As a Specialist Technician – Learning and Teaching on the BA Fashion Contour course, I deliver technical workshops to first- and second-year students, who arrive with a wide range of sewing abilities.
According to dashboard data, 30% of these students have a declared disability. Of these, 13% report a specific learning difficulty, and 11% report other or multiple impairments.
Through delivering sessions, supporting students in supervised studio time, and speaking with them directly, it’s clear that some—particularly those with learning differences—struggle to keep up during fast-paced demonstrations. While some ask for help, others don’t always feel comfortable doing so, which can lead to stress, disengagement, or reluctance to return and complete their samples.
I’m proposing an intervention to improve the technical handouts that support workshop learning. Right now, the materials are inconsistent—some are outdated, some don’t align with current methods, and others use unclear abbreviations or language. This lack of cohesion affects students’ ability to engage with self-directed learning, particularly those who need to revisit content due to absence, processing needs, or sensory sensitivities.
The handouts are not currently providing the scaffolding students need to independently complete their sample work, which is key to their assessment.
This intervention will involve developing a standardised, accessible handout template for all 13 technical demonstrations. Features will include:
- Clear, simplified language and a glossary of key terms
- Step-by-step instructions in manageable stages
- Annotated drawings and photographs
- QR codes linking to short videos of complex techniques
I will consult with students on what they find useful in a handout and use their feedback to shape the final format. The aim is to support all learners—improving confidence, independence, and inclusivity in technical making.
Hi Jade
I hope that you are well. Thank you for sharing your rationale for the intervention design. This intervention is rooted in your practice and your observations, and clearly identifies barriers to learning such pace of technical demonstrations and inconsistency in supporting materials. By designing a template for handout for workshop demonstrations, you are embedding inclusive practice into a core aspect of the learning experience. (LO4)
You demonstrate a strong awareness of inequity, particularly in how learning differences or linguistic competence affect students’ ability to engage with fast-paced, verbal instructions. The use of dashboard data and lived experience aligns well with LO2, showing you understand not only the existence of disadvantage, but its effects on confidence, retention, and performance. You may want to draw a bit more on the relevant literature, for example, inconsistency and inaccessibility of handouts disproportionately impacts students with processing differences or sensory sensitivities, reproducing inequities often hidden in technical teaching contexts (Reyes et al., 2022). It’d also be good to consider how your intervention aligns/critiques/takes into account institutional and national policy/frameworks (LO1).
Finally I was wondering if the initial focus should be creating a template/framework and a sample rather than producing a set, then it’d be great to get students involved not only in consultation but in co-creation. For example, asking them to annotate early drafts or co-write glossary definitions might empower them and ensure greater relevance (LO4), which could be a sort of pilot and links to inclusive practices too (LO2). You may also want to consider your role as a Specialist Technician (e.g. part educator, part technical expert) and how this gives you a unique perspective on how access barriers emerge in hands-on learning (LO3), on the other hand, being someone who is confident in studio environments might obscure the challenges faced by students who process or learn differently, which may link to Bayeck (2022) and questions of identity.
There are some resources below you may find useful and I’ve included the learning outcomes too to provide a focus for the reflective report when you come to it.
Regards, Victor
Potentially useful Resources
Reyes, M. E., et al. (2022). Academic interventions for students with disabilities in online higher education: A systematic review.
Bayeck, R. (2022) Positionality in research
British Dyslexia Association (2025). Dyslexia-Friendly Style Guide
https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friendly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide
Advance HE (2021). Embedding Inclusive Teaching and Learning
Offers guidance on aligning inclusive curriculum design with national HE policy.
https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/framework-inclusive-learning-and-teaching
Below, just a reminder of the learning outcomes.
LO1: Critically evaluate institutional, national and global perspectives of equality and diversity in relation to your academic practice context. [Enquiry]
LO2: Manifest your understanding of practices of inequity, their impact, and the implications for your professional context. [Knowledge]
LO3: Articulate the development of your positionality and identity through the lens of inclusive practices. [Communication]
LO4: Enact a sustainable transformation that applies intersectional social justice within your practice. [Realisation]
Hi Victor
Thankyou for your feedback 🙂
I will take the time to read your suggestions, thank you very much. I particularly look forward to Reyes, M.E., et Al (2022).
I agree – I think that creating a full handout may be too much to begin with, and instead working on a template, using students opinions to sculpt and design through co-creation will help me to align with their needs, before steaming ahead with a handout that may not be best practice. I have created a questionnaire and have had good responses, so will use this to help create the initial template, working with the students when they return from summer break to mold and form a more realized outcome.
I am really excited to work on this intervention and will hopefully be able to make meaningful changes to the scaffolding materials in order to encourage students in their self-lead learning. I am passionate about supporting my students, but in a meaningful way, ensuring they have the skills needed for industry embedded, so they can successfully transition. I hope that the new handout design may be able to help with that.
Best wishes
Jade