Development of a guideline on fostering inclusive practices at universities in Hong Kong

Abstract

As part of a teaching development project on examining the learning experiences of students with visual impairment in universities in Hong Kong, a set of recommended practices was developed to serve as a guideline to promote the co-creation of an inclusive campus. This presentation would share the process and insights of the guideline development. Data was collected from multiple sources including document analysis, focus group interviews, external review, and research team members’ input. First, a document analysis was conducted to review existing policies and support to students and staffs with disabilities in universities. Relevant information was collected from reviewing websites of 41 higher education institutions in Hong Kong, the top 10 universities listed on the “Overall”, “SDG 4 Quality Education”, and the “SDG 10 Reduced Equality” of the University Impact Rankings 2019 by the Times Higher Education, as well as the top 10 most “inclusive” universities based on the QS Stars University Rating System 2019. Websites of nongovernmental organizations serving people with disabilities, government papers, and research reports relevant to accessibility and inclusive education were also reviewed. Second, fifteen students, alumni, and staff from various universities in Hong Kong were interviewed to understand barriers students with visual impairment encountered, challenges university staff encountered when supporting students with visual impairment, as well as good practices of accessibility services at universities in Hong Kong. Comments on the first draft of the guideline were also collected from twelve international and external review panel including academic staff with and without visual impairment, non-academic staff, current university students with and without visual impairment, alumni with visual impairment, and human rights advocates. Overall, the diverse background and experiences of the research team members, such as living with congenital mobility disability, further enriched all the data collected. Ecological framework and person-oriented approach were adopted to synthesize and systematize all the data collected from the four sources to compile a set of recommended inclusive practices across different stages of tertiary education, namely admission, orientation, living on campus, academic study, graduation, and post-graduation. Ecological framework also emphasizes the significance of co-creation of inclusive learning and teaching environment that would cut across the temporal, cultural, government, community, inter-university, intra-university, environmental, language and symbolic, technological, interpersonal, and individual domains. It is expected that the guideline would help enhance the teaching and learning experience of students with disabilities at universities. It can serve as a common ground for the ongoing discussion of inclusive practices at universities. Besides current university staff and students, the guideline could help facilitate prospective students with disabilities to be better prepared for the transition from secondary school education into university education for timely arrangement. Further research directions based on this guideline will be discussed. Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will: Learn about the development and usage of this newly developed guideline on inclusive practices at universities. Gain insights of future research directions in relation to this guideline.