Action Plan

1. Ethical Action Plan

Version 1 Ethical Action Plan 25:26Download
Version 2 Ethical Action Plan 2025-26Download

2. Action Research Cycle & TimeLine

Research Objectives:

  1. To reflect on previous pre-session questionnaires and identify barriers that may prevent students from communicating their learning preferences and access needs.
  2. To redesign the pre-session questionnaire using principles from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP) to make it more inclusive and student-centred.
  3. To pilot the redesigned questionnaire with a small group of students accessing to Technical Resources one to one Sessions.
  4. To collect qualitative feedback through semi-structured interviews on the usability, accessibility, and inclusivity of the redesigned questionnaire.
  5. To reflect on the interview findings to inform more inclusive and proacive responsive practices in one-to-one sessions.

Action Research Cycle:

Alignment of Research Objectives and Action Research Cycle

Action Research Cycle StageCorresponding Objective(s)What Happens in the Project
Reflect (Stage 1)Objective 1Reflect on previous pre-session questionnaires and identify barriers that may prevent students from expressing learning preferences or access needs. This reflective insight establishes the starting point for redesigning a more inclusive form.
Identify & Plan (Stage 2)Objective 2Redesigned pre-session questionnaire with a Redesign the pre-session questionnaire guided by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP).
The design stage focuses on embedding accessibility and cultural sensitivity, with attention to language confidence and environmental needs.
Act (Stage 3)Objective 3Pilot the redesigned pre-session questionnaire with a small group of students in Technical Resources 1-2-1 Sessions Implement the tool and adapt preparation based on students’ responses before each session.
Observe (Stage 4)Objective 4Collect qualitative feedback through semi-structured interviews focusing on students’ experiences of using the redesigned questionnaire
in clarity, usability, accessibility, and inclusivity.
Reflect (Stage 5)Objective 5Reflect on interview findings to evaluate how the redesigned questionnaire supports inclusivity.
Identify areas for refinement and how these insights can inform more responsive one-to-one learning support practices in future cycles.

Research Timeline:

End September -Mid December 2025

StageTasksApprox DatesOutputs
Stage 1 – ReflectReview previous pre-session questionnaires and identify barriers (anxiety, language, environment). Begin reading key sources.29/09/2025 – 31/10/2025Reflection notes on barriers; short summary of key readings for ethics or workshop submission.
Stage 2 – PlanDraft and refine redesigned questionnaire using UDL and CSP principles. Write interview schedule (4–6 open questions). Gain tutor feedback on both tools.20/10/2025-10/11/2025Final version of pre-session questionnaire and interview guide ready for ethical approval.
Stage 3 – Act (Pilot Implementation)Pilot the redesigned questionnaire with a small number of one-to-one bookings (3–5 students). 10/11/2025 –
02/12/2025		Completed pilot questionnaires and reflection on student interaction.
Stage 4 – Observe (Data Collection)Conduct semi-structured interviews with participating students.
Focus on usability, accessibility, and inclusivity. Transcribe or summarise responses.		24/11/2025 –
08/12/2025		Interview transcripts or summaries.
Stage 5 – Reflect / EvaluateReflection on student feedback and pilot outcomes. Link findings to UDL and CSP frameworks. Begi01/12/2025 –
15/12/2025		Final reflection and prepare for the presentation.

Revised Research Focus & Rationale

Research Question:

How can a pre-session questionnaire, informed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP), help identify and accommodate diverse student needs, overcoming barriers in existing Technical Resources one-to-one sessions?

Rationale

In my role providing one-to-one support sessions, I noticed that many students, particularly international students and those with anxiety or specific learning differences, struggle to articulate their learning needs during the session itself.


Some avoid mentioning their access needs out of fear of being judged or because of cultural or linguistic barriers. For instance, a student with anxiety may feel uncomfortable in a shared or noisy environment but hesitate to disclose this until the session is already under way. Another student with dyslexia might struggle to follow a live software demonstration but would benefit from receiving video materials in advance.

The current pre-session questionnaire only asks basic logistical questions (e.g. which course are you currently enrolled in?, What topics you would like to focus on in this tutorial? ) and does not invite students to express how they learn best or what conditions support their focus. This gap limits my ability to prepare effectively and unintentionally maintains barriers to inclusion.

To address this, I will redesign the questionnaire guided by two complementary frameworks:

  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL) : to embed structural inclusivity through multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression.
  • Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP) : to affirm diverse linguistic, cultural, and communicative identities, creating space for students’ preferred ways of interaction.

Together these frameworks shift the focus from reactive accommodation (“tell me if you need support”) to proactive design (“support is built in from the start”).

Aim

To design and evaluate a more inclusive pre-session questionnaire for exsisting Technical Resources one-to-one sessions, enabling students to express their learning preferences and access needs in advance.

Objectives

  1. To reflect on previous pre-session questionnaires and identify barriers that may prevent students from communicating their learning preferences and access needs.
  2. To redesign the pre-session questionnaire using principles from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP) to make it more inclusive and student-centred.
  3. To pilot the redesigned questionnaire with a small group of students accessing to Technical Resources one to one Sessions.
  4. To collect qualitative feedback through semi-structured interviews on the usability, accessibility, and inclusivity of the redesigned questionnaire.
  5. To reflect on the interview findings to inform more inclusive and proacive responsive practices in one-to-one sessions.

Methods and Data Collection

This action research project follows a single-cycle model focused on the redesign of a presession questionnaire used in Technical Resources one-to-one sessions. The intervention draws on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP) to ensure accessibility and cultural inclusivity are embedded from the outset.

The redesigned questionnaire will be piloted with a small group of students who voluntarily book one-to-one support sessions. Data will be collected through short, semi-structured interviews conducted after students have completed the new questionnaire.

These interviews will explore participants’ perceptions of the form’s clarity, usability, and inclusivity, and how it affected their comfort in communicating learning needs. The feedback will be transcribed and reflected to identify recurring themes and opportunities for refinement.

The findings will inform reflective evaluation of the intervention’s effectiveness and guide future iterations of inclusive one-to-one support practice.

Reading list:

Gray, C. & Malins, J. (2004) Visualizing Research: A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design.
→ Useful for framing practice-based research in art and design; helps position my project as a reflective, iterative inquiry within teaching practice.

Kara, H. (2015) Creative Research Methods and Ethics.
→ Highlights how creative and participatory approaches can be both innovative and ethically grounded, supporting my use of interviews as reflective, relational tools rather than data extraction.

Banks, S. (2016) Everyday Ethics in Professional Life.
→ Provides practical guidance on managing power, consent, and emotional labour within practitioner-led interviews.

Lenette, C. (2022) Cultural Safety in Participatory Arts-Based Research.
→ Informs my culturally sensitive approach to interviewing diverse students, ensuring the process validates multiple identities and communication styles.

BERA (2024) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research (5th edn).
→ Establishes the ethical framework for informed consent, confidentiality, and participants’ right to withdraw.

University of Sheffield (2018) Emotionally Demanding Research Guidance.
→ Offers strategies for emotional self-care and reflexive awareness when conducting qualitative interviews.

Interview methodology:

Irvine, A., Drew, P. & Sainsbury, R. (2012) ‘Am I not answering your questions properly?’ The structure and function of semi-structured interviews in qualitative research.
→ Directly informs my method, showing how interviewer flexibility and conversational structure affect data depth and participant comfort.

Alvesson, M. (2012) Interviews: A Critical Guide.
→ Encourages reflexivity in interpreting interview data and recognises the co-constructed nature of researcher–participant dialogue.

Visual Elicitation in Interviews (2019) SAGE Research Methods Foundations.
→ Explores the use of visual prompts or creative artefacts to support communication — relevant to digital or art-based 1-to-1 sessions.

Odeniyi, V. (2023) Reimagining Conversations.
→ Examines how language, culture, and power operate within academic dialogue; offers a framework for designing more inclusive, reciprocal, and culturally aware tutorial interactions — strongly aligned with Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies.

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 Intervention Journey (Visual)

To illustrate the full scope and development of my teaching intervention, the diagram below presents the six key stages of the process. It begins with my classroom observations and continues through theoretical framing, practical implementation, reflexive positioning, and future planning. The aim of this visual is to provide a clear overview of how theory and practice were integrated at each step.

Inclusive Learning Intervention JourneyDownload

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).