references into the course. The workshop(s) will encourage open dialogue, experimentation, and collaborative learning, moving beyond traditional hierarchies in teaching. By platforming diverse voices—particularly those whose practices may fall outside dominant or Western academic traditions—the project seeks to enrich the curriculum and better reflect the multiplicity of our student body.
The session(s) will be embedded into the curriculum by focusing on specific stages of the design process, such as research and idea development, materials and methods, or cultural and contextual references. There will be an emphasis on individuals sharing their own points of reference with the group, potentially leading to the creation of an open-source reference database for students, staff, and alumni to access and contribute to.
As Year 1 Leader for BA Textile Design, I’ve observed that many students find the transition into university overwhelming. Social groups often form quickly, making it challenging for some students to integrate. This intervention aims to establish informal, collaborative spaces where students can connect across year groups, bringing in diverse perspectives and reference points rooted in their varied backgrounds.
This project aligns with my ongoing commitment to peer-led learning, community-building, and inclusive education. It reflects the CAF framework and my sustained interest in multilayered approaches to teaching and learning—exploring informal, horizontal spaces where authority is shared, and learning is mutual. Inspired by among other things, the ‘Why is my curriculum white?’ movement founded by students at University College London.
- Why is my curriculum white? (2015) Made by University College London (UCL) Available on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dscx4h2l-Pk
- The Creative Attributes Framework, 2016, Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/204330/Creative-Attributes-Framework-OVERVIEW-2020-FINAL.pdf
- Banerjee, P, (2024) ‘ Connecting the dots: a systematic review of explanatory factors linking contextual indicators, institutional culture and degree awarding gaps’, Higher Education Evaluation and Development, P.31-52.
- Billy Wong, Reham Elmorally, Meggie Copsey-Blake, Ellie Highwood & Joy Singarayer (2021) Is race still relevant? Student perceptions and experiences of racism in higher education, Cambridge Journal of Education, 51:3, 359-375, DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2020.1831441
Hi Claudia
I hope that you are well. Thank you for sharing your intervention design idea. I think this is a very thoughtful proposal that is grounded in the real dynamics of student experience and with a lot of potential to enhance that experience. You’ve managed to weave care, dialogue, collaborative learning, and curriculum development into something that feels both achievable and meaningful. By platforming diverse voices, you’re going beyond including more diverse references (which is also good), opening up a space for different ways of knowing, making and sharing (LO4), what could be called an ‘engaged pedagogical space’ (hooks, 1994). The open-source reference database adds an element of sustainability to it, but I wonder if it’d also be useful to think of review/feedback mechanisms to consider the students’ response to the intervention and to assess what’s working and what may be missing.
You’re not only addressing inclusion in terms of course content but also in terms of power: who teaches, who contributes references, and whose creative practices are seen as valid. Your reference to the Why is my curriculum white? campaign helps to signal you’re looking at things from a systemic perspective. To build on this, consider your intervention aligns with/responds to/ critiques/ considers/builds on guidance on inclusive practices from UAL, sector frameworks (e.g. Advance HE), industry, to help demonstrate LO1. You’ve mentioned Banerjee (2024) and Wong et al. (2021), so their work may also be useful in articulating how curriculum design and institutional culture affect who feels able to participate fully and who feels silenced.
Your positionality seems to emerge quite naturally with references to your observations (e.g. Y1 students’ difficulty to integrate) and your ongoing commitment to peer-led learning, community-building and inclusive education, plus how you were inspired by CAF. There is perhaps an opportunity to expand on this by considering your position as Y1 Leader (e.g. How do you navigate the balance between facilitating and stepping back? What are the challenges of enacting equity from within a formal teaching role?
Your attention to student belonging and well-being, especially during the vulnerable early stages of university life, comes across clearly, showing awareness of inequity in everyday student interactions and its impact (LO2). I feel that your approach, focusing on peer-driven learning spaces, has real potential to challenge the more exclusive, fast-forming social dynamics that can alienate students from less represented backgrounds.
I’ve included the learning outcomes too to provide a focus for the reflective report when you come to it.
Regards, Victor
Below, just a reminder of the learning outcomes.
LO1: Critically evaluate institutional, national and global perspectives of equality and diversity in relation to your academic practice context. [Enquiry]
LO2: Manifest your understanding of practices of inequity, their impact, and the implications for your professional context. [Knowledge]
LO3: Articulate the development of your positionality and identity through the lens of inclusive practices. [Communication]
LO4: Enact a sustainable transformation that applies intersectional social justice within your practice. [Realisation]