QMU launches free course to support more inclusive education
Education professionals across the UK are being offered a new free online course that aims to challenge ableist assumptions and build greater confidence around talking about disability and inclusion in the classroom.
Queen Margaret University's 'Anti-Ableist Practice in Inclusive Education' course, available through OpenLearn Create, provides practical opportunities to explore disability, representation and inclusion in education.
Through interactive modules and reflective activities, participants will consider how ableism can influence attitudes, assumptions and educational practice, while exploring ways to make learning activities and approaches more inclusive. They will also be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences, attitudes and positionality in relation to disability and consider how these can inform their practice.
Designed with accessibility at its core, the course offers British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation, screen-reader-friendly content and captions, helping to ensure the learning materials are accessible to a wide range of learners.
The course has been developed by QMU lecturers and chartered psychologists, Dr Clare Uytman and Dr Siân Jones, drawing on their experience of inclusive education across academic and classroom settings. The pair are also the founders of the Toy Box Diversity Lab, which provides free resources to help practitioners build their disability literacy and explore more inclusive approaches to education.
If we want education to be genuinely inclusive, we need to look beyond whether disabled learners can access the classroom and consider whether the attitudes, assumptions and practices within it enable them to participate and thrive. Anti-ableist practice starts with being willing to question what we have come to see as ‘normal’ in education. This course gives professionals the opportunity to do exactly that - to reflect on their own practice, build confidence talking about disability and consider practical changes that can make a difference to learners’ experiences.
Also a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at QMU, Dr Siân Jones, is Autistic and has hemiplegia, a type of Cerebral Palsy, which means she is disabled. She said: “Growing up, there were no toys in the toybox or the shops that looked like me. If children don’t have opportunities to see disabled people represented in books, films, toys and the classroom, we’re missing an opportunity to broaden their understanding of the world and the people in it.
“Representation is an important part of creating more inclusive education, but it also needs to be accompanied by a willingness to challenge the assumptions and attitudes that can lead to disabled children being excluded or treated differently by their peers.
“That is why we developed this course. We want to give educators the confidence and practical tools to think differently about disability, challenge ableism and create learning environments where disability is recognised as part of the diversity of the classroom, rather than something that is overlooked or treated as an exception.”
The free 20-hour course can be completed online and participants can earn an OpenLearn digital badge and statement of participation to demonstrate their professional development on their CV. With accessible features built into the course, it also provides an opportunity for professionals to experience inclusive digital learning in practice. The course aligns with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTSC) Professional Standards for all teachers in Scotland.
Access the free Anti-Ableist Practice in Inclusive Education course.
View Dr. Clare Uytman and Dr. Siân Jones’ website of free resources, the Toy Box Diversity Lab.
For further media information contact Emma Reekie, Media and Content Officer, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, E: ereekie@qmu.ac.uk (copy to E: pressoffice@qmu.ac.uk).
