Intervention and Reflective Report

Inclusive Practice

Rebekah Guo

Introduction

This report will discuss a teaching intervention designed to promote further inclusion in the Digital Communication sector, as well as my one-on-one support sessions. I work with students from different cultural backgrounds in Art and Design education who face numerous challenges related to language, digital fluency, and a lack of understanding of what is expected in their studies. This situation is something I see all the time: students who are silently struggling academically, unwilling to raise their hand and seek help, and are apprehensive about asking questions or participating in class discussions. This intervention addresses those observations by providing a way for students to share how they learn best while providing multiple access points for participation. The intervention is informed by concepts of learning styles and inclusive pedagogy, in particular the research of Reid (1987), Kolb (1984), and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. My intention was not to categorise people based on learning styles; I wanted to create something that all teachers can use to reflect, improve access to the curriculum, and make our learners feel good about learning.

Context

The intervention will be delivered within two correlated contexts – one-to-one tutorials and group Digital Communication sessions. Students are often required to learn creative digital tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and CLO3D, as part of these courses. The students in the group I’m teaching are first-year undergraduate students with diverse cultural and educational experiences. For many, this is their first taste of UK higher education. To address students’ unique learning styles, I created a pre-session questionnaire based on Reid’s (1987) Perceptual Learning Style Preferences model. It gives students a moment to think about how they prefer to consume information and reflect on their intake after the individual support session. In Phase 2, I have incorporated Kolb’s experiential learning cycle (1984) to encourage reflective thinking in collaborative and iterative design processes. The double-pronged method enables students to express their learning choices and engage in meaningful work with creative, multi-layered patterns.

Inclusive Learning: The case for design

While learning styles theory has received considerable criticism for its lack of empirical evidence and conceptual vagueness (Papadatou-Pastou et al., 2020), it offered a functional reflective approach. Ghobain and Zughaibi (2024) claim that “learning style” is ambiguous and “has lost its specificity over the years” (p. 996). They warn the field not to reify learning styles as stable constructs or diagnostic markers. I did not employ Reid’s model to label students but instead to engage students in a conversation about how they participate in learning. It is an attempt to provide a more interactive and personalised experience, especially for students who are not comfortable expressing their needs verbally.

Whilst I am aware of these criticisms, I believe each learning model can be used strategically to support different stages of learning and has specific advantages. I will make the questionnaire available in various languages to minimize linguistic bias. I will use Kolb’s (1984) model in the group experience to provide processes for metacognitive reflection. For Kolb, learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (p. 41). This resonates well with Digital Communication when students iterate through a process of trial and error. Kolb’s cycle offers a mechanism for students to gain active awareness of their learning behaviors and to modify them. By using each framework strategically —Reid for individual interactions and Kolb for larger scope classes —I hope to mitigate the “sloppy blending of (individual) theories” (Papadatou-Pastou et al. 2020:5) that they criticize. Each model can be used to support a different stage of learning and has specific advantages.

Although the intervention was developed specifically for international students, it is also beneficial for general learners. Almost every mention here – the anxiety of group work, getting to grips with digital platforms, needing to understand the conventions and protocols of the academy – resonates for neurodivergent students, mature learners, and others who may feel marginalized by higher education too. Designing for one group of people has helped me develop practices that benefit many groups of people.

Reflection on Development and Challenges

This intervention was formed through reflection on my work with students who are timid to speak or ask for help. Some had communicated their discomfort explicitly; others had done so obliquely, by avoiding it or disengaging. The literature reflects these patterns. According to Qu (2024), some international students choose not to speak in order to maintain class harmony. This referred to a universal institutional challenge: although there is a push for inclusivity in practice, there is typically not enough time or support in place to fully implement it. This led to some critical questions I had about how to support and scale inclusive approaches for my workload and departmental systems. I initially worried that using two different models, or theoretical models, Reid’s and Kolb’s, might result in conflicting messages, which Papadatou-Pastou et al. (2020) had warned about. However, I now know that each has a specific purpose. Reid’s model allows students to reflect on their preferences in a non-threatening environment, whereas Kolb’s model underpins reflective learning in construction and design. The models are applied in separate steps and, in practice, do not conflict, so cohesion is maintained. This also compelled me to reflect more on my positionality. I once saw it as a static identity label, and yet Bayeck (2022) characterises positionality as influenced by “The interplay of space, context, and identity.” I connected on a deep level to her idea, I am an “in-out-sider.” I am a Chinese woman, an immigrant, a lecturer, a technician—roles that can change depending on the context. This is the experience on which I draw to notice silence in the classroom, to interpret disengagement, and to act. Similarly, Schiffer (2020) argues that researchers ought to reflect as a form of being in responsibility, which accounts for power and transfers the role of the teacher from an expert to a facilitator. That has pushed me to relinquish control, to be open to the perspectives of students, and to rethink inclusion as an ongoing, relational practice.

Action and implementation

I will start trialing the questionnaire during one-to-one tutorials next term. The information gathered will inform the types of support I provide – whether through visual schematic guidelines, written instructions, or video tutorials – so that students can engage with the resources in a manner that feels comfortable to them. For group work, I will use reflective triggers from Kolb’s Learning Cycle. These could include written reflections, anonymous polls, or breakout group discussions, depending on what the cohort is comfortable with. The idea is to create a space for reflection that encourages students to share their thoughts without forcing them to speak up if doing so makes them uncomfortable. In the future, I’d like to continue developing the intervention to become a more peer-led programme where students can co-construct learning strategies and their own approaches to discussing how they learn. As Qu and Cross (2024) suggest, students tend to dismiss non-assessed activities unless their purpose is clearly articulated frequently. The claim is that teachers need to facilitate that it is essential to make credits for what students do more visible” (p. 10). As I make reflection and engagement a central part—not a free choice to opt in or out—I hope that students will come to value the learning process in different ways.

Process Evaluation

If the intervention is successful, I hope to see increased student participation from the most shy and reluctant students. I will specifically be looking for greater use of differentiated resources, e.g., Handouts, Video recording of the sessions, Interactive mock questions, more thoughtful written reflections in class, and informal feedback that students report feeling better supported. I will also determine whether the intervention is making a difference in the teaching practices that I want to improve, so that I can respond to and anticipate diverse learning needs more effectively. This process has altered my perspective on learning style data. I no longer view it as a form of categorisation but rather as a medium for planning, reflection, and communication. I am still skeptical of its constraints, but when implemented ethically and situationally, it has the potential to strengthen inclusive teaching.

Conclusion

This research process has strengthened my resolve to be an inclusive practitioner. It is a reminder that we start by listening to voices, yes, but also to silences and the places marked as uncertain. It also solidified my sense that inclusion is not something you check off a list; it is a relationship between a teacher and a learner that you remain attentive to throughout the year. And I will continue to refine this work, filled with kindness, empathy, and wonder.

Bibliography:

Bayeck, R.Y., 2022. Positionality: The interplay of space, context and identity. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 17(1), pp.8–24. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/itls_facpub/article/1853/&path_info=ITLSfacpub2023_Bayeck_PositionalityInterplaySpace.pdf

Qu, X. and Cross, B., 2024. UDL for inclusive higher education—What makes group work effective for diverse international students in UK? International Journal of Educational Research, 123, 102277. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035523001404

Papadatou-Pastou, M., Touloumakos, A.K., Koutouveli, C. and Barrable, A., 2020. The learning styles neuromyth: When the same term means different things to different teachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(3), pp.511–531. file:///Users/bsg/Downloads/s10212-020-00485-2.pdf

Schiffer, E., 2020. Issues of power and representation in participatory design: Reflections from research in The Gambia. Design Studies, 70, 100964. https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/6656/1/IssuesOfPowerAndRepresentationAM-SCHIFFER.pdf

Reid, J.M., 1987. The learning style preferences of ESL students. TESOL Quarterly, 21(1), pp.87–111. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586356

Kolb, D.A., 1984. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235701029_Experiential_Learning_Experience_As_The_Source_Of_Learning_And_Development

Ghobain, E. and Zughaibi, A.A., 2024. ‘Multimodal’ fits all: Revisiting the relevance of perceptual learning styles in higher education today. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(4), pp.995–1004.https://tpls.academypublication.com/index.php/tpls/article/view/7868/6372

Blog Task 3 – Race

When I first read the UAL anti-racism action plan, especially the bit that says “increase representation of BAME academic staff by 15%” and “by 50% at Grade 7” (UAL, 2021), I didn’t feel reassured. I felt anxious. I started to question myself: Was I employed because I’m good at what I do, or was it to help the numbers look better? I support the idea of equity and increasing representation, of course I do, but this way of framing it made me feel like a statistic, not a person.

Asif Sadiq’s TED Talk (2023) put words to something I’d been struggling to explain. He says, “It’s easy to count people, but it’s hard to make people count.” That really hit home. Sometimes inclusion feels more like performance, something that looks good on paper, but doesn’t actually shift who is being listened to or who feels like they belong. It reminded me of another point he made, about how all the case studies and resources he saw while studying business were about the successful people who didn’t look like him. That example stayed with me. It mirrors what I sometimes feel in my own academic journey, like I’m not the person these spaces were originally built for.

Bradbury (2020) deepens this point using Critical Race Theory. She explains how policy, even when it claims to be neutral, often centres whiteness as the default. She writes that “representation is necessary but not sufficient” and argues that without shifting power, policies risk turning people of colour into symbols of institutional success instead of truly including them. That resonated. Sometimes being visible feels like being under a spotlight rather than being supported.

On Monday, in our group discussion in the workshop 3, we spoke about this too. We questioned where these percentages in the action plan came from, and who decides them. We also talked about the way data is collected, how we’re not always told why our identity data is being used, or how. That can feel invasive and a bit performative, especially when you’re not sure if it’s helping or just another tick box. We also questioned the term “BAME”—how it groups so many different people together and ends up creating a binary between “white” and “everyone else.”

I’m not saying the action plan is bad. It’s a step. But if we want real change, the approach has to go deeper. Garrett (2024) talks about how racialised PhD students often can’t picture a future in academia because the system hasn’t shown them one. That really stayed with me, because representation on paper doesn’t always translate into real support, real listening, or a real sense of belonging.

One thing our group suggested was making data collection more transparent, clearly explaining how it’s used, and why, and building it into a two-way conversation. Because anti-racism shouldn’t feel like something happening to us—it should feel like something we’re actively shaping together.

Reference:

Bradbury, A., 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), pp.241–260.

Garrett, R., 2024. Racism shapes careers: Career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, pp.1–15.

Sadiq, A., 2023. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx Talks , 2 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw [Accessed 4 June 2025].

University of the Arts London (UAL), 2021. UAL Anti-racism Action Plan Summary. London: UAL.

Blog Task 2 – Faith, religion, and belief

Through my work as a specialist technician and associate lecturer, I’ve become moe aware of how race, faith, and gender intersect with classroom dynamics, often invisibly. I don’t practice a religion myself, so at the first I didn’t think much about faith related to my teaching. But from the Blog 2 resources, especially Ramadan (2022) and Rekis (2023) opened up a deeper understanding of how identity shapes who is heard, believed and accommodated in academic environment.

In Ramadan’s study, Muslim women academics shared how they avoid social events that involved alcohol. On paper, this sounds more like a personal choice, but reading further, I realised this’ Choice’ often came with a professional cost: for instance, lost networking, exclusion from information sharing, and subtle sidelining. It reminds me how social norms, like afterwork drinking or casual meetups can feel optional, but actually function s gatekeeper to full participation. One participant in the study noted that while she was technically included, she still felt unable to fully belong in academic culture. This struck me as a form of exclusion hidden in plain sight that I can relate.

Rekis(2023) offers a powerful framework for understanding this through the lens of epistemic injustice. Testimonial injustice occurs when someone is seen as less credible based on identity. This resonated with me personally. As an Asian Women in a predominantly white UK institution, I’ve often been mistaken for a student, in a surface level, it might seem minor, just a mix-up. But over time, I started to realise this reflects an assumption about credibility, assumption of age based on the look. Because I share an ethnic background with a large portion of students, some people see me through that student-lens first, before seeing my professional role. If I were a white woman of the same age, I wonder: would those assumptions still happen? These moments reflect broader assumptions about who “looks like” a lecturer, and who doesn’t.

Hermeneutical Injustice, as Rekis explains, is even harder to notice. It’s when someone lacks cultural tools or shared language to explain their experience, and therefore can’t be fully understood. Muslim women who wear the hijab are often seen through western stereotypes: either oppressed or hyper-religious. Their own explanation of veiling is as an act of devotion, agency or spiritual expression. As cited in Rekis (2023, p. 787), Alia Al-Saji observes that “the veiled woman is at once hypervisible as oppressed and invisible as subject.”, this lead to Muslim women is made hypervisible as a symbol, but her own subjectivity, her voice, meaning, and beliefs are remain unseen. That’s what makes this injustice so persistent.
In my own teaching, I’ve worked with Muslim students who missed session during Ramadan. When I noticed their absence, I made sure to email them, share leaning resources, and assure them that their participation was still fully recognised. As educators, we can’t always remove barriers, but what we can do is to make sure students know the barriers aren’t their fault, weather it’s their religion, race, believes or cultural background.

Jawad (2022) makes a similar point about Muslim Women in sports. She notes, :’ There is nothing in Quran or Hadith that explicitly precludes men’s or women’s participation in physical activities.’ Yet sport often excludes women of faith though assumptions about body visibility, clothing and mixed sex environment. This made me question why our definition of sport is so narrow? Why must inclusion come with compromise? Hy don’t dominant system adapt to difference, instead of demanding the reverse?

In the Trinity University (2016) Video, Professor Simran Jeet Singh mentioned when he went to an airport, people were looking at him with fear and funny looks, awkward,It wasn’t just an awkward moment, it shaped who gets to feel safe, who gets to speak, who is seen as a threat, and who ends up staying silent. But he didn’t stay silent. He started a conversation, and even showed a photo of his daughter, helping others to see him as just a normal person. That small action challenged the stereotypes placed on him. I think this is the kind of environment we should be working towards in higher education , one that doesn’t avoid difference, but makes space to break down assumptions through real, human connection.

Moving forward, I want to continue questioning what feels “normal” in our academic culture. From the language we use to how we deliver sessions or shape feedback, everything carries hidden norms. I will explore how to create more flexible, identity aware systems in both my 1-2-1 work and Digital Communication teaching.

Reference:

Jawad, H. (2022) Islam, Women and Sport: The Case of Visible Muslim Women. Religion and Global Society Blog, LSE. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2022/09/islam-women-and-sport-the-case-of-visible-muslim-women/ (Accessed: 23 May 2025).

Ramadan, S. (2022) ‘When faith intersects with gender: The challenges and successes in the experiences of Muslim women academics’, Gender and Education, 34(7), pp. 853–870.

Rekis, J. (2023) ‘Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account’, Hypatia, 38, pp. 779–800.

Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom. [Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk (Accessed: 23 May 2025).

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].

Blog task 1 – Disability

After studying Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, which highlights how different aspects of identity such as race, gender, disability, and class can overlap to create unique experiences of discrimination and privilege (Crenshaw, 1991), I found the video Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023 particularly resonant.

In this video, Chay Brown shares his experience as a white, trans man with a mental health disability. Although his whiteness grants him certain privileges, he also faces complex challenges navigating hidden disabilities and decoding social cues within the LGBTQ+ community. His story powerfully shows that discrimination is not caused by a single aspect of identity, but by the collision and compounding of multiple identities.

Reflecting on Chay Brown’s Intersectionality
by Rebekah Guo, 2025

In the diagram I created, I mapped out different parts of Chay Brown’s identity: being white, living with a mental health disability, and being a trans mom. As a white man, Chay carries certain social privileges, especially compared to racial minorities. But at the same time, his lived experience is far from simple. Being a trans gay man with a hidden disability brings layered, often invisible challenges. Because his disability is not immediately visible, it can be harder for him to express his needs or gain recognition for the barriers he faces. There’s also the pressure to learn the subtle non-verbal communication often expected in male-dominated spaces, as he described, it’s adding another layer of anxiety.

Chay’s interview really resonated with me because it reminded me of my own intersectional identity. I am a Chinese woman, living with a mental health disability, and an immigrant. There are challenging situations I encounter sometimes without even fully realising they’re unfair. I’ve learned to fit in, to read hidden social cues, even when doing so feels uncomfortable or overwhelming. I am also neurodivergent, and I find it very stressful to stay in loud, chaotic social environments for extended periods. For a long time, I thought I simply disliked these spaces, but now I understand it as part of my disability experience, not a personal failing.

Reflecting on my own Intersectionality
by Rebekah Guo, 2025

According to UAL Active Dashboard data (University of the Arts London, 2024), around 2.94% of students declared mental health conditions in 2024/25, 656 individuals. While this may seem like a small proportion, it actually represents a significant number of people who are navigating invisible disabilities alongside the demands of academic life. Although UAL offers a wide range of mental health support services, not all students are aware of them, and many may feel hesitant or uncomfortable seeking help.

University of the Arts London (2024) UAL Active Dashboard: Student Profile: Characteristic 2024/25

This reality makes it even more critical to recognise that inclusion must happen inside the classroom itself, not just through external support channels. Hidden disabilities, like mental health challenges, are often overlooked in standard classroom practices. As a result, many students who are struggling silently end up feeling excluded, even when they are physically present.

Reflecting on intersectionality has made me realise that creating a genuinely inclusive learning environment means intentionally valuing and responding to invisible needs—not just visible ones. In my future practice, I want to make hidden disabilities visible in the sense of recognition and respect, without forcing disclosure. By embedding flexible ways to engage, express, and participate into everyday teaching, I hope to create spaces where students with diverse, often unseen, experiences can truly feel seen and supported.

In the third interview video, Christine Sun Kim’s words, “If you don’t see us, we have no place to be,” stayed with me deeply after watching her interview. It reminded me that visibility is not just about acknowledgement — it’s about expectation, about infrastructure, about creating spaces where people know they are anticipated, not just accommodated.

Reference:

Crenshaw, K. (1991) ‘Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299.

University of the Arts London (2024) UAL Active Dashboard: Student Profile: Characteristic – Disability 2024/25, unpublished internal data. Accessed 29th April 2025

YouTube (2023) Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023 . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 28 April 2025).

YouTube (2021) Christine Sun Kim: “Friends and Strangers” . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqoDsQyqGpA (Accessed: 28 April 2025).

This blog post has been supported by grammar and expression checking using OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o model.

OpenAI (2025) ChatGPT [online]. Available at: https://chat.openai.com/ (Accessed: 28 April 2025).

Reflective Writing 3: Free of Speech

Workshop 1

Reading lists:

Malcolm, F. (2020). Silencing and Freedom of Speech in UK Higher Education. British Educational Research Journal, [online] 47(3).

Sammary:

In this article, Malcolm (2021) explores whether freedom of speech is genuinely under threat in UK universities or if this narrative has been exaggerated. He argues that media coverage often amplifies isolated incidents like no-platforming or disruptive protests, creating a sense of crisis that doesn’t reflect the actual scale of restriction. Instead of just discussing “freedom of speech,” Malcolm introduces a more nuanced concept—silencing—which includes both legal restrictions and subtle, often invisible forms of pressure that cause people to self-censor.

He creates a taxonomy of silencing, including:

Pre-emptive silencing (e.g., disinviting speakers before they arrive),
Passive inhibitive silencing (e.g., students feeling too intimidated or afraid of judgment to speak), and
Illocutionary silencing (when someone speaks, but their words are ignored or dismissed).

Malcolm finds that while extreme forms like no-platforming are rare and usually justified, passive silencing is more widespread and concerning, especially among Muslim students and those with conservative views, who feel pressure to stay quiet in certain environmentsMalcolm 2021 Silencing ….

He also discusses the role of government policies like the Prevent Duty, which, though intended to stop extremism, can create a “chilling effect” on free speech—leading some students to avoid controversial topics or even hide aspects of their identityMalcolm 2021 Silencing ….

Ultimately, Malcolm argues that universities must look beyond headline-grabbing debates and start addressing the deeper, more nuanced issues around who feels heard—and who doesn’t—in campus conversations.

Reflective Writing:

Reading Malcolm’s article made me realise how deeply all three types of silencing—pre-emptive, passive, and illocutionary, exist around me and within me.

As a woman of colour, I’ve often avoided talking about politics, particularly anything related to China. I’m very aware of how Chinese politics are framed in the West, and I’ve seen how easily a conversation can turn uncomfortable or hostile, even when my intention is just to share a personal view. Malcolm (2021) describes this type of pre-emptive silencing as a form of self-censorship, where people choose not to speak because of the potential risks or misunderstandings, especially in politically charged contexts.

I’ve also experienced illocutionary silencing as an international student. In group discussions, I sometimes hesitated for a long time before speaking—because I’d already learned that sharing my thoughts could lead to awkward silence or be ignored altogether. When everyone else seemed to agree with a dominant opinion, I started assuming my perspective wasn’t valuable. As Malcolm (2021, p. 5) points out, “silencing” can happen when students feel like their voices won’t be heard or respected, even if they are technically allowed to speak.

These reflections have made me reconsider how I create space for discussion. I’ve started thinking about using prompts like, “Does anyone have a different view?” or “Can you think of an alternative example?”—not just to encourage participation, but to signal clearly that it’s safe to disagree and to bring in personal perspectives. It’s not enough to say “this is a safe space”; we need to actively build that space through how we respond to difference.
As a lecturer from China, this adds another layer of complexity to how I think about classroom dialogue. I’m teaching in a Western institution where freedom of speech is often associated with directness, debate, and open confrontation of ideas. Meanwhile, I come from a cultural background that also values freedom of expression, but often expresses this through more indirect or context-sensitive communication. In many Chinese contexts, there is a strong emphasis on harmony, relational respect, and timing—people often speak with awareness of how their words might affect group dynamics or social relationships. So I often find myself balancing between these two communication styles. I don’t want to avoid difficult topics, but I’m also mindful of how different students, especially international ones, might feel overwhelmed or exposed in open debates. My goal is to create a space where students can express themselves freely, but also thoughtfully, with awareness of the diverse cultural lenses in the room.
Freedom of speech, to me, isn’t just about the right to speak—it’s about being heard, being safe, and being seen as part of the conversation.

I’ve also been thinking about the role of 1-to-1 support sessions in breaking silencing patterns. For many students, especially international ones or those from underrepresented backgrounds—the classroom can feel like a performance space, where there’s pressure to say the “right thing” or follow dominant views. But in a one-to-one setting, they’re often more willing to share thoughts, ask questions they might feel embarrassed about in front of others, or even challenge ideas in a safer, more personalised environment. I now see 1-to-1 sessions not just as academic support, but as a space to validate individual perspectives and gently encourage more confident participation over time. It’s a quiet but meaningful way to help students reclaim their voices.

References
Malcolm, J. (2021) ‘Silencing and Freedom of Speech in UK Higher Education’, Education and Self Development, 16(3), pp. 4–13. https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.16.3.01

Reflective Writing 2: Positionality

Workshop 1

Reading lists:

Read this article: Bayeck, R.Y. (2022) Positionality: The Interplay of Space, Context and Identity. Journal of Qualitative Methods.
Schiffer, A. (2020), Issues of Power and Representation: Adapting Positionality and Reflexivity in Community-Based Design.
YouTube. (2021) ‘What is positionality?’ [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/HfBf-je6-sw?si=mMyUi_N7C6aEyzQj

Summary:

In Positionality: The Interplay of Space, Context and Identity, Bayeck (2022) explores how a researcher’s identity is not fixed but constantly shifting depending on where they are and who they are with. Drawing from her own cross-cultural fieldwork, she describes how her status as an insider or outsider changed based on gender, nationality, and the spaces she occupied. Bayeck introduces the idea of being an “in-out-sider” to capture the complexity of holding multiple, fluid positions simultaneously.

Similarly, in Issues of Power and Representation, Schiffer (2020) reflects on her participatory design work in The Gambia and how her identity as a white European woman shaped her relationships with local collaborators. She emphasises that reflexivity is not just personal reflection, but an ethical, ongoing practice that challenges power dynamics and shifts the designer’s role from “problem-solver” to “facilitator.” Both authors argue that positionality and reflexivity are essential in producing ethical, empathetic, and situated research, especially when working across cultural boundaries.

Reflective writing:

After watching the video What is Positionality? (YouTube, 2021), I started to think more deeply about what makes me who I am, and how that influences the way I view the world and carry out research. I used to think reflection just meant thinking about how I feel or what I believe, but this concept pushed me to think critically about the deeper layers, how my identity, upbringing, cultural values, even the spaces I move through all shape the way I approach topics. Bayeck (2022) describes this beautifully by saying that positionality is shaped by “the interplay of space, context, and identity,” and that researchers often carry multiple identities which shift depending on where they are and who they’re with—sometimes even becoming an “in-out-sider” all at onceBayeck 2022 Positionali…. That really made me pause. I’ve never thought about how these different roles I hold: lecturer, technician, Chinese woman, immigrant, married, collide and influence how I work with students or select research topics. Similarly, Schiffer (2020) reflects on her fieldwork in The Gambia and how building trust and critically examining her position as a white woman helped her navigate power dynamics and avoid being a “design saviour”Schiffer 2020 Positiona…. I found her honesty really moving. She writes about embracing vulnerability and letting go of control to become a facilitator rather than a leader—something I think about more and more when working with students from different backgrounds. Both articles encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and see reflexivity not as a box-ticking exercise, but a continuous, emotional, and even uncomfortable journey that can make my practice more ethical and empathetic.

Reference:

Bayeck, R.Y. (2022) ‘Positionality: The interplay of space, context and identity’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, pp. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221131321

Schiffer, A. (2020) ‘Issues of power and representation: Adapting positionality and reflexivity in community-based design’, International Journal of Art & Design Education, 39(3), pp. 418–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12291

My Process of Understanding the Difference between Positionality and Reflexivity

When I first came across the concepts of positionality and reflexivity, I found them a little confusing. They often appear together, but they actually focus on slightly different (though connected) aspects of how we see the world, and how we act within it. Here’s how I’ve come to understand the difference:

Positionality is about who you are—your background, your cultural and social identity, your upbringing, education, language, gender, race, and everything else that shapes your worldview. It refers to the “position” you occupy in society and in relation to others. For example, I’m standing at a window in a tall building. Positionality is the floor I’m on and the direction your window faces; it determines what you can and can’t see.

It’s not just a label, though. It’s about how that position affects what you notice, what you value, and how you interact with others. For example, I recognise my own positionality as a Chinese woman working in UK higher education, raised in a family that highly values discipline and time management. These parts of my identity shape how I relate to students, colleagues, and the way I teach and research.

Reflexivity goes one step deeper. It’s about being aware of your positionality, and then constantly reflecting on how that shapes your actions, decisions, relationships, and the knowledge you produce. It’s not something you do once and forget. It’s an ongoing process of asking myself questions like:

How does who I am influence how I see others?
Am I unintentionally missing something because of my own cultural assumptions?
Am I placing unfair expectations on others based on my background or values?

Reflexivity is about being open to discomfort, willing to question my biases, and adjusting my approach when needed. It’s not always easy. For example, I’m still standing on the same tall building, and realising that my view is limited, then deciding to move, explore other windows, and listen to what others can see from their floors.

For me, this became really clear when I realised that I used to feel frustrated when some students didn’t turn up to tutorials or didn’t ask for help. I couldn’t relate—because from my own upbringing, time management and self-discipline were core values. But then I started reflecting: not everyone grows up in a context where those things are taught or valued in the same way. That reflection, that shift, is reflexivity. It’s how I started to think about changing how I support my students, and how I approach my teaching more compassionately.

My Positionality vs. My Reflexivity

Aspect	My Positionality	My Reflexivity
Cultural Background	I was raised in a Chinese family that values discipline, organisation, and independence.	I now realise that these values shape how I perceive “responsibility” and “success”—and that not everyone has had the same structure or support.
Gender & Ethnicity	I am a Chinese woman living and working in the UK. My identity is often shaped by stereotypes about being quiet, obedient, or passive.	I reflect on how these assumptions affect how others treat me, and how I sometimes hold back my voice, even when I should speak up.
Educational Experience	I lived independently since I was 16 and learned to manage my studies early.	I used to expect students to do the same. Now I understand that time management is often taught, not innate, and I can offer more guidance and check ins to make sure students have a safe space to speak out their needs.
Professional Role	I work as a lecturer and technician in a Western institution where I’m often both a cultural insider and outsider.	I reflect on how this “in-between” space gives me unique insight—but also comes with emotional labour, especially when trying to support international students.
Biases and Assumptions	I assumed that asking for help or being organised is “normal” and expected.	I now challenge that assumption by asking: What barriers might stop someone from speaking up? How can I create safer, more accessible spaces?

My Positionality Statement

I’m a Chinese woman working and living in the UK, and I’ve come to realise that my background plays a much bigger role in how I teach, communicate, and research than I used to think.

I grew up in a middle-class family; my dad works as a leader in a government agency, and my mum works in the finance bureau. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been expected to be independent, organised, and responsible. I travelled and started living by myself at age 16 in the UK, and from that point on, I learned how to manage my studies, my life, and ask for help when I needed it.

For a long time, I thought that was just “normal.” But now I see that these values—time management, being proactive, speaking up—are actually part of my positionality. Not everyone has the same start in life, and not everyone has been encouraged or taught to do things the way I was. Through learning more about positionality and reflexivity, I’m starting to reflect more deeply on how my personal experiences shape my expectations, especially toward students.

I’ve noticed that when students don’t show up or don’t ask for help, I used to get frustrated. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just speak up if they were struggling. But now I ask myself: what’s stopping them? Maybe they come from a background where asking for support feels scary, or maybe they’ve never had anyone check in on them. I realise now that what feels easy for me isn’t necessarily easy for everyone else—and that’s a big shift in how I approach teaching and support. This is especially true when it comes to international students. I’ve been one myself, so I totally get it in some ways—the confusion, the pressure, the feeling of being overwhelmed or unsure whether your questions are even valid. I see how hard it can be to adjust to a new academic culture, express yourself in a second language, or even know where and how to get help. I want to study more about different approaches, both culturally and pedagogically, so I can better understand their struggles and offer more effective, compassionate support.

Being a Chinese woman in a Western university setting also puts me in an interesting space. Sometimes I feel seen, sometimes invisible. There are stereotypes about Chinese or Asian women being passive, quiet, or overly obedient, and I do think these assumptions affect how others treat me, even in subtle ways. At the same time, I have certain privileges: I’m educated, I have work experience, and I’ve learned to adapt across cultures. So I’m trying to use that awareness to create safer and more supportive spaces for my students, especially those who might not feel they belong.

What I’ve learned is that poositionality isn’t fixed. It changes depending on where I am, who I’m with, and how I’m being perceived. And reflexivity means I don’t just think about who I am, I also reflect on how that shapes my actions, and how I might need to shift or rethink things. It’s uncomfortable sometimes, but it’s helping me grow, not just as a teacher or researcher, but as a person.

Reflective Writing 1: Intersectionality

Workshop 1

Key Concepts in Inclusive Practice

Reading list:

Crenshaw, K. (1990) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43 (6)
Lukkien, T., Chauhan, T. and Otaye‐Ebede, L. (2024). Addressing the diversity principle–practice gap in Western higher education institutions: A systematic review on intersectionality. British Educational Research Journal.

Summary:

Reading Kimberlé Crenshaw’s (1990) foundational article Mapping the Margins, I was introduced to the concept of intersectionality: a framework that explores how overlapping identities such as race and gender create unique forms of discrimination. Crenshaw focuses on how women of colour, particularly in the context of violence and institutional neglect, are often excluded from both feminist and antiracist discourses.

Similarly, Lukkien et al. (2024) examine how intersectionality plays out in Western higher education, identifying a significant gap between institutions’ stated commitments to diversity and their actual practices. They argue that many diversity policies fail to address the lived realities of individuals with intersecting identities, and offer practical recommendations for more inclusive, system-level change.

Both articles prompted me to reflect on my own position as a Chinese woman in the UK, and the ways intersectionality impacts not only my personal experiences but also my role in supporting students from diverse backgrounds.

Reflective writing:

Reflecting on Intersectionality and My Positionality as a Chinese Woman in the UK

Reading Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality made me reflect deeply on my own identity as a Chinese woman living and working in the UK. While I couldn’t immediately recall specific moments when stereotypes impacted me, I’m certain they have—whether subtly or overtly. As I think more carefully, I realize these experiences are often layered into daily life, making them harder to pinpoint, yet impossible to ignore.

There’s a pervasive stereotype that Asian, particularly Chinese women are submissive, quiet, and less likely to speak up for themselves. I’ve felt that people often assume we’re more agreeable, easier to ask favours from, or less likely to challenge authority. I’ve observed that when similar situations involve white women, others tend to show more caution or emotional sensitivity in their approach. This subtle difference reinforces a kind of social hierarchy, in which Chinese women are perceived to be “beneath” their white peers—not just culturally, but even interpersonally. As Crenshaw (1990, p. 1244) explains, women of colour are often “marginalized within both” feminist and antiracist discourses because of their intersectional identity. This really resonated with me.

These experiences are made more complex by how China is portrayed in Western media. I’ve lost count of the number of times someone’s asked me if I eat dog or cat, or assumed that I lived under 24/7 surveillance with no freedom of speech. It’s honestly exhausting. These aren’t innocent questions—they’re shaped by years of media framing China as this mysterious, oppressive, “othered” place. And when people discover I’m Chinese, it’s like all of that baggage gets projected onto me automatically. It reduces who I am to a political narrative. Crenshaw (1990, p. 1242) talks about how ignoring the differences within groups creates tension among them, this kind of generalisation is exactly that. It doesn’t leave space for my actual experience as an individual.

Thinking about my role as a technician and lecturer, I’ve started seeing how my own background—growing up in a family that valued organisation and independence has shaped the way I handle work. I started living alone at sixteen, so by the time I went to university, I already had experience managing my own schedule and reaching out for help when I needed it. But not all of my students have had the same experience. Some are first-generation university students. Others are juggling jobs, caring responsibilities, or mental health challenges. I used to find it frustrating when they wouldn’t turn up to tutorials or ask for support when falling behind. But now I’m starting to realise: I was seeing it through my lens, not theirs.

This shift in thinking links to what Lukkien et al. (2024, p. 5) describe as the “principle–practice gap” in universities. Institutions often say they value diversity and inclusion, but don’t always make space for people with intersectional identities in a meaningful way. And the problem isn’t just about surface-level representation it’s also about deeper power dynamics. As they put it, one of the reasons institutions struggle to apply intersectionality in practice is because “the heterogeneity of intersectional identities makes it impossible to meet everyone’s needs” (Lukkien et al., 2024, p. 18). But that doesn’t mean we give up—it means we need more thoughtful, flexible approaches.

One thing I’m reflecting on is how to better support students who might not feel comfortable speaking up. I’ve noticed many international students, especially from Asian backgrounds, are very quiet in class. It’s not because they have nothing to say, it’s often because they feel unsure, or the environment doesn’t feel accessible to them. As Lukkien et al. (2024, p. 19) recommend, universities need to think more about “supportive mentoring and allyship structures” that reflect the actual lived experiences of minoritised students. That could mean more check-ins, more encouragement, or just making it easier for them to say when something’s hard.

Crenshaw (1990, p. 1241) reminds us that “many of the experiences… are not subsumed within the traditional boundaries of race or gender discrimination.” That hits home for me. It’s not about choosing one identity over another—it’s about understanding how they work together. And it’s only when we recognise, relate to, and really see someone else’s struggle that we can find real solutions. That applies not just to institutions, but also to me, as someone who works with and supports students every day.

Reference:

Crenshaw, K. (1990) ‘Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299.

Lukkien, T., Chauhan, T. and Otaye-Ebede, L. (2024) ‘Addressing the diversity principle–practice gap in Western higher education institutions: A systematic review on intersectionality’, British Educational Research Journal, [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4096 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2025].

Reflective Post 3:

Microteaching: Object Based Learning

The microteaching session was incredibly inspiring. With six of us in a group, each person brought their perspective and understanding of teaching practice, making it a rich and insightful experience. I learned so much from seeing how different approaches can engage students in creative learning. One of the microteaching sessions that stood out to me the most was Emilia’s jewellery making activity, which explored how to break the fear of perfectionism and encourage experimental design.

Emilia’s microteaching session focused on helping students overcome perfectionism in their creative work. She introduced an experimental blind drawing exercise, where students observe an object around them, and sketched without looking at the paper, followed by translating their drawings into wireframe jewellery designs. This hands-on approach encouraged students to embrace imperfection, shifting their focus from trying to create something “perfect” to exploring new forms and ideas. The phenomenon happens a lot in my sessions, students have the fear of starting a digital technical drawing.

The activity was highly engaging and worked as a great icebreaker, fostering creativity and allowing students to feel comfortable making mistakes. By incorporating different materials like wire and giving clear, open-ended instructions, Emilia created an environment that encouraged students to let go of self-doubt and experiment freely.

Her session made me reflect on the role of perfectionism in creative learning. Many students, especially in design fields, struggle with the pressure to produce polished, high-quality work from the start. This can lead to hesitation, self-doubt, and creative blocks.

Research suggests that perfectionism can actually limit creativity, as students become more focused on avoiding mistakes than taking creative risks (Nordin-Bates, 2020). Emilia’s approach demonstrated how playful, low-pressure exercises can help students reframe their mindset, viewing mistakes as part of the process rather than failures. This made me think about my own teaching, Am I unintentionally reinforcing perfectionist tendencies by focusing heavily on technical precision in digital work?

Currently, my teaching focuses on digital communication tools like Adobe Suite and CLO3D, which can feel technical and intimidating for beginners. Many students hesitate to experiment because they expect polished, professional results immediately. Inspired by Emilia’s session, I want to incorporate more analogue, hands-on activities in my first session to break the ice and make digital drawing feel more approachable.

For example, I could start with quick, freehand sketching exercises before transitioning into software, helping students loosen up and see digital tools as part of a broader creative process rather than a rigid skillset. By creating a more playful and exploratory learning environment, I hope to reduce students’ fear of imperfection and encourage a more open, creative mindset.

Reference:

Sanna M. Nordin-Bates (2019) ‘Striving for Perfection or for Creativity?’, Journal of Dance Education, 20(1), pp. 23–24. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2018.1546050.

Case Study 1 – Knowing and meeting the needs of diverse learners (V1, V3) Case Study 1

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners through Adaptive Digital Support

Contextual Background:

One of the key challenges I face in the Digital Communication module is the varying proficiency levels in Adobe software among students. Some students grasp digital tools quickly or even has experience of using them, while others struggle with basic navigation and workflow efficiency. This skill gap creates difficulties, particularly when students transition from instructor-led demonstrations to independent work on technical drawings.

Another recurring challenge is late arrivals, which disrupt the session flow. Even though handouts are available on Moodle, some students still find it difficult to follow up without direct demonstrations. As a result, I often have to repeat instructions and provide one-on-one support, which takes additional time and may limit engagement for the rest of the class.

Evaluation – Evidence:

While the current handouts provide structured guidance, however, not all students find them effective. Some struggle to absorb information that is strongly technical from text alone, while others prefer visual learning. Research suggests that multimedia resources, especially instructional videos, significantly improve engagement, participation, and memory retention. According to Obagah & Brisibe (2017), their study on architecture students found that video-based learning increased attention span, reduced distractions, and encouraged more interactive classroom discussions.

Integrating video tutorials on essential tools and session recaps would help students who struggle with software skills while allowing more advanced students to work at a higher level. It doesn’t make sense to expect all students to work at the same pace or skill level—what really matters is that they reach the learning outcomes in a way that suits their abilities. This means creating a more flexible structure where students engage at different levels but still meet the same core objectives.

This idea aligns with Biggs & Tang’s (2011) concept of phenomenography, which states that “the learner’s perspective determines what is learned, not necessarily what the teacher intends should be learned” (p. 22-23). From this perspective, students process information differently, so offering a mix of text-based, visual, and interactive resources makes learning more accessible and effective for everyone.

Another major advantage of this approach is that it creates a structured and efficient learning process for late arrivals. Instead of disrupting the session to repeat instructions, students can use on-demand video resources to catch up independently, ensuring that everyone—regardless of attendance or skill level—has the support they need to succeed.

Moving Forward:

Current example Handout:

illustrator-Lesson-Notes_1_Context-1 Download

To better support students’ learning, I plan to enhance the handout by making the learning objectives and outcomes clearer and integrating instructional videos that cover essential skills. These videos will outline key learning outcomes, ensuring that students understand the fundamental tools needed to achieve their project goals.

At the end of each video, an advanced tools section will be included, offering step-by-step guidance on more complex techniques. This will encourage students to explore further, apply their skills more creatively, and push their work to a higher level.

To ensure continuous access to support, I will also:
– Add the 1-to-1 support session booking link so students can easily reach out for extra help.
– Provide structured troubleshooting guidance for common Adobe software challenges, enabling students to resolve issues independently.

By implementing these changes, I aim to reduce in-class repetition by offering accessible self-learning materials, this approach will also support diverse learning styles, including visual, auditory, and self-paces learners.

Additionally, these materials will help late-arriving students catch up independently, ensuring that they can follow along without disrupting the flow of live sessions. Most importantly, this strategy will contribute to a more inclusive learning environment, making it easier for students to access one-on-one support whenever needed, ensuring that every learner, regardless of their pace or prior experience, has the tools and guidance to achieve their learning objectives.

Reference:

John Biggs and Catherine Tang (2011) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 4th edn. McGraw-Hill Education.

Ramota Ruth Obagah and Warebi Gabriel Brisibe (2017) ‘The effectiveness of instructional videos in enhancing learning experience of architecture students in design and drawing courses: A case study of Rivers State University, Port-Harcourt. International Journal of Education and Research’, International Journal of Education and Research, 5(11). Available at: https://www.ijern.com/journal/2017/November-2017/04.pdf (Accessed: 3 March 2025).