Working with a diverse range of students

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Working with a diverse range of students

• Carol Arlett, Engineering Subject Centre
• Julian Sulley, Loughborough University

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Session overview

• Introduction to diversity issues
• Raising some of the issues for technicians in
  engineering and science departments
• Small group discussions of scenarios
• Feedback

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Diversity includes .

• Race
• Religion or belief
• Disability
• Gender
• Age
• Offender status
• Sexual orientation
• Non-traditional background
• Personal circumstances

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Definitions

• Culture The symbolic and expressive aspects of
  human behaviour
• Cultural traditions Norms about how and what we
  do, often passed down through families and
  communities
• Faith A persons beliefs and values
• Religion A set of observances connected to faith
  and often shared by a community
• Race Social divisions based on skin colour and
  physical features
• Ethnicity Membership of a social group, often
  related to geographical region or place of
  origin, with a distinctive language, customs,
  attitudes and values

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Culture and religion legislation

• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief)
  Regulations 2003, introduced in response to the
  Employment Directive, outlaws discrimination on
  grounds of religion or belief in employment and
  vocational training.
• http//www.acas.org.uk

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Legislation (cont.)

• The Race Relations Act (Amendment) Act 2000
  outlaws discrimination on grounds of race by most
  public authorities. It outlines an obligatory and
  enforceable general duty for Universities. They
  must have due regard to the need to
• Promote equality of opportunity
• Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
• Promote good relations between people from
  different racial groups
• Further information about this legislation at
  http//www.cre.gov.uk/legaladv/rra_amend.html and
  http//www.cre.gov.uk/duty/pdfs/rep_he.pdf

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Some of the issues

• Daily, weekly, monthly and annual schedules
• Diet
• Food at events
• Alcohol at social events and in labs
• Dress code
• Health and safety lab work
• Staff wearing sleeveless tops!
• Language
• Avoid patronising, offensive and exclusive
• Use of humour
• Facilities
• Toilet facilities
• Provision of prayer facilities

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Staff experiences

• Answering with yes and nodding
• Never admitting they dont understand and not
  willing to ask for help
• Difficulty adapting to teaching styles eg group
  work
• Reluctance to handle certain food substances and
  alcohol
• Over demanding
• Not understanding the seriousness of plagiarism
• Giving presents

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Resources

• Religious calendars on-line http//www.support4lea
  rning.org.uk/shap/. And www.interfaithcalendar.or
  g/
• Cultural Diversity A Resource booklet on
  religious and cultural observance, belief,
  language and naming systems
• Faith Guides Philosophy and Religious Studies
  Subject Centre http//prs.heacademy.ac.uk/publica
  tions/

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Working with students with disabilities

• Well, this certainly scuppers our plansto
  conquer the universe!

Well, this certainly scuppers our plansto
conquer the universe!
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Legislation and Code of Practice

• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and
  the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act
  2001 (SENDA),which amended the DDA, places
  obligations on HEIs regarding the provision of
  post-16 education and related services for people
  with disabilities.
• The QAAs Code of Practice on Students with
  Disabilities provides clear guidance for
  institutions on ways of ensuring that students
  with disabilities have access to a learning
  experience comparable to that of their peers.

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How does it effect your department?

• Departments need to understand the legislation
  and its implications, and to develop good
  practice in response to it. The DDA makes it
  unlawful for a university, or department within
  the university, to discriminate against a
  disabled person. In admissions
• in the terms on which admission offers are made
• by refusing or deliberately omitting to accept an
  application for admission
• in the provision of services provided wholly, or
  mainly, for students. This includes all aspects
  of teaching and learning (including field trips,
  lab work) and assessment

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The role of the Technician?

• Safe working practices in labs
• Making reasonable adjustments to ensure
  accessible labs
• Working with students and their assistants
• Providing instructions in appropriate formats
• Making students aware of support services and
  facilities
• Liaising with support services and academics
• Signage on doors, labelling in labs

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Resources

• Engineering Subject Centre Guide to Working with
  Disabled Students
• and other resources on our web site
• www.engsc.ac.uk
• SKILL the National Bureau for Students with
  Disabilities - www.skill.org.uk
• DART Tool On-line advice on accessible
  curriculum  http//dart.lboro.ac.uk/tool

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Scenarios

• 1. A blind student has been accepted onto one of
  your courses which includes lab work.
• What are the potential issues?
• How would you deal with them?
• Would you have training needs?
• 2. You have a group of non-European students who
  dont have the same safety and environmental
  awareness.
• What might be the cultural issues here?
• How would you make them aware of their
  obligations and responsibilities?
• 3. A student is finding it difficult to follow
  lab instructions and to write reports. You think
  he might be dyslexic but he has not discussed
  this with any member of staff.
• What actions would you take?
• What could you suggest to help him?

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Scenarios

• 4. A student with one arm has requested to use
  the machine tools in the workshop.
• What are the potential issues?
• How would you deal with them?
• What reasonable adjustments could be offered?
• 5. A female Muslim student attends laboratory
  classes wearing hijab (Islamic clothing worn by
  women to protect their modesty including a
  headscarf).
• What are the potential issues?
• How would you deal with them?
• 6. A student (or academic) is becoming
  increasingly demanding of your time. He is
  generally impatient.
• How might this make you feel?
• How would you manage the situation?

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Scenarios

• 7. A male student from a Middle Eastern country
  will not respond to you as a female (or to a
  female colleague). They ask to be referred to a
  male member of staff
• How would you react to this if it happened to
  you, or a colleague?
• 8. A Japanese student struggled to meet his
  deadlines and high levels of stress resulted in a
  mental health difficulty.
• What might have contributed to his high levels of
  stress?
• What reasonable adjustments might have been made
  to help him to cope?

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