Contextual Background:
As a support technician within BA Fashion at Central Saint Martins I am teaching students with a broad range of learning needs and styles and some are neurodivergent. This can impact how students engage with the workshops and the pacing of the classes.
Evaluation:
Due to GDPR, we are not notified of students’ neurodivergence and learning differences.
To support students I cover a range of learning styles by providing:
- Written instructions
- Demonstrations of techniques
- Sewn step-by-step guides
- Inspirational imagery
This allows students to learn at their own pace.
I foster an open, safe space for students. This includes:
- Encouraging students to ask questions in the wider group
- Sharing learning experiences with techniques, and how I overcame issues
- Giving space for students to apply skills demonstrated to reinforce the knowledge imparted
I show that mistakes are an important process in learning and can form new techniques and ideas. I give positive reinforcements and share them with the class to encourage peer learning.
Moving forwards:
During the microteaches I engaged with a range of teaching styles, which gave me ideas of how I would like to develop my own teaching practice. There was discussion around how to foster a safe or brave space. In the past, when asking the class questions to encourage peer learning, I have singled out students for answers when no response is offered up. I have learnt that this can be uncomfortable for people and will not do this in future.
I connected with this quote by Schon (1984:6) ‘The studio master (teacher)… tries to figure out what the student understands… the student tries to grasp the meaning of what the master has said and done, and… translates them into a new performance.’ One of the people who participated in the microteach disclosed that they are neurodivergent and that the text of my document was pleasing and clear to them. Both this person’s experience and the quote from Schon lead me to explore what else I can include/alter in my resources and classes.
We rely upon students disclosing information about their learning needs (usually when problems/stressors have arisen) or by spotting difficulties ourselves and requesting more information from student support. I discovered the concept of Universal Design for Learning which sets out strategies for inclusive teaching that considers the needs of neurodiverse people. By making the needs of neurodivergent students more integral to my teaching practice I hope to help reduce these difficulties or the need to divulge neurodivergence.
I will provide students with a checklist to outline the goals of the workshops. Hopefully this will provide a focus and sense of achievement, as currently the end outcome is not viewed by anyone but the student and myself if they are willing to show me. This will also help students consider ‘prioritization, sequences, and schedules of steps’ (CAST UDL 2024)
CAST (2024) also suggest that “to ensure accessibility for all, key vocabulary, labels, icons, and symbols should be linked to, or associated with, alternate representations of their meaning (e.g., an embedded glossary or definition, a graphic equivalent, a chart or map).” The students have visual references which are labelled, and produce their own, however it would be useful to give them a written glossary of the key terms and techniques learnt.
References:
Schön, D. A. (1984). The Architectural Studio as an Exemplar of Education for Reflection-in-Action. Journal of Architectural Education, 38(1), 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/10464883.1984.10758345
Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0 (2024) CAST. Available at: https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/ (Accessed: 03 March 2025).
Williams, E. (2023) Neurodiversity and the social model of disability, Disability Wales. Available at: https://www.disabilitywales.org/neurodiversity-and-the-social-model-of-disability/ (Accessed: 05 March 2025).