Blog Task #1
There is labor in attending to what recedes from view
Sara Ahmed, 2012
This blog explores how Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality (that we looked at as part of the first workshop) helps us understand how various forms of discrimination can compound the experiences of individuals with intersecting identities, including race, disability, gender identity and sexual identity.
While watching the interviews, it became clear that intersections play a critical role in shaping the experiences of each individual discussed. The interviews reveal recurring themes and differing perspectives that are crucial for understanding their experiences more comprehensively through the lens of ‘potential coalitions‘ between race, gender and disability. (Crenshaw, 2006).
Intersecting identities
Ade’s lived experience illustrates how societal structures can ‘disable’ individuals by preventing full participation in society. His perspectives on the lack of accessible transport and buildings reminded me of a training session run by the UAL Disability team. In this session, UAL Head of Disability Service Caroline Huntley introduced the social model of disability, which posits that disability is caused by the way society is structured, rather than by a person’s impairment.
Ade’s experience as a black male Paralympian means that he ‘intersects disability and race’ and recognises that addressing them separately does little in terms of progress. As a trans man who is neurodiverse and queer, Chay Brown encounters layers of misunderstanding and discrimination that necessitate advocacy that acknowledges ‘multiple grounds of identity’ (Crenshaw, 2006). This acknowledgement can help to avoid what Crenshaw refers to as ‘mutual elisions’ that are potentially areas of tension and conflict.
Exclusion in creative arts education
Christine Sun Kim discusses how she was turned away from taking creative art classes at high school and university. The lack of support class highlights that disabled students are often denied them of the opportunities that their peers have access to.
Through her creative work, Christine asks us to reconsider accessibility and what ‘normal’ communication might look like. A lot of Christine’s work has parallels with the universal design in learning (UDL) principles. I thought her idea of ‘captioning the world’ and making it more accessible to all was a telling reminder that we do live in a society that is designed in an inherently disadvantageous way to people with impairments.
How this applies to my role
Acknowledging the lived experiences of students with intersecting identities means that we can enhance their learning environments. We must make our educational spaces (physical and online) welcoming for all groups of students, following the principles of UDL. This involves recognising the barriers that disabled and neurodiverse students face and actively working to remove them, upholding the Public Sector Equality Duty of ‘advancing equality of opportunity between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.’ (UAL Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Annual Report 2022/2023). In my role as an online learning designer, I need to be proactively designing inclusivity and accessibility into the curriculum and not treating it as an afterthought. There are small wins such as ensuring that multimedia content is appropriately captioned, clear and accessible language is used, (avoiding jargon and acronyms), and providing multiple formats for course materials to cater to various learning preferences and needs.
As quoted at the start of the blog, ‘we must attend what recedes from view’ (Ahmed, 20212) if we want to to truly create an inclusive educational environment that values and supports everyone.
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References
Ahmed, S. (2012) On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press.
CAST (2018) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Version 2.2, UDL Guidelines. CAST. Available at: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/.
Crenshaw, K. (1991) ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity politics, and Violence against Women of Color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039.
UAL, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (2022). Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf (Accessed: 29 April 2024).
Disclaimer
- I am aware that the social model of disability does have some limitations and might now be viewed as outdated, but I do not go into this in this blog.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post about intersectionality through the lens of disability. I think you successfully drew connections between the various oral interviews and supported all of your statements with Crenshaw’s theoretical framework. It was also very interesting to learn about UAL’s Social Model of Disability and understand how embedded inclusive practices are within your role as Online Learning Designer.
Dear Yasi
Thank you for publishing your Blog Task # 1
You have explored the different forms of discrimination and intersectionality in how it intersects disabilities, race, sexual & gender.
You reference, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality-which is complex and upsetting to read as it not only shows in depth the discrimination of women and ‘women of colour’, but it also reveals how society ‘the law’ can be constructed, unjustly, to oppress these women who have no powers of their own. Example: relying on their partner or husband for protection/financial security and are trapped in an abusive relationship or have any control of their lives or future development; the American law system seems to be bias against women and in favour of the man, husband, partner..(Crenshaw K.1991)
You also mention the interviews you have watched ‘Disability and Race’ by Ade Adepitan -2021, Christine Sun Kim 2023 and Chay Brown in how their lives have been affected through the intersectionality of race, physical disabilities, mental and trans-gender etc. You recognise how this impacts on their lives when society has no structures in place to support them.
These are powerful observations you have made and as an online learning designer, must be challenges for you to create material that is inclusive, accessible and supports all student learning needs.
Question: How do you, as a designer of online learning material, test the ’learning material’ created is working for the student/s?
How do you confirm that the learning outcomes have been achieved?
Some of the learning barriers that some student/s may face, is in how the course curriculum is presented to the student with possible bias to the ‘able body and mind’ and dismisses those who have difficulties which are unknown, or with all the intricacies of ‘intersectionality’ that our PGcert course wants us to explore.
I find this aspect of ‘testing and checking’ to ensure there are no barriers in learning and to create an inclusive environment for students very challenging. I feel we need continuous financial resource to support all students, especially with the economic climate the country, the world is facing and UAL budgeting allocations for this academic year 2024-2025 will be restrictive.
Hi Michael, thanks for your comment!
Your questions about testing and confirming the effectiveness of online learning materials for diverse student needs are really interesting especially in my role as a learning designer. I try to in my work, implement various strategies that ensure teaching and learning materials are flexible, inclusive and accessible:
1. Use various assessment methods to evidence learning outcomes, including formative (low-stakes) assessments, self-reflections, and practical applications of knowledge.
2. Actively seek feedback from students with diverse backgrounds and needs, acknowledging that these voices are often not heard, and then incorporate their insights into the design process.
3. Collaborate with accessibility experts and disability support services to ensure our materials meet a wide range of accessibility standards.
In terms of confirming that the learning outcomes have been achieved – this is a case of making sure at the design stage, that we determine what students need to be able to *do* by the end of the course or unit – and what they need (in terms of learning materials) to be able to do this. A well-designed assessment should help us to see if students have met the learning outcomes, either through a portfolio, research report, blog or other assessment component. There are also some indirect ways of measuring this, such as student surveys, focus groups, course evaluations etc.
You raise an excellent point about the challenges of creating truly inclusive environments, especially given budget constraints. It’s indeed an ongoing process that requires continuous effort, resources, and adaptation.
I am interested in Yasi’s quote from Sara Ahmed that, ‘There is labor in attending to what recedes from view’; Ahmed’s statement can be discussed in relation to the different ways in which intersectionality can affect people, how our complex identities and positionalities can be invisible yet impact on us significantly.
It is interesting to think through the lens of ‘potential coalitions‘ between race, gender and disability (Crenshaw, 2006), the ways in which there is interplay between different categories of inequality that might affect people.
I also raised the Social Model of Disability in my blog post and am interested in how Yasi said ‘disability is caused by the way society is structured, rather than by a person’s impairment.’ For me, this concept turns the notion of disability on its head, rejecting an individualised model and highlighting societally created barriers that exclude certain people. Yasi points out how Ade’s experience reflects this model. When discussing Chay’s experience, Yasi acknowledges ‘multiple grounds of identity’ (Crenshaw, 2006) which highlights the complexity of identity and the risk of ‘mutual elisions’ or things that are potentially areas of tension and conflict being obscured or merged together in ways that allow them to be overlooked.
It was interesting to read how Yasi saw how, ‘a lot of Christine Sun Kim’s work has parallels with the universal design in learning (UDL) principles.’ The idea of ‘captioning the world’, literally making it accessible, was an interesting thing to pick out.
I agree with Yasi that, ‘We must make our educational spaces (physical and online) welcoming for all groups of students, following the principles of UDL.’ Yasi’s statement that, in their ‘role as an online learning designer, I need to be proactively designing inclusivity and accessibility into the curriculum and not treating it as an afterthought’ is something I also agree with, making content accessible for all should be an aim that is foregrounded in order that accessibility is normalised as an aim in Higher Education.
Hi Yasi,
thank you for your post which is clear and insightful. I also value your inclusion of the Sarah Ahmed quote. Donna Haraway says something similar that I like to use with students ‘notice what you are not noticing’. It draws attention to how not noticing has impacts and is active. Haraway has what she calls a clumsy check list, like have I included perspectives from racial, sexual, age, gender, cultural, diversity? Asking who have I forgotten can be a humbling act. As an online learning designer I can imagine how you have a lot to contribute in ways of making platforms accessible. I was also struck by Sun Kim’s graphics, especially her visual translation of the force it takes to negotiate the world and the symbols for movement made for her large wall drawing. Leila and I were discussing in the last workshop the barriers the English written word has, and the discriminating judgements that socially come with it. I try to use other platforms like visuals or sounds to support lectures, seminars, workshops and encourage the students to invent alternative submissions. Like you, I felt Sun Kim’s work offered possibilities of how we can communicate effectively beyond words and hearing.
Hi Michelle, thanks so much for your comment! I really like that Donna Haraway quote you mentioned – I think it’s pertinent to the entire IP unit and the themes that we have been presented with. I like the idea of a clumsy checklist – is there a link by chance? I had a Google but couldn’t find anything. I think sometimes we do forget to do this at the curriculum design stage and once everything is validated and created it’s too late. Love the idea of using audio/visuals to support teaching and learning materials – challenging how we traditionally should ‘learn’.