Developing an appropriate and inclusive teaching strategy

When developing a teaching strategy for a disabled student you should think about

• the objectives and learning outcomes of a teaching or assessment activity
• the needs of the student
• their previous experience as a learner and the strategies they have developed
• the resources and expertise available to you
• the resources available to students from other sources, such as the DSA
• how any adjustments you make might impact on your usual teaching methods and resources.

For example, sighted people often take for granted the amount of visual information received every day. Many blind students do not have a lifetime of visual experiences to draw on. You should consider the amount of assumed visual content in your teaching and in the learning tasks your students undertake and think about whether this can be modified or presented differently.

Work out in advance a strategy for teaching a disabled student. The following approach may be helpful.

1. Identify your teaching objectives and the learning outcomes they are meant to deliver for a given activity.

2. Identify any difficulties that your teaching environment, methods and materials will cause the student. Might this make it difficult for them to achieve the learning outcomes? Is it possible for them to achieve the learning outcomes another way? You should discuss this with the student – do not make assumptions.

3. In consultation with the student and the staff member who is coordinating their support, identify the reasonable adjustments you can make to your teaching methods and materials to meet the student’s needs without compromising the teaching objectives and learning outcomes. If necessary, get advice from other staff in your institution on what constitutes a reasonable adjustment. Let the student know about the adjustments to be made.

4. If the student has individual support from specialist support staff (e.g. a study support assistant, a mentor or a scribe) find out what their role is and discuss how the three of you can work together effectively.

5. Agree which actions will be taken by you, which by your institution and which by the student to provide the reasonable adjustments you have identified. These adjustments may include actions taken before, during and after a given teaching activity.

6. Keep a record of decisions made and give the student a copy. Such a document may be useful for other staff teaching the same student. However, don’t assume it can be used to determine adjustments for another student – each student must be considered individually.

7. After working with the adjustments for a while, review them with the student and make any changes required.

1. Inclusive teaching
2. Universal Design for Learning
3. Preparing to teach inclusively
   1. Developing an appropriate and inclusive teaching strategy
   2. Making appropriate reasonable adjustments
   3. Providing an accessible and safe learning environment
4. Sustaining self-esteem and motivation
5. Barriers to learning
6. Specialist support staff
7. Assistive technologies
8. Learning environments
9. Learning materials
10. Academic assessment