Inclusiveness in Educational Design

Being inclusive is ultimately is the way in which we deliver our courses so that each student can learn in a way that is effective and rewarding for them. While flexibility is important for inclusive design, there are several key areas that are important to consider when considering how to develop an inclusive course. These are just a selection of those factors:

• Endorsing Sustainability
• Addressing Diversity
• Promoting Participation
• Facilitating Support
• Developing Capacity

Let’s look at each area individually. The first topic I will address is:

Endorsing Sustainability

At its very heart sustainability involves wide reaching implications for learners, their future or current profession, the community, stakeholders and last but not least, the environment. Learners must be encouraged to be leaders in their profession as well as in their communities. They must be educated in how to go out and teach others to create a sustainable society and they must be mentored in how to act as responsible guardians of the environment while also learning how to become mentors themselves.

So how to we develop an inclusive course while also endorsing sustainability? This does not have to be a difficult task! It can begin with a simple plan to incorporate these philosophies into your teaching. As a result, this message will be actively communicated in every subject and by every action. It is also important to communicate your desire to share this goal with your students so that they can understand your motivations and buy in to your ideals. This can be done in a multitude of ways but keeping in mind that mentorship is a developmental relationship so this message may be better shared in a personal message from you by way of an audio file, a video or a blog. Your ultimate goal should be to push the onus of responsibility onto your students so that they begin to take a leadership and mentorship role, carrying the message forward – the essence of sustainability! Try creating workgroups that the students can participate in online through Google Docs or in a live discussion via Elluminate or in face-to-face session. Ask the students to discuss what it means to be sustainable and how they can communicate that message to their peers, colleagues and the community. After this session, the word ‘sustainability’ will mean so much more as you implement it throughout the rest of the course.

Next time: Addressing Diversity