Abstract:
Equity-oriented pedagogy was named as one of the ten pedagogies listed in our 2021 Innovating Pedagogy report, the latest report in the series that explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment. These reports are intended for teachers, trainers, policy makers, education consultants, academics, students, researchers, instructional designers, educational software developers – and indeed for anyone who is interested in pedagogical innovation and how education is changing.
Developing educational opportunities that are inclusive requires thinking not only about equality in opportunities to access education but also about equity, whereby each student can achieve similar positive outcomes, regardless of their background and characteristics such as gender, disability or ethnicity. Finding fairer ways to improve learning for all requires consideration of barriers at many levels, from personal to cultural and societal. In this talk, we will examine the difference between equality and equity, and look at ways in which EDI – and equity – can be incorporated into online education. We will also examine the OU’s work on building an ‘inclusive curriculum’ and how this is being rolled out institutionally.
Speaker Bios:
Dr Liz FitzGerald is a Senior Lecturer in IET and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is Chair for the OU’s PGCAP and previously taught on the Masters (MA) in Online and Distance Education. She was the founding Director of the LTI Scholarship Centre (LATIS) from 2018-2020. She is also IET’s Athena Swan lead and the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) champion for IET. Her overarching research interests are concerned broadly with professional digital learning, situated learning and sense-making in educational technology. This has included research into mobile and location-based learning; the role of technology in changing or maintaining professional practice; and how personalisation in TEL can contribute to effective learning and teaching. She supervises doctoral students in a number of educational technology areas.
Darren Gray is a Senior Manager in the Centre for Access Participation and Success (APS). He joined The Open University in 2016, firstly working in the Assessment Programme, and from April 2018 in his current role where he manages research projects exploring barriers faced by students from underrepresented, disadvantaged and discriminated-against groups. Darren is leading the development of an Inclusive Curriculum Tool, and associated training for staff and student reviewers, emanating from his research in 2018 with students self-identifying as Black. He leads the annual APS series of seminars, the biennial APS International Conference, and many other events disseminating scholarship learning. Darren previously worked in Local Government for more than 25 years in roles including: sports development, play provision, economic development, regeneration, and co-ordination of major infrastructure projects. His previous roles involved community engagement, project management, and strategic planning. In a voluntary capacity Darren has been a sports coach for adults and juniors for nearly 40 years, gaining great experience of working with many diverse groups and from beginners to elite performers.
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