PGCert Inclusive practice

Race blog

As a black African woman, I came from a 20-year career in the fashion industry to teach at the same art and design college that I attended in the 90’s! I can relate to many of the experiences of race shared in the resources, as a student, as an employee in industry, and as a teacher.

I found some of the resources shared in the unit, perplexing, challenging and outright overwhelming at times.

In a way, the theorising of concepts, policies and themes around race has been interesting and insightful to read, however, because of my own positionality, my understating of race, discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping has mostly been formed by my own lived experiences. It is these very personal lived experiences that shape and inform my current teaching practice in relation to race.

On my DPS* programme I prepare and support students to work and build careers in the fashion industry (during a placement year). For some students this will be their 1^st experience of working in the fashion industry as a minority.  In the many 1-2-1 tutorials I’ve held, I’ve experienced students of colour, asking me. “What will it be like for me working and living in Italy or France? I heard it’s quite racist there?” and  “Do you think I’m not getting interviews like my classmates because I’ve mentioned how my Palestinian background influences my work?”  I have also had to contend with students upset about the perceived racial discrimination they experienced in their work placements. There is not enough word count for me to go into how I manage these conversations, but what I will reflect on is the fact that these students felt not only compelled, but comfortable enough to ask me these questions.  I’m not sure they would’ve done so if I were white. So, by sheer “Token” of being black, my BAME students felt they could openly ask me questions about race and racism in the industry.

Watching the short film ‘Room of Silence’ from the Rhode Island School of Design, students commented on the perceived failure of academic staff to feel confident to intervene and facilitate conversations around race, particularly when faced with either group dissent or the “Wall of silence” (a term used to describe the silence faced when students presented race related work in group crits). They noted a sense of inhibition, fear, and avoidance to address the topic or critique work with racial themes as it was a “touchy subject” and they didn’t know what to say (both fellow students and teachers alike).

for this blog, although I appreciate the resources and the theoretical papers I have read, I wanted to touch on the realities of race and discrimination that the students at RISD experienced and what I encounter when supporting my students in my current teaching practice: Their realities, collective fears, feelings and anxieties.

I see my role as a DPS tutor to mentor, advise and prepare all my students for the realities of the working world. I know that through conversations with my students, my positionality, lived experiences of being black in the fashion industry and my personal perspective can help them figure out their place in the industry. My aim is to listen actively to their insight and concerns, to encourage, to build their confidence, resilience and self-belief, and bring about a sense of belonging and knowing that there is a place for them to succeed in this industry. However, the reality is that there is a lot to be done regarding racial equality and discrimination in the fashion industry and the path is not a smooth one.

*DPS- Diploma In Professional Studies -Student industry placements and internships.

References:

Sherrid, E. (2016) The Room of Silence, Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/161259012.

BLOG POST 2: FAITH

Preparing to write this blog provided me with the opportunity to “check back in” with my positionality statement. In my statement one of my identities is as a black woman who was raised in a very religious household. Firstly, Anglican and then evangelical and Pentecostal. I currently consider myself to have a strong sense and reliance on faith and spirituality, rooted within the teaching of Christianity.

Britain is part of what is called a “moderate secular” society. This is less about one sided control and more about mutual autonomy and support of faith and religions. Public space in society is given to organised religion and the ethos and examples of moderate secularism can help guide public institutions such as universities. (Modood and Calhoun, no date)

UAL’s 2018 EDI-Report shows that the majority of our students 57% consider themselves non-religious (which falls in line with the current social trend of belief without belonging and “general spirituality”)  whilst 23% identify as having Christian beliefs. Other religions such as Jewish, Hindu, Muslim etc each account for under 5% of the student population. * (See Appendices 1 for full data)

Understanding how our faith identities intersect with our social identities, can help us to better understand religious diversity within higher education.

I found the research shared enlightening and engaging but also overwhelming in regard to my responsibilities as a teacher, and how to integrate the material and resources into my current practice. This is because I do not feel a tangible presence of inclusive practice regarding faith within my specialist field and within the fashion programme at CSM which I am part of.

It is worth noting that if knowledge of faith and religion is already unevenly taught and studied in wider HE institution, what can be done with faith inclusion and knowledge within CSM, where it’s not a part of any subject I teach?

Faith and religion can present itself as an opportunity for students to express highly valued principles of freedom of speech, and the expression of a creative/artistic identity. How do I apply what I am learning about faith and the various religious identities of my students? What happens if and when, in the name of freedom of creative expression, there is a push against a perceived boundary?  Where students with particular religious views find work or images created by other students offensive.

At this point, regarding my own practice, I have more questions than answers.

However, when listening to the lecture on Creed by Kwame Anthony Appiah, an attendee asked:

 As an educator, what processes can we be involved in to support inclusion? The answer was actually quite simple.   “Be open to having conversations across the differences.” (The Reith Lectures – Kwame Anthony Appiah – Mistaken Identities – Creed – BBC Sounds, no date)

Teachers should be aware of the complex relationships within student groups and be prepared to facilitate open discussions in groups. Use potential areas of conflict as a time to discuss differing viewpoints and it’s wider impact. (Finnigan and Richards, 2015)

In regards to my teaching practice, exploring, reflecting and critiquing the current practice or lack thereof of teaching multi faith groups, sharing with students useful resources on living in a multi faith society would be a positive first step.

I think having my own faith and religious identity, embedded by an understanding of intersectionality and how religious identities can shape social identities, will help me have an empathetic approach to facilitating and creating a safe space for open discussions……Hopefully!

Appendices:

1. UAL EDI-REPORT 2018 – Student data

• UAL EDI-REPORT 2018 Staff data

REFERENCES:

Modood, T. and Calhoun, C. (no date) Stimulus paper. Available at: http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/6379_lfhe_stimulus_paper_-_modood_calhoun_32pp.pdf.

The Reith Lectures – Kwame Anthony Appiah – Mistaken Identities – Creed – BBC Sounds (no date) www.bbc.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07z43ds (Accessed: 19 June 2023).

‌ Finnigan, T. and Richards, A. (2015) Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: an art and design practitioner’s guide. The higher education academy.

Blog Post 1 -Disability

Through my research for this blog post on Disability an area that stood out for me was The Social Model of Disability.

The social model for disability was designed and developed by disabled people as a way to identify and take action against disabled people’s oppression and exclusion. The principle of the model offers a level of insight and explanation of disabled peoples experiences in society. This promotes a shift in creating social change

“The social model helps us recognise barriers that make life harder for disabled people. Removing these barriers creates equality and offers disabled people more independence, choice and control”.

Scope (2014) 

An example of this was demonstrated in an article by performance artist Khairani Barokka who suffers from a chronic pain condition that they described as an “invisible disability”.

When researching venues for their performance they made sure to only play in venues that had wheelchair access. The script for the show was put on Google docs so that it was accessible to D/deaf and hearing-impaired attendees. They were also given a device with the scrip on it to read from during the performance. (Barokka (Okka), 2017) 

This is a good example of removing the barriers that exclude and replacing with inclusive practices.

Artist Christine Sun Kim is hearing impaired, she uses her disability as a form of creative expression, whilst reclaiming the right to make noise!

 She described feelings of being excluded when growing because she felt like sound didn’t belong to her and she was told to minimise her sounds and not be loud.

“I saw sound as their procession”. (Selby, 2011) In her work, she questions the ownership of sound, where those who have access to natural sound “Own it”.  She lived with the frustration that her voice was being suffocated and she had difficulty in communicating with people and her parents. There was a strong sense of social exclusion in her expression.

In my own teaching practice, I see some inclusive principles of the social model in the ISA’s (individual support agreement) that students are allowed to used to help support them in their project work. This happens by means of a deadline extension and extra academic 1-2-1 support. So far, the most common disability I have seen this applied to sit under the neuro divergent umbrella such as:  ADHD, Autism and Dyslexia.

The resources in this part of the unit have helped increase my knowledge of the broader spectrum of disabilities that exist and create a deeper awareness of issues that can affect my students.

Aside from reviewing students ISA’s, there are many ways in which the social model can be applied into the units I teach.  For example, at the beginning of a unit I could be more inclusive by not only assessing individual student needs, but implementing a practice that offers a range of inclusive interventions for example:

1. Focusing on short term goals of a project.
2. Breaking projects into small steps.
3. Taking short breaks during long 2 hour lectures.
4. Making lecture slides accessible prior lecture.
5. Developing multisensory activities such as video and audio.
6. Recording complex instructions or information such as project briefs as a short video.
7. Offering students choice in how they demonstrate their knowledge.

These are relatively simple amendments that could transform the learning experience for students with certain disabilities.

Scope (2014) Social model of disability, Scope. Available at: https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/.

‌Khairani Barokka (Okka) (2017) Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22:3, 387-392, DOI: 10.1080/13569783.2017.1324778

selby, the (2011) ‘Christine Sun Kim – 10min’, Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed: 17 July 2022).