Session Information
04 SES 09 A, Taking Risks In Inclusive Education: Tales From The Field
Paper Session
Contribution
Over time, students with disabilities have been disadvantaged in terms of access and retention in Higher Education (HE). However, in recent years we have observed that the number of these students entering the university system is increasing considerably (Kendall, 2017). This fact has been facilitated, in large part, by the development of student support services and specific legislation regulating the rights of students with disabilities (Yssel, Pak, & Beilke, 2016).
In Spain, as in the vast majority of developed countries, there is legislation that obliges universities to offer the necessary educational support so that students can participate in equal opportunities (Moriña, 2015). There are even initiatives at the European level to promote educational inclusion at university, such as the European Strategy 2010-2020 (European Commission, 2010). Similarly, more and more universities have specific support services for students with disabilities.
Although the situation has improved considerably, universities have yet to continue their efforts to ensure adequate attention to diversity, as students with disabilities continue to face numerous barriers to academic success (Kilpatrick et al, 2017). As Gale, Mills, and Cross (2017) state, giving more resources to educational institutions is not enough to solve these difficulties. According to these authors, the focus of interest should be on the pedagogical work carried out in the classroom by teachers.
Numerous studies have focused on identifying the barriers that these students encounter in the classroom and how to solve them. In most research, students with disabilities have been given a voice (Yssel et al., 2016). Also, although to a lesser extent, we find other studies focused on analyzing the opinions and experiences of teachers who have had students with disabilities in their classrooms (Collins, Azmat, & Rentschler, 2018).
In terms of how to address diversity, inclusive education is the most important approach in HE in recent years (Moriña, 2017). Nonetheless, this has mainly been done through the implementation of specific measures to address diversity in university policies. On the other hand, there is a need for greater knowledge about how inclusive educational practices are developed within university classrooms.
The traditional approach to working (inside the classrooms) with students with disabilities has been one based on special educational needs. As in pre-university stages, this approach consists of offering a differentiated and special education, with different or additional services, which promotes segregation and discrimination (Florian, 2010).
In contrast to other emerging educational approaches and techniques, such as inclusive education or Universal Design for Learning, in England and Scotland the concept of inclusive pedagogy is emerging. Inclusive pedagogy recognizes the individual differences of students, but avoids the problems associated with identifying some students as "different" (Florian, 2010). In the model of inclusive pedagogy, diversity is a strength rather than a difficulty, and the teacher has to offer a variety of options for everybody, taking the difference into account (Spratt & Florian, 2013).
In this paper we analyze the inclusive practices that a group of professors in the areas of Social and Legal Sciences develops in the university. This area has been sparsely analyzed in the literature on inclusive education and HE (Author et al., 2014). Similarly, there is also a need for greater knowledge about inclusive pedagogy and the good practices of university teaching staff (Moriarty, 2007). Therefore, we intend to fill a gap in literature by offering a specific analysis of what teachers who develop inclusive pedagogy do, as well as how and why they do it.
Method
This study is part of a research project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, entitled "Inclusive Pedagogy at the University: faculty members` narratives" (MINECO, EDU2016-76587-R, IP. Anabel Moriña)". This four-year project (2017-2020) had the main objective of finding out, through a qualitative methodology, what the teachers who develop an inclusive pedagogy in the university do, as well as why and how they do it,. More specifically, this article focuses on analyzing the inclusive actions they develop in the classrooms and the participants' recommendations for other teachers to promote the educational inclusion of all students. Two research questions guided this analysis: What actions does the teaching staff take to ensure the educational inclusion of all students? What recommendations does the faculty make for more inclusive university classrooms? Faculties from 10 Spanish public universities, belonging to all areas of knowledge, participated in the study. Specifically, this article presents the experiences and actions of 25 professors in the areas of Social and Legal Sciences. In total, we contacted 35 teachers, although 10 of them did not participate in the study. To access the sample, we contacted the disability support services of the different universities via telephone and e-mail. Students were asked to recommend those faculty members who had positively influenced their academic trajectory as inclusive faculty members. A qualitative methodology was used for the development of the study. In this first phase of the research, data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews. Two interviews were conducted with each of the participants. Each of these interviews lasted about an hour and a half. All the information from the interviews was recorded and transcribed verbatim. For the treatment of data, a structural analysis was carried out from the inductive creation of a system of categories and codes, following the proposal of Miles and Huberman (1994). This task was carried out with the support of the data analysis software MaxQDA12. Following it presented the categories and codes used for the analysis of the information. Categories/Actions: Codes: Know the needs; Teacher-student relationship; Teaching methods; Materials; Evaluation and Follow-up and tutorials. Categories/ Recommendations: Codes: Training; Support services; Consider diversity; Support and follow-up of learning; Make reasonable adjustments and Equitable treatment.
Expected Outcomes
The participants' arguments show how they respond to the needs of all students. Driven by their beliefs about diversity and their interest in providing individualized attention to students (Collins et al., 2018), faculty members design and develop syllabuses based on inclusive pedagogy that take into account differences and allow for the participation of everbody (Barrington, 2004). Making adjustments in methods and resources is a fundamental action to achieve the success of students with disability. Many of these actions, such as providing material in advance, continuous assessment activities or tutorial action, are beneficial to all students (Lombardi and Murray, 2011). In addition, the faculty offers recommendations for other teachers to move towards the educational inclusion of all their students. As a starting point, they recommend that teachers receive training in inclusive education and attention to students with disabilities (Black, Weinberg, & Brodwin, 2014). In the same way, the attitude of the teacher and his relationship with the students is a fundamental and decisive area for an adequate academic experience. In addition, another recommendation resulting from this study is to make all reasonable adjustments that are required to ensure the proper learning of students. Teachers must develop a pedagogical practice based on equal opportunities. We hope that the educational practices that have been shared in this article, as well as the recommendations for the teaching staff, will help and serve as an example. Coinciding with Patrick and Wessel (2013), it is necessary to make teachers aware of the importance of the adequacy and personalization of teaching for students with disability. These measures, together with others such as improved communication between support services and faculty, or the development of inclusive policies, will guide universities towards more equitable and fairer scenarios.
References
Author et al., 2014 Barrington, E. (2004). Teaching to student diversity in higher education: How multiple intelligence theory can help. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(4), 421-434. doi: 10.1080/1356251042000252363 Black, R.D.; Weinberg, L.A.; Brodwin, M. G. (2014). Universal design for instruction and learning: A pilot study of faculty instructional methods and attitudes related to students with disabilities in higher education. Exceptionality Education International, 24(1), 48-64. Collins, A., Azmat, F., & Rentschler, R. (2018). ‘Bringing everyone on the same journey’: revisiting inclusion in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2018.1450852 European Commission (2010). European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: A Renewed Commitment to a Barrier-Free Europe. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0636:FIN:en:PDF Florian, L (2010) Special education in the era of inclusion: The end of special education or a new beginning?. The Psychology of Education Review, 34, 2, 22-29 Gale, T., Mills, C., & Cross, R. (2017). Socially Inclusive Teaching: Belief, Design, Action as Pedagogic Work. Journal of teacher education, 68(3), 345-356. doi: 10.1177/0022487116685754 Kendall, L. (2017). Supporting students with disabilities within a UK university: Lecturer perspectives. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1-10. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2017.1299630 Kilpatrick, S., Johns, S., Barnes, R., Fischer, S., McLennan D., & Magnussen, K. (2017). Exploring the retention and success of students with disability in Australian higher education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(7), 747-762. doi: 10.1080/13603116.2016.1251980 Lombardi, A. R., & Murray., C. 2011. “Measuring University Faculty Attitudes toward Disability: Willingness to Accommodate and Adopt Universal Design Principles.” Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 34: 43–56. Miles, M.B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Moriarty, M. A. (2007). Inclusive Pedagogy: Teaching Methodologies to Reach Diverse Learners in Science Instruction. Excellence and Equity Education 40: 252-265. doi:10.1080/10665680701434353. Moriña, A. (2017). Inclusive education in higher education: challenges and opportunities, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32:1, 3-17, doi: 10.1080/08856257.2016.1254964 Patrick, S., & R. D. Wessel. 2013. “Faculty Mentorship and Transition Experiences of Students with Disabilities.” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability 26 (2): 105–118. Spratt, J., & Florian, L. (2013). Aplicar los principios de la pedagogía inclusiva en la formación inicial del profesorado: de una asignatura en la Universidad a la aplicación en el aula. Revista de investigación educativa, 11(3), 141-149. Yssel, N.; Pak, N.; Beilke, J. (2016) A Door Must Be Opened: Perceptions of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 63(3), 384-394. doi: 10.1080/1034912X.2015.1123232
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