Monday 24th April
1. How could you apply the resources to your own teaching practice?
2. How could you integrate the research/work your students do on this subject into your teaching/professional practice?
3. Can you cite examples? You will share your thoughts within your groups and comment and share further resources you use in your own context.
N.B You are expected to engage with your blogging task groups
UAL Disability Service Webpages
The website clearly presents a range of resources the Disability Service offers students, including help to arrange reasonable adjustments, support and funding for studies. Disclosure and advice about how to contact the service and all they can offer is something I can support students through and advise them that we are here to help. Having been through this process myself, as an insulin dependent diabetic since the age of four. I understand how students might experience this, the help that is available to them, how to access it and the process they might go through to gain support. However, I do wonder how this information could be communicated to students who are yet to receive a diagnosis or are not even aware they have a disability, which is what happened to me. Personally, I was emailed the Disability Service details prior to starting my Pg Cert but having never considered myself to have a disability before working at Ual, I did not access this service until I had a health crisis. I plan on speaking to Becky at the Disability Service to find out if our undergraduates also receive an email without much explanation of who they can help. If so, I will make sure my students are aware of this fantastic service and that it is available throughout their time at Ual if required, In September, I will be teaching year 1 for the first time – this is something I could mention to all students as part of their first unit briefing, so that they feel they could talk to staff for reassurance or go directly to the service to take the first step on this journey. I feel as tutors, we should all have knowledge of this service, so that we can empower students to get the help that is available to them, in terms of resources, support and even a disability mentor. I will also mention to my Line Manager that we would benefit from a talk from the service about their offer and how we can communicate this to our students to develop this relationship.
In my teaching practice, I try to be aware and inclusive by making my lecture slides available pre sessions. Checking the work, I write & design through the accessibility scoring system available on Moodle, looking at closed captions for image references, colour contrast & legibility. I offer a variety of ways to experience my lessons, such as taking time out to discuss the individual needs of my students, they can often access a lot of learning through my lecture slides and the activities they are asked to participate in, if there is a reason, they have been unable to attend a session. I offer online tutorials if coming into college is a challenge and also check in on a regular basis, with the students who are supporting family members at home through various health conditions. Having attended training courses through Ual such as ‘Core principles in disability inclusion’ & ‘Deaf awareness’, I try to always face my students, speak clearly and avoid bombarding them with too many layers of information. I keep in mind the social model of disability at UAL and try to be aware of the barriers my students may face and how I can support them in a world that doesn’t always consider who we are or what we need. If a student comes in late, I keep in mind the visible and invisibleness of disability, I don’t judge or make assumptions but try to be supportive & kind through acts of compassionate pedagogy. Such as taking the time to review with them what they have missed, as we have no idea what may have caused them to be late.
I was the unit lead for a Self-Initiated Project for my third-year students this year on GB&I BA (Hons) and began by asking everyone to present something about themselves they were happy to disclose that no one in the class knew. During this session I shared my diabetes diagnosis and showed them a picture of closed loop insulin pump which often alarms during class – I hope that by sharing some of my positionality, I am making my sessions more inclusive and expose students to see that even with a long-term health condition, you can have a successful career. From what I have learnt during this unit I also need to consider intersectional identities and how I can make a space and sense of belonging for all as a community of learners.
Film by Christine Sun Kim
The film begins with beautiful layers of sound that are engaging and enticing, it is only later that as the viewer we understand that the artist, Christine is deaf. Reminding us of the visible/invisible possibilities of disability. She speaks about the ‘ownership of sound.’ I’ve never thought about sound not belonging to everyone, perhaps that is because I take it for granted that I can hear. I feel we all have a notion of the idea of ‘otherness’ especially coming to university and all the new experiences we encounter. Children tend to learn their mother tongue from listening to those around them speak, but if that is not accessible to you, how do you learn what sound is? How might you explore this as an artist or graphic designer? Sound becomes a object, rather than a series of feelings, Christine’s work deals with the physicality of sounds, taking something familiar and making it unfamiliar. Using her experience of sound to communicate and connect, the constraints she felt as a child become freedom of expression through performance. Sound becomes a physical experience for her. I love the idea of ‘listening with our eyes’ her exploration & experimentation, she seemed so free. I would use this video as as a starting point for a discussion with my students, introducing them to the idea of positionality, getting them to think about their own and creating a project using somebody else’s, encouraging them to step outside their comfort zone, to explore another world and create something new in a different direction to the one they had imagined, perhaps involving speculative design.
I created a workshop this year where my students listened to different types of music, using letterforms as image they were asked to explore and express what they heard visually – to ‘make’ based on what they experienced and felt through listening. I think this connects with Christine’s idea of ‘listening with our eyes’. As graphic designers I wonder how my students can explore communication, type and language through the positionality of some international students who face language barriers in terms of expression. By using nonverbal language such as the act of making, we can gain an understanding of experience from a different point of view with the hope to build a strong sense of community through this shared learning. ‘The educator must engage in critical thinking with the students in the quest for mutual humanisation. They must be partners with the students in their relations with them. (Freire 1970.) ‘Education must be a force for opportunity and social justice, not for the entrenchment of privilege.’ (David 2011.)
#DisabilityTooWhite article/interview with Vilissa Thompson
This article is about the hashtag campaign highlighting the disability community and facilitating dialogue about the lack of visibility and representation of disabled people of colour. I have recently watched several series on terrestrial UK TV and experienced far more diverse disabilities represented than in previous generations of programme making, for both adults and children’s television. Initially, I was impressed however, when I began to think about this in relation to my own white privilege and from reading this article I did think, ‘yes – where are the disabled people of colour represented in this story?’ Disability activist and blogger Vilissa Thompson says in the article ‘There is a lack of representation and diversity within the disability community from the organisations that are supposed to empower us as individuals.’ This is another article that would facilitate a fantastic discussion with my GB&I students, asking ‘what can we do to participate and elevate the voices of disabled people of colour? We need to pay attention to the images that we use in our designs and our representation of people of colour. As creatives, who will help build and participate in the future of the design industry, we must have these conversations so that it is something we all think about when making and embed these issues as part of our future creative process. Vilissa Thompson says ‘A starting point is to talk, to be inclusive and accepting, to have those conversations about disability and what it means to be of colour and disabled, and some of the disparities surrounding that’. I had an international student this year who created an independent wedding dress service to offer free dresses to those with a long-term health condition or disability, the project contained some excellent thinking however the imagery on the website featured all white representation with only a single image of a woman in a wheelchair, the chosen imagery lacked a genuine representation of the audience it was aimed at. Vilissa Thompson says ‘there is a great need and a great desire to diversify disability so that everybody can be included. That lack of representation really affects one’s self esteem and one’s ability to connect with all of their identities. It affects their ability to feel like they’re not alone and feel included in their disabled identity, in their “of colour” identity, in their other identities they have.’ It is really important for students to understand that positionality is about multiple elements of one’s self. In terms of discussion, we need to have the conversation about disabled characters being played by able bodied actors – ‘is it better to have accurate representation or is it better to have more representation that is not the ideal, that is not as inclusive or as empowering as it could be, because of these factors?’ A discussion about the discourse surrounding this in terms of a sense of understanding white privilege, able bodied privilege and being respectful to peoples individual truths. The activist asks us to ‘we need to figure out how to magnify their voices and their existence in the world’ as creatives we have an amazing opportunity to work in the commercial world and take this call to action onboard in the work that we create.
‘Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies: Lessons from Touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee’ by Khairani Barokka
Khairani Barokka writes about her experience, learnings and reflections on her touring show about pain & fatigue presented in various forms in the UK, Austria and India. As a performer she wanted to make the show as accessible as possible in different cultures, while struggling with her own needs. The piece examines the intersections of accessibility and framing disabled performers from non-Western backgrounds in Western contexts. On an individual basis, Khairani explores the misconception of the experience she had with pain and what was perceived by others – we are all capable of doing this, assuming we know what life must be like for someone else yet in reality we know. very little. ‘The absolute facts of miscomprehension, the inability to transfer someone into our bodies to experience what we feel, were at the root of both the extreme chronic pain and fatigue.’ We must not make assumptions with our students or colleagues in terms of visibility/disability but be open and willing to listen, if the individual wishes to share.
Her PhD work involves – pain, visuality, art and the empathy gap. ‘The sheer impossibility of human communication is why we attempt to bridge it anyway, by writing, speaking, creating, by existing in groups, by sustaining ourselves for the attempt to bridge gaps.’ Through the show she created and performed Khairani both embraced and protected her disability speaking about pain and allowing it to be visual, touching on these intersectional issues.
She tried to make the work as inclusive as possible, deaf & hearing-impaired audience members were given iPads or iPhones with which to read the poetry and she only performed in wheelchair-accessible venues. The script was put on a Google Document with an accessible, shortened link projected onto a wall in some locations so that everyone could read her script. She wanted people to know academia and the arts, but it came at a cost to herself. ‘I’d paid such attention to how accessible the show would be for other disabled people who might want to attend, and because there had been no option of dedicated care given to me, I’d given up on my body being allowed to be free of pain.’
She reflects on all she learnt and proposes an intersectional, disability-aware exercise for her students, asking how, if they lived with chronic pain, they could continue to perform and produce whilst placing a premium on holistic self-care in sometimes complex circumstances, whilst maintaining an artistic practice? Asking for ‘understanding and catering for audience members, artists, producers, and all others involved who are disabled, including those who are disabled in multiple ways, within the framework of making a production accessible.’ An interesting premise we must consider at Ual. Accessibility for all including those with disabled identities and more than one impairment for both students and our staff. I also think it is important for our students to see themselves in our staff employed – I always briefly talk about being diabetic when I introduce myself with the hope that it will inspire students of what is possible inspite of a long-term health condition, and make accessibility and inclusivity an integral part of everything we do at Ual.
What does it mean to be a ‘disability practitioner’?
by Annabel Crowley. SOAS/UAL.Terms of Reference Journal from Shades of Noir p122-123
I found this article interesting because Annabel speaks of her desire for disability not to be seen as other. I hope that as a disability practitioner myself – an insulin dependent diabetic, along with other team members teaching on GB&I – I have a colleague who is dyslexic and neurodivergent, we show our students a diverse creative community that is inclusive. Annabel is interested in the language we use around disability especially in her role as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion/Organisational Development interventions to policies, processes and institutional culture in the area of staff access and inclusion. Where her research explores critical pedagogy and inclusive learning and teaching practices. For both my students who have a ‘disability’ – this is such a huge diverse area of requirements for example wheelchair access, deaf students, ADHD needs and thinking about inclusive creative practice, I feel it is important that we promote design for inclusion not exclusion, but have discussions about what that might mean, setting project briefs that allow students to explore these issues such as the year two project Brand Futures: creating innovative campaigns on social issues utilising emerging technologies. In terms of language, Annabel’s concern is that the words we sometimes use are inadequate to describe what is really happening. Such as the term ‘adjustment’ implying that our overall environment is good enough. Adjustment places the burden on disabled people to know how to navigate complex processes or even to know is ‘reasonable’ as defined by the Equality Act 2010. The word ‘reasonable’ is hugely loaded in itself – it has a legal definition, but its opposite unreasonable, implies that people’s requirements tor access and inclusion can go beyond the limits of acceptability.’ These are complex, intersecting factors that make our experiences of disability vary so widely. Access to mental health services can be particularly difficult for ethnic minorities and there is often discrimination in those services, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community who are more likely to experience inequality of healthcare provision. As visual communicators we must be aware of these factors when designing and thinking about the language we use to communicate.
Extended Activity:
Key Advice for tutors. Words by Tiff Webster
Terms of Reference Journal from Shades of Noir p28-29
This article by Tiff Webster gives 9 suggestions of practical processes and actions tutors can put in place to assist students from diverse populations & backgrounds in terms of handling their mental health. She talks about the impact of being in Higher Education on her well-being, the over analysing and self-doubt that crept in, alongside health issues and money worries that eventually lead to counseling to help alleviate all she was struggling with. Tiff realised that the burn out she experienced was reflected in her peers and through conversation & collaboration, wrote a list of recommendations for tutors to assist students from diverse backgrounds to help them with the mental health.
I already have some of these actions in place such as talking to students about their experience, especially if there is a sudden decline in attendance. She recommends spending time to find out why attendance has been lacking, is the student struggling with mental health we need to ask, ‘Are you ok?’ If the answer is yes ask again, are you sure you are ok? If help is needed, I need to offer options for support – services where students can really get help. I need to make sure that my knowledge of these services is up to date. Tiff recommends promoting the peer mentoring scheme at Ual – I did not know about this until reading this article but I will certainly find out about this service and mentioning it in future tutorials. This feels similar to talking to students about the Disability service in group sessions which doesn’t currently happen. Remind students of the Arts SU and other groups they can join to make connections and feel less isolated. I feel i build a good rapor with my students who have shared their caring duties for family members this year. ‘Just wanted to say how much love and support you gave me, just like an English mom here!’ ‘I just wanted to say a massive, massive thank you for everything you have done for me throughout third year, you were a teacher but also a friend to me and I am super super grateful for you always checking up on me each lesson and being super understanding about my situation with my father.’ I try to check in with them on a weekly basis, to make sure they are ok, if they need any help and what can I do, such as offering an online tutorial if getting into college is a challenge. I will certainly look into using Shade of Noir as part of my teaching practice. This article has been very helpful and I will look to sharing this with my teaching team.
References
(August 2021) Access, Support and Facilities for Disabled Students at UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/30767/Access-Support-and-Facilities-for-Disabled-Students-at-UAL-PDF-302KB.pdf
Cannon, H. NAAP. (Autumn 2021) Disability at University: guidance and a glossary of terms. Available at: https://nadp-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/School-vs-university-a-glossary-and-explainer-1.pdf
UAL Disability and dyslexia. Available at:
https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/student-services/disability-and-dyslexia
Barokka, K. (2017) ‘Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill’, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), pp. 387-392. Available at:
https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/16580/7/KBarokka%20Ride%20Article%20Edits%20Draft%20Jan24.2017%20edit.pdf
Thompson, V. (2018) ‘The Overlooked History of Black Disabled People’, Rewire News Group, March 16. Available at: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2018/03/16/overlooked-history-black-disabled-people/
Hooks, B. (1994) Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. London: Routledge
England, K. (1994) ‘Getting personal: reflexivity, positionality, and feminist research’, The Professional Geographer, 46(1), pp.80-89. Available at: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/1811/18-England.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
(Accessed all 2023).