New policy on inclusive practice in teaching
Monday, 11 December 2017
The University has a new policy on Inclusive Practice in Teaching and Learning.
It was approved by the University Board for Teaching and Learning in October and will be effective from 1 January 2018.
The policy responds to the national changes in support for disabled students and an on-going legal requirement for universities to provide such support.
In producing the policy, the University looked practices at other institutions and consulted our own stakeholders – including Senior Tutors, School Directors of Teaching and Learning, Disability Advisory Service, Centre for Quality Support and Development and Reading University Students’ Union.
Our aim has been to produce a Policy that will benefit all students.
Benefit all learners
The Inclusive Practice in Teaching Learning policy aims to increase the accessibility and inclusivity of our Teaching and Learning practices by embedding key adjustments, which will:
- benefit all learners;
- reduce the need for adjustments to teaching materials for individuals;
- help to enable all learners to participate fully in their learning.
Here are some practical tips on inclusive teaching and learning that you may find useful.
We understand that colleagues will need time to implement the policy and the wording of the Policy (Section 2.4) is that we are ‘working towards’ certain specifications of delivery, as outlined in the Policy.
In line with this, the expectation is for all academic programmes to be working towards:
- inclusive assessment practices;
- accessible presentations and handouts;
- key resources provided to students at least 48 hours in advance of a taught session.
Over the next 12 months, an Implementation Group – chaired by Teaching and Learning Dean, Clare Furneaux – will work on embedding the policy across the University.
A number of sub-groups, including those on communications and staff training, will support their work.
We will keep you updated on the work of the Implementation Group, especially about staff training to support the policy.