The Wins and the Pitfalls:Designing an Inclusive Curriculum and Learning Environment at a British University Law School

Nir, Rachel and McKee, Tina (2021) The Wins and the Pitfalls:Designing an Inclusive Curriculum and Learning Environment at a British University Law School. International Journal of Diversity in Education, 22 (1). pp. 17-30.

Abstract

How does a Law School at a British university make its learning environment more inclusive? Fifty percent of UCLan’s Law School’s students come from low income backgrounds and 48 percent from minority ethnic backgrounds. Most academic staff within the school are white. UK law is based on Judeo-Christian origins and key statutes and cases determined by white jurists. In 2018/19, the school adopted a three-pronged approach. Firstly, it set up a staff team for one academic year who were tasked to de-colonize the curriculum and to improve the inclusivity of the classroom environment. The team used legal-design methodologies that focused on the student user experience. Secondly, the team, mindful of its own experiential limitations, made the decision to seek external training from an inclusive learning specialist. Thirdly, the school set up a co-design group with recent graduates to become better informed about the minority ethnic student experience. The key changes made to the syllabus and learning environment are identified together with the early wins but also the pitfalls.