Inclusive education refers to the ways in which UTS creates a meaningful, welcoming and engaging environment for all our students, to facilitate equitable and successful participation.
Inclusive education is characterised at UTS by a positive stance towards diversity and difference that anticipates learner variability, recognises diverse strengths, and employs multiple ways of engaging with students. This document describes key inclusive education principles that inform pedagogy, curriculum design and teaching at UTS.
These principles have been adapted with kind permission from principles developed by Deakin University’s Inclusive Education Project.
Inclusive practices to apply the principles
1. Recognise and embrace student diversity
2. Provide accessible and usable learning resources and environments
3. Design flexible learning experiences
4. Represent diversity in the curriculum
5. Scaffold underpinning knowledge and skills
6. Build a community of learners
7. Assess equitably
8. Feedback effectively
9. Reflect on and evaluate practice
These principles were developed by Dr Janet Watson and Dr Mary Dracup, Deakin University Equity & Diversity Unit Inclusive Education Project and have been amended with permission. They incorporate findings from key pieces of research in this area including the Universal Design for Learning (CAST 2018) framework, Hockings’ (2010) Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research, Devlin et al’s (2012) Effective teaching and support of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, and Stone’s (2017) ‘Opportunity through online learning’ national guidelines.