Skip to main content
Education Development Toolkit

Introduction to Inclusive Education

Design of the Inclusivity pages

In this Inclusivity page you will learn about the core principles that underpin the Cardiff University approach to Inclusive Education.

You can choose to read the text or access an audio recording of the same material. The recordings are at the bottom of each page. Alternatively you could use the Microsoft Immersive Reader, which has the ability to set preferences or use the 'read aloud' function.

You can then advance your understanding by accessing the related pages or workshops on specific Inclusive Education topics, outlined at the end of this page. After accessing this page, we recommend you move to the Empowering Students to Fulfil their potential page.

What is Inclusive Education?

Cardiff University recognises Hockings’ (2010, p1) definition of inclusive education which ‘refers to the ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others.’  

Inclusive Education is a dynamic process requiring institution-wide commitment to a systematic transformation of the culture, processes and practices of the university, overcome barriers to the presence, participation, achievement and experience of all students, and to account for and celebrate the rich diversity of the learning community. 

Inclusivity is central to providing learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It is a core part of a thriving university and recognises that every member of our community brings unique experiences, identities and perspectives that enrich our shared learning.

Our approach to Inclusive Education: the Cardiff University Inclusive Education Framework

This university-wide framework is designed to help schools and departments embed inclusive education in their work, so that inclusive principles are part of our everyday teaching and wider educational development.

A title 'Cardiff University Inclusive Education Framework'. A Venn diagram of three overlapping circles with ‘inclusive education’ at the centre. The circles are named: fostering a sense of belonging, empowering students to fulfil their potential and developing inclusive mindsets. Around the outside is a circle with ‘furthering social justice through evidence-informed educational change’ and the ‘removal of systemic and cultural barriers and inequality’ to demonstrate that these commitments shape the three dimensions.
 Figure 1: The CU Inclusive Education Framework

Key Principles

Central to our approach is our commitment to furthering social justice through evidence-informed educational change and the removal of systemic and cultural barriers and inequality.

Our three areas of focus:

Students flourish in a culture which recognises and celebrates diversity to develop a sense of belonging for all staff and students:  belonging is “one's personal belief that one is an accepted member of an academic community whose presence and contributions are valued” (Good et al. 2012). Our five areas of focus to help foster a sense of belonging are:  

  • Recognising and celebrating our diverse university community, and enabling students to see themselves represented in the curriculum  
  • Challenging the hidden curriculum and providing proactive and connected support for students through the learning journey  
  • Actively seeking, listening and responding to all voices  
  • Being transparent, timely and compassionate in our communications 
  • Developing a sense of community and identity within the University, School, Programme and/or discipline 

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 aims for 'a society that enables people to fulfil their potential no matter what their background or circumstances.' At Cardiff University we will support all students to achieve their potential through the following five key areas:  

  • Providing learning that is authentic, meaningful and relevant by recognising the needs and perspectives of all learners, and designing for all  
  • Supporting all students to fully participate in learning activities  
  • Enabling all students to demonstrate their abilities, skills and knowledge  
  • Tailoring our support for students by proactively reaching out to offer personalised support and enabling all students to improve their outcomes 
  • Equipping students with the skills and strategies they need to succeed both during their studies and beyond 

An inclusive community actively engages with the challenges and complexities of belonging and achievement inherent in traditional and elitist practices. It strives to overcome them through identification of barriers to learning and engagement, to enhance the move to 'A more equal Wales' (Well-Being of Futures Generations Act 2015). Through developing inclusive mindsets, we can support and empower students from all backgrounds to celebrate diversity, and to become agents and change-makers who can actively participate in supporting the development of socially just futures (UN Sustainable Development Goal 16). 

  • Drawing on the diversity of the community to enrich and inform the development of the student experience 
  • Recognising and articulating inequalities and privilege, including critiquing understandings of the origins of subject knowledge  
  • Inspiring students to become champions of inclusivity, equipping them with the skills to foster and support inclusive environments 
  • Empowering students to become resilient, critical, problem-solving change- makers who can collaborate with others in an uncertain, interdisciplinary, and digitalised world 
  • Equipping students with the skills and confidence they need to engage meaningfully in professional and societal roles beyond graduation

The Diversity of our Student Cohorts

Higher Education is more diverse than it has ever been. Participation in Higher Education of UK domiciled people, and therefore diversity, has risen dramatically since 1950, when less than 5% of the population went to university. This expansion of the higher education system to approximately 50% of UK school and college leavers has resulted in much greater student diversity.  This has been further enhanced by internationalisation, widening participation agendas, and rising numbers of disabled students, making it more imperative than ever to consider our inclusive education.

What do the students say?

An important first step is understanding who our learners are, to enable us to reflect upon how we can best teach and support them. We worked with a range of Undergraduate, Postgraduate, international and home students with multi-faceted identities, backgrounds and experiences from across Cardiff University. Throughout the inclusivity pages and sections, you will find videos, perspectives and quotes.  

Here are some reflections on inclusivity and EDI from our students: 

Globe

Inclusivity and EDI

‘I believe that my lecturers were very encouraging in terms of allowing students to bring their own perspectives and thoughts into the sessions. Almost all of the lecturers I encountered during both my UG and PGT studies were keen to hear students' perspectives on what they wanted from the sessions, as well as how lecturers could facilitate those wants.’

‘Opportunities to engage with international students expanded my worldview.’

‘Be mindful of differing backgrounds and approaches to EDI topics. Not everyone will have exactly the same background, nor will they have the same perspectives when discussing EDI topics. If a student seems unable to relate to the EDI topics that are being discussed, consider adapting the discussion accordingly. Also, never force a student to disclose anything about their background if they do not wish to do so. Make sure that students are comfortable, and that they discuss such matters on their terms.’

The Dimensions of Diversity

It is important to understand, respond to, and celebrate the rich diversity of our students and this ‘requires attention to the complex, dynamic, and intersecting identities that all learners and teachers bring to the pedagogical experience’ (Lawrie et al. 2017).  

In thinking about diversity, we adopt a broad definition, utilising Thomas and May’s (2010) conceptualisation of four broad dimensions of diversity by which all students (and staff) may differ: educational, dispositional, circumstantial and cultural.  

Whilst some of these characteristics are recognised in the Equality Act 2010 as protected, and some may be eligible for additional support from particular university services (such as disability), student needs are more varied than these categories. All of the dimensions above require us to consider the design of our teaching and our practices, to ensure all students have an equitable experience.   

The Equality Act (2010) also requires us to be anticipatory in our educational provision: therefore, we cannot wait until a student presents with a particular learning need or characteristic. Rather, we must design our adjustments from the outset, to cater for the majority of needs. 

Globe

Reflection Activity: Your Diversity and Teaching Practice

Using the Thomas and May table above, consider the following reflective prompts: 

  • Do you have preconceived ideas of the ideal student or the typical student, and how does this influence your teaching design and practice or your support of students?
  • Reflect upon your own educational experiences, disposition, circumstances and cultural background. Do your own background and experiences influence both what you expect from students, and how you teach and/or support them?
Globe

Case Study: Reflecting on your background and teaching practice

“My learning experiences with Chinese and British higher education systems have primarily shaped my teaching beliefs and practices. From my prospect, the teachers’ role in China is mainly to deliver information. In other words, teachers mostly use the ‘Teacher-focused’ method in the classrooms. Therefore, they spend less time helping students develop their critical thinking skills and facilitating their own learning.

As a result, most students in China are very capable of remembering information and making sense of it. On the other hand, they are likely to be quiet in the classroom; they are not used to interacting with teachers. Compared with Chinese teachers, teachers in the UK are more ‘Learner-focused’ – they spend more time spotting individual differences in learning ability and facilitating learning in students’ preferred learning styles. As a result, British students are provided with more space to develop their critical thinking skills.” (Business Lecturer 2023).

To explore the diversity of your students, you can access and navigate our data at Cardiff University click here (staff only). You can explore the student characteristics and diversity data of your programme through this data, or use personas, which are archetypes that characterise the needs, goals, technical experience, accessibility requirements and other personal characteristics of larger groups of people (Lilley, Piper and Attwood 2015). These can provide colleagues with an enhanced understanding of the student population and identify key characteristics to be taken into account during the student lifecycle, and the teaching cycle of design, delivery, assessment and evaluation.  

To find out more about Personas, access this Xerte learning resource:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where next?

Link to other toolkit pages

To learn more, you can access the next three sections of the inclusivity theme: Fostering a Sense of Belonging, Empowering Students to Fulfil their Potential, and Developing Inclusive Mindsets.  

You can also read about inclusivity as applied to your practice in each section: Design; Teaching Approaches; Assessment and Feedback; and Evaluation and Collaboration. 

Additional resources and references. 

Hockings, C. 2010. Inclusive Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: A Synthesis of Research. York: Higher Education Academy. Available Online 

Lawrie, G., Marquis, E., Fuller, E., Newman, T., Qui, M., Nomikoudis, M., Roelofs, F., & van Dam, L. (2017) Moving towards inclusive learning and teaching: A synthesis of recent literature. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 5 (1) 

Thomas, L. and May, H. 2010. Inclusive Learning and Teaching in Higher education. York: HEA. Available online 

The Well-Being and Future Generations Act and UN Sustainable Development Goals: See our Sustainability theme