Inclusive Intervention Proposal

Designing a Responsive Learning Support Ecosystem

Introduction:

Through my work in 1-2-1 Student Support and Digital Communication session, I’ve become more aware of how many barriers go unspoken. Students often don’t ask for help in the session when they are struggling, I noticed this is not because they don’t want to succeed, but because of fear of being ashamed, culturally pressured, or access issues that haven’t been seen.

This intervention idea is about creating a more responsive learning support ecosystem, blending some changes into the existing system that make a big difference.

Phase 1:

I will revisit the 1-2-1 support session booking I created to include questions around leaning preference which are currently lacking (e.g. Visual, Kinaesthetic, auditory or solitary), and environment or access needs, (e.g. ‘I focus better in a quiet space’, or ‘I get anxious in an open space). This questionnaire before booking gives students permission to express how they learn best and helps the specialist technicians adapt their teaching style accordingly and provide suitable learning resources.

Phase 2:

I will also extend this to my Digital Communication teaching (Y1 Fashion Technology: Womenswear) where I have seen many international students struggle silently during live software demonstrations. Some hesitate to speak up, fearing judgement or being misunderstood, a concern especially relevant to culturally diverse group. To support different learning style, religious observance, like Ramadan, and student with disabilities (e.g. Mental health conditions. Currently we only have written Handout available, I’m planning to produce a short, captioned video demos of the software content which can be revisited anytime, creating more flexible, accessible learning options.

This work is guided by the principles of Universal Design for Learning, which encourages educator to offer multiple means of engagement and expression to reduce learning barriers. (CAST 2018). I will also investigate Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, as the support theory for the framework, which argued “For education to be part of the solution to social injustice, it must centre the rich and varied lives and ways of being, knowing, and communicating of communities that have been and continue to be harmed and marginalised through schooling” (Paris and Alim, 2017, p.2). This approach led us to create teaching practice that affirm student’s cultural identities, not erase or flatten them, especially in globalised classrooms where silence is often misread.

Theory in Practice, Intervention Proposal Theory Informed Intervention Actions, Rebekah Guo, 2025

In conclusion, this intervention is all about moving from ‘accommodations if you ask’ to inclusion by design, building support systems that adapt to students, not the other way around.

Challenges and Limitations:

While this idea aims to be inclusive and responsive, I recognise the limitations, especially the additional labour it may place on already overworked staff. Preparing alternative formats or adapting different teaching styles to suit different learning preferences can become time consuming and, in some cases, feel unrealistic without institutional support or shared resources.

How do we balance individual needs with workload sustainability? I think it would be valuable to research further into the distribution of learning styles and access needs across the cohort to better understand where the highest impact could be made. At the same time, I’m aware of the risk of designing only for the majority, which could create a new exclusion. The challenge is finding a sustainable approach where flexibility is built in by design.

Reference:

CAST (2018) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. [online] Available at: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ [Accessed 22 May 2025].

Paris, D. and Alim, H.S. (2017) Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. New York: Teachers College Press. Page 1-3https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Culturally_Sustaining_Pedagogies/3QvGDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover [Accessed 22 May 2025].