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Inclusive teaching in psychology

Inclusive teaching in psychology. Dr Julie Hulme. Aims of the session. To introduce you to your students – diversity of psychology students; To reflect on how your teaching might accommodate students’ needs and help promote learning inclusively. Who are my students?.

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Inclusive teaching in psychology

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  1. Inclusive teaching in psychology • Dr Julie Hulme

  2. Aims of the session • To introduce you to your students – diversity of psychology students; • To reflect on how your teaching might accommodate students’ needs and help promote learning inclusively.

  3. Who are my students? • In pairs, jot down some ideas about who you think your students are. What will they have in common? How will they be different? • Join another pair – have you got the same ideas? Be prepared to report to the whole group.

  4. Diversity

  5. Students taking psychology • In general, there has been an increasing proportion of disabled students attending university in the last two decades. • This has also been true of psychology. • Psychology attracts more students declaring a disability, proportionately, than does HE as a whole: • E.g. 2007/08 • 6.5% students declared themselves disabled • 8.8% psychology students declared themselves disabled • (HESA statistics)

  6. Declared disabilities in psychology • Frequently occurring declarations: • Dyslexia and related specific learning difficulties • Mental health problems • Unseen/multiple disabilities • Psychology students are more likely to declare mental health difficulties than students in most other subjects.

  7. Other aspects of diversity • Around 25% of full-time psychology undergraduates are male. • Around 20% of psychology graduates go on to careers in the psychology professions. • Around 70% of psychology undergraduates have studied A level psychology or equivalent – 5 different specifications just at A level, plus IB, Highers, Access. • Not all disabled students choose to declare their disability. • Not all diversity is easy to see.

  8. What does this mean for teaching? “Good practice for disabled students is good practice for all” (Gravestock, 2008). In your groups: What impact do you think disabilities might have on learning? Choose two problems a disabled student might have in one of your classes – what can you do to help them? How will this help other students? Share your ideas with the larger group.

  9. Example • Working with a visually-impaired student: • Large font; • Minimal text on Powerpoint; • Electronic versions available online. • How this helps other students: • Visible from the back, ease of readability; • Reduced cognitive load, improved attention; • Facilitates revision, helps non-attenders (e.g. carers, ill), can change formatting etc.

  10. Inclusive practice: disability Talk to departmental disability advisor Ask students what helps beforehand Plan ahead Vary your teaching methods Where possible, provide alternative materials for independent study Check learning frequently Ask students again! How will these steps help other students?

  11. Inclusive practice: in class • Think about your own experiences of learning – it is easiest to learn things that relate to what you already know. • From a psychological perspective, we remember information that fits into our existing cognitive schemas. • Teaching diverse students inclusively means: • Using a variety of examples to illustrate ideas; • Remembering that students of different ages, backgrounds and cultures might not know the same things that you do or hold the same values; • Being aware of students’ prior learning.

  12. Sensitive teaching Some topics in psychology are “sensitive” in nature. For example, teaching students about depression can raise issues for students who are experiencing depression.

  13. The student voice “Some subjects, like study of repressed memories and social psychology, have made me feel more depressed and made me focus on my own problems and made me feel more hopeless and helpless”. “There are some aspects of the course that I find irritating; in a module on personality for example the suggestion that cancer (such a generalisation) can, in some cases, be attributed to personality traits seems very simplistic. (This was the cause of my disability).”

  14. The student voice “They are scientists, but don’t appreciate the knowledge they have that explains my behaviour, and how they can help. A lecturer that specialises in reading, and in dyslexia and reading, doesn’t apply what she teaches when she knows she has students that match the case studies that she presents. It’s very frustrating”.

  15. Teaching sensitively Can you think of aspects of your own teaching that might be sensitive? How might you help to support students who find the topics you teach difficult? How can you approach teaching such topics?

  16. Golden rules • Don’t be afraid to ask! – students, colleagues, disability support services. • Be approachable – encourage students to talk to you, and listen to them. • Be open to ideas and prepared to try new things. • Don’t make assumptions, avoid generalisations. • Check you’re “doing a good job” - reflect, evaluate, check learning - your teaching will develop inclusively.

  17. How did I do? • Thinking about this event, and about this workshop in particular, can you see any examples of good practice? Did I follow my own rules?

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