A ‘Towards Inclusivity’ Model for Reasonable Adjustments In Higher Education
Louise Grimmett and Ben Watson (UCL)
Reading 15th June 2023 11:25-12:20
Louise Grimmett
Louise is the Student Support and Wellbeing Manager for Disabilities and Specific Learning Differences at University College London (UCL). Louise has worked within Higher Education since 2008, starting her journey as a support worker (bands 1 and 2), then specialising in dyslexia and becoming a specialist 1-1 study skills tutor (SpLDs and ASC) in 2010. Louise often uses her Law degree when promoting reasonable adjustments. She enjoys the daily problem-solving required in our roles as Disability practitioners, particularly through the lens of critical disability theory. Louise is undertaking a part-time cross-disciplinary doctorate at UCL; Security and Crimes Sciences department and the Institute of Education. Her research is on the radicalisation of young people and recent scholarly research on Autism and Extremism. Louise recently co-authored a chapter for Elgar Publishing, entitled ‘Higher Education and Disability: Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology in the UK’, due for publication early 2024.
Ben Watson
Ben is the Head of Digital Accessibility at University College London. A former law librarian and qualified teacher, he has a passion for inclusive design that has led him into researching and implementing approaches to inclusive information and technology provision for education.
He has experience of working with all UK education sectors (primary, secondary, further, and higher education) and many years’ experience of working to improve both the physical and digital accessibility of education organisations. In 2015 he initiated the OPERA (Opportunity, Productivity, Engagement, Reducing barriers, Achievement) project. This project reconsidered approaches to learning and teaching, digital systems and assistive technologies and catalysed a shift towards anticipatory reasonable adjustments and inclusive practice by design. This work has been hugely influential and was recognised with a Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Support for Students.
Ben is also one of the founding chairs of the Further and Higher Education Digital Accessibility Working Group (FHEDAWG) which has worked directly with the Government Digital Service to develop guidance for the Higher and Further Education sectors to best meet obligations under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
A ‘Towards Inclusivity’ Model for Reasonable Adjustments In Higher Education
Many Higher Education Institutions have helpful baseline principles for reasonable adjustments. Our aim was to create our own baseline principles whilst acknowledging that reasonable adjustments and environments need continual review. We believe that presently inclusivity is a fallacy, and we can only strive to move ‘towards inclusivity’ rather than something anyone can proclaim to have fostered. Continual auditing and review of inclusive reasonable adjustments are paramount. We maintain that an adjustment for a disabled student can be beneficial for all students within the classroom, some of whom may not have a registered disability, or may be experiencing a difficult time in their academic journey or personal lives. This leads us on to the ongoing debate around some adjustments only being made available to a disabled student, for example, the recording of a lecture. Our presentation will question the reasonableness of this and whether it goes beyond a reasonableness threshold or not. It will also introduce debates around performance rights, used by some academics, and the recording of sensitive information.
Our presentation will introduce our ‘towards inclusivity’ document, which outlines simple but impactful adjustments to teaching and learning at UCL (University College London). The document has been informed by an analysis of frequently requested reasonable adjustments at UCL and current research on inclusive practice within the Higher Education sector.
Three principles of the reasonable adjustments:-
- Access: ‘Adjustments to teaching, learning, assessment, and feedback are made where students with disabilities have reasonable adjustments. This is drafted by Student Support and Wellbeing and the student.
- Legal: Reasonable adjustments supports the institutions legal, moral and social obligations under the Equality Act [2010]
- Inclusivity: These adjustments are part of our wider institutional endeavour and responsibility to create an inclusive and equitable environment (UCL inclusivity policies).
Our session will discuss how the reasonable adjustment process and implementation of adjustments can be time-consuming and resource intensive, particularly when reasonable adjustments are implemented at the individual level.
“By building inclusive practices into an institution’s structure and operations, fewer reasonable adjustments will be needed over time. Where such adjustments are needed, the institution can be much more responsive to individual needs” (OfS, 2019).
Towards the end of the presentation, we will invite practitioners to discuss their own challenges in this field, providing the space to reflect on the steering of change and best practice within their respective HEIs.