Transcript Developing effective PDP for Disabled students

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Developing effective PDP for
Disabled students
Barbara Walmsley and Bernard Melling CHSSC, September 2007
‘Is it empowering for a disabled student,
facing the challenge of HE, to have to
cope with employing support workers
and negotiating with lecturers for early
access to lecture notes?
Are these additional demands simply
adding burdens and requiring disabled
students to accept responsibilities
not faced by non-disabled peers?’
(HEFCE/HEFCW 1999:8).
Students’ view
There is no central place for all the
information that disabled students
require. When sought information is
given in a fragmented way. Could a hand
book be created for students with
disabilities, that is given out at the early
stages of admission.
Project
A Widening Participation study which
carried out a limited impact assessment
of policy and practice with respect to
Personal Development Planning (PDP)
and Disabled students in the School of
Community Health Sciences and Social
Care (CHSSC).
Project aims
To examine legislation, policy and
practice in the wider Higher Education
(HE) context, the University of Salford and
CHSSC.
To draw attention to key issues, concepts
and practices anticipating that staff will be
then able to engage in developing an
effective PDP strategy for Disabled
students.
Students’ view
There needs to be more training for staff.
There is a need for staff training in
disability awareness but also more
practical issues of how to respond to
the students’ support document
(Assessment document).
Legislation and policy
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
imposes a positive duty on HEIs to
promote disability equality.
QAA code of practice 3; students with
disabilities, sets quality standards in HE
with respect to disability.
Doing the Duty ( www.dotheduty.org ) DDA 2005
• impact assessment of policies and practices
• Disability Equality Scheme that will map current
performance i.e. what HEIs are doing well or not
doing well with respect to the student lifecycle and
employability agenda.
• how do educational policies and practices take into
account the requirements of disabled students and
how do these effect the educational opportunities
and achievements of disabled people.
What will success look like?
Students’ view
Students give up making requests, seeking
adjustments it becomes too much of a
hassle, it is easier and preferable to
struggle on their own.
We find one member of staff (who is not
connected with our programme) who is
approachable, accommodating and
responsive, he is fantastic.
Gus John Report (2005)
There is absolutely nothing mainstream or
corporate about E and D at Salford. (p27).
The approach to E and D and the general culture
in the place as far as anti discrimination
legislation is concerned is “do just enough and no more’’’.
(p27).
I have experienced the quality of support given disabled
students as very poor. I know of no procedures that tells
you who gives that support and how. (p30).
I feel staff desperately need training on disability and race.
They don’t appear to know what is involved in the DDA.
(p31).
University of Salford Equality and Diversity Strategy (2006)
Generic goals
• Effective leadership
• Active use of data to review policies and procedures
• Promotion of communication and commitment
• Fostering of awareness and understanding of equality
and diversity
Student-focused goals
• Fair student admissions
• Accessible learning environments for all students
Staff-focused goals
• Fair recruitment and selection of staff
• Positive staff experience of life at the University
Students’ view
A student considered that it was very
hard to ‘come out’ as disabled.
Positive attributes of students with
disabilities are not recognised and/or
developed.
The Equalities Review (2006)
Widening participation and employability
• A disabled 16 year old is twice as likely to be
out of work, training or education; 15%
compared with 7% for a non-disabled 16 year
old.
• For people over 50 the figures are 32% disabled
compared with 18% non-disabled.
• 50% of disabled people are in long-term
employment compared with 80% among nondisabled
• 10% of non-disabled and 20% of disabled lack
qualifications across the range.
Employability Strategy, University of Salford
‘Reflecting our commitment to equality and
diversity we recognise the need to address the
way in which the challenge of student
employability can be best met for all our students.
Our Employability Policy and Strategy
will therefore ensure that data is available to the
University, and reporting lines established, to
enable impact assessment to be undertaken,
areas of disadvantage to be identified and
responses to these needs to be addressed.’ (p3)
Students’ view
The quality of discussion at placement
meetings about student requirements
is poor.
My placement tutor was insensitive when
she said at the end of a placement
meeting, ‘Oh by the way X has got
dyslexia’ it was more or less just a
passing comment.
Personal Development Planning
‘structured and supported process
undertaken by an individual to
reflect upon their own learning
and/or achievement and to plan for
their personal, educational and
career development,’
(ltsn, June 2002)
Students’ view
No individual plan is drawn up or
revisited during the course to check all
is well.
Personal tutoring
Personal Tutoring – Roles and Responsibilities
and Code of Practice document (AQA 2005-06),
states (p2) that,
‘In order to realise their full potential most
students need to know that someone is
interested in their progress, is willing to
discuss it with them and to encourage
them to think about their own
development and the best ways of
achieving what they want to do.’
Students’ view
We need to have a relationship, need to
discuss quite personal things, need
someone to confide in. We need one
person who takes an interest, our
allocated tutor is not always interested,
need someone to take a real interest.
Assessment of need (Disabled students)
Students are required to:
‘Reflect on the effects of their disability,
consider all the requirements of the
prospective course, explore, evaluate
and identify best strategies to overcome
participation barriers and ensure as far
as is possible independent study.
(Lamb, Bowers and Richmond, 2006)
Students’ view
A student has no one to talk it through
with, the assessment document is not
discussed with anyone. The
assessment document is not used, I’m
unclear about use and who has it, what
happens to it.
CHSSC, along with Art and Design had a consistently
higher percentage of entrants with a disability than all
other Schools (www.ags.salford.ac.uk/statistics, )
F/t first degree
P/t first degree
P/t other UG
F/t PG (T&R)
P/t PG (T&R)
CHSSC
12%
10%
7%
14%
10%
University
8%
5%
6%
8%
5%
Resources and management
A memo (13/02/06) from the school
administrator to the Academic Registrar
identified the following extra resource required
for exams:
•
•
•
•
•
13 invigilators,
13 separate rooms, 8 with a word processor,
2 amenuensis,
1 reader,
2 students require rest breaks which means
longer invigilation
Disability Premium Fund
A memo (13/02/06) was sent to the Academic Registrar re. the
allocation of the Disability premium fund that identified extra
costs for:
• examination provision,
• academic support,
• future requirements to include additional learning support to
encourage retention,
• staff development,
• additional hours for disability co-ordinator, and
• administrative support.
The aim was to create more hours in CHSSC for a “Learning
Support Coordinator”, for PDP, Personal Tutors involved
with disabled students, and assessment/exams.
Underpinning principles of CHSSC PDP strategy
• The strategy must be sensitive to the diversity
of the School, its programmes and its students
• The PDP process needs to be student owned
and led
• While the model for PDP is inclusive, it must be
sensitive to the additional needs of students
who have learning problems and other
disabilities
CHSSC strategy for the implementation of PDP
CHSSC 5 year strategic planning document
(commencing 2004/5) an objective was to,
‘Optimise the student journey through the PDP initiative
and increased use of personal tutor hours with disabled
students and those with literacy issues’.
In an Optimising the Curriculum document (September
2005) it was recorded that,
‘Our Equality and Diversity Action Plan……..has
achieved little success…’ due to lack of resources being
made available with respect to the 150+ disabled
students in CHSSC (TLDSC/05/18).
Recommendations
Team development
• The establishment of a team to develop and monitor PDP
and E&D within the School. This requires liaison with and
support for Programme Teams.
• The team should have the responsibility to identify training
needs for staff and provide opportunities for these needs to
be met. This may involve staff from our EDU.
Student experience
• Involve disabled students in designing PDP portfolios
• Establish improved feedback and consultation activities
• Develop a disabled students guide to PDP
• Develop a tutors guide to PDP and disabled students
Localisation
• The gap between the assessment of disabled students and
curriculum delivery needs to be addressed by developing
effective information flows between disability specialists and
lecturing staff.
• To be more effective in meeting the requirements of
Disabled students monies could be re-distributed from the
centralised University agencies to the localised schools and
programmes.
Resources
• The implementation of a PDP policy that can meet equality
and diversity requirements should be integrated into the
workload of academic and support staff and acknowledged
within the workload balancing scheme.
Systems
• The student support document becomes the starting point
for PDP and a baseline for the students’ progress, to be
monitored, reviewed and developed throughout the
students’ HE experience.
Strategies
• The promotion of reflection and reflective learning
opportunities could be the key pedagogic approach in the
development of PDP portfolios.
Employability
• A Recognition of the disadvantage faced by disabled
students in a competitive job market. A clear focus of PDP
should be the facilitation of skills which enhance
employability, to build on the strengths, qualities and
experiences of Disabled students, particularly those that
may be linked to negotiating the barriers erected by
dominant, so called ‘able-bodied’ society.
Quality enhancement
• An indicator for success could be a PDP system backed up
by effective personal tutoring that is responsive to the
requirements of Disabled students.
PDP, Personal Tutoring and the process of
producing the disabled student’s support
document are currently parallel processes that
are underpinned by similar principles based
on the need to reflect on performance, identify
concerns and strengths and produce an action
plan which enables successful progress through
University into employment. The challenge is to
unify these principles and processes in order
to achieve a cultural shift in HE that aims to
prioritise positive outcomes for disabled
students.