When lecturers in further education (FE) plan their instruction with inclusion policies in mind, we see it translated to practice in teaching, learning and assessment. Teaching in FE addresses inclusion when lecturers refer to and are fully aware of the policies in place, such as ensuring fair and equal adaptations are made to all learners.
All providers have their own policies, linked to statutory law. Reading and discussing policy during confidential lecture mentoring sessions enables lecturers to honestly and openly explore their views.
There are many examples of what effective inclusion policies in FE can look like:
Visually impaired learners
Teachers may assign more advanced learners to 'buddy' with weaker learners as part of usual delivery, alternating peers to enable wider discussion and opportunities for equality, diversity and inclusion. Teachers can thus prompt a mixing of cultures and attitudes across social, economic and political differences.
Equally, small changes made by the lecturer for the benefit of visually impaired students – e.g. enlarging multiple text types, adding coloured backgrounds, making text bold and double-line spaced, highlighting keywords and using handouts, PowerPoints, SmartBoard and Teams online resources – benefit all learners, not just those with a visual impairment.