Embedding Inclusive Education in Programme and Module Design

Context

Embedding inclusive education practices at programme and module level is central to creating equitable learning environments where all students can thrive. Within UK higher education, inclusive education is increasingly understood not as an “add‑on,” but as a proactive, intentional, anticipatory approach to programme, curriculum and assessment design (Hockings, 2010; Stefani and Blessinger 2018). Rather than focusing on individual adjustments, inclusive design seeks to support belonging, and minimise barriers from the outset, to create learning experiences that acknowledge and value the diversity of students’ identities, backgrounds and ways of learning. Approaches drawn from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) encourage offering multiple ways for students to engage, participate and demonstrate understanding.  

See previous blogs in the Inclusive Education Blog series for more information on UDL and Belonging. See also the relevant sections of the Inclusivity pages on Cardiff’s Education Development Toolkit. 

Implementation

The lived experience of our diverse students does not take place at a seminar or session level, or even in our most common unit of consideration, at a module level. Students experience their learning at a programme level – the lived experience of each week, and each semester, as they learn across modules, through different modes of learning and being. Embedding inclusive education practices therefore requires intentional, programme‑level thinking. Rather than making isolated changes at module level, programme teams work collaboratively to create coherent, scaffolded learning experiences. Useful starting points may include: 

• Getting to know your students using data and personas What is the diversity of your students? What challenges are there in recruitment, retention and attainment of traditionally marginalised groups? What do personas tell you about the lived experience of certain groups of students? 

• Interrogating programme structure: Are learning outcomes and assessments written inclusively, and sequenced in ways that support all students to progress? Are alternative assessments design from the outset, to enable students to demonstrate core competence standards through alternative means? Are there hidden assumptions about prior knowledge or unspoken expectations of behaviour? 

• Diversifying curriculum content: Do examples, readings and case studies reflect a wider range of perspectives and challenge “single stories” within a discipline? 

• Embedding inclusive assessment: Are assessments designed to offer clarity, choice and authenticity? Are submission points and assessment modes mapped to avoid unnecessary clustering, over‑assessment and reliance on a particular mode of assessment, such as written essays? 

• Strengthening transparent communication: Are expectations clearly signposted and discussed? Are there early opportunities for dialogue, helping students understand how learning builds across modules? 

• Collaborating with students: Do you gather student insights to identify barriers not always visible to staff? Are students engaged as partners, to review materials, assessment briefs and learning activities?  

Reflections / What’s next?

As educators, we might consider programmes we are familiar with and reflect: 

• Where do students encounter friction points or unnecessary complexity in the programme? 

• Whose voices shaped the design of modules, and whose are missing? 

• What small, sustainable changes could make the programme more inclusive? 

A ‘Starter for ten’  

As a prompt, to get ideas flowing, here are a few questions to help you reflect on inclusive programme design within your own context: 

• Which hidden assumptions (about prior knowledge, academic culture or ways of learning) might be disadvantaging some students?  
• Where could greater clarity, choice or flexibility be built into the programme? 

• Which perspectives, voices or examples could be added to diversify your programme?  

• How might students be involved as partners in reviewing or shaping aspects of design? 

Reference  

Stefani, L. and Blessinger, P. 2018. Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education: International Perspectives and Approaches. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge