Artefact & Reflective essay
Introduction
This report is a reflection on my intervention- a statement relating to being neurodivergent in an email signature. I work for the Careers & Employability team as an Enterprise in the curriculum specialist / employability practitioner. I work across all courses / disciplines, both in and outside the curriculum.
I am white cisgender female from a working-class background. I am neurodivergent, I have dyslexia and ADD. I have also arrived in academia in a non-traditional way and have probably learnt more from the non-academic side of my own education. The experiential rather than the theory. I draw a lot from my experience of play work and WP work in the museum & gallery sector. This difference together with my privilege and positionality has emboldened me to embrace and value difference and a lot of my work is centred around empowering students to do the same.
Action
What is it?
Stage 1 – Including a neurodiversity statement in an email signature
Stage 2 – Creating a learning guide/ cheat sheet about this sort of disclosure so students can decide if it’s right for them
Why?
– to empower students/staff to declare needs/ preferences/ manage expectations
– to create safety/ allyship
– to raise awareness
Who for?
– Students
– Staff
Please see appendix 1 for examples of signature statements.
Reflection
Thinking about positionally, protected characteristics, barriers to learning and ways we can help students to manage some of the issues they may face. I’ve experienced first-hand some of those barriers myself, as someone who is neurodiverse and back in the position of being a student again. With the added pressure of negotiating all of that in an online environment. This is new to me (as well as lots of students) and highlights the need for more empathy in many ways for students who are now forced to operate in a more digital way. It re-emphasises the fact that assuming students are ‘digital natives’ is so harmful and can play a part in widening the attainment gap. I wanted to explore an artefact that could help negate some of the issues that working in a predominantly digital way throws up, and to combine this with ideas around positionality, community, empathy and belonging – all of which seem to be themes that reoccur in my questioning of my practise and things which hold value for me both in and outside of work. I have spoken in previous blog posts about my job being 80% giving students the confidence and permission to do the thing (whatever it is) and 20% knowledge on how to do the thing. So, this artefact fits in to that 80% confidence and permission part.
Creating safety – “you’re very open, I think about being, neurodivergent, which I always find it so useful in our team conversations. And I think maybe without you being aware you’ve probably been a catalyst for other people being more open as well, which is hugely useful” (Breslin, Hannah 2022. Personal communication.)
My team has always been a safe space for me, and it’s not the case for everyone I know, and of course a great privilege. But to hear my line manager say this was really powerful for me, I do so much work with students around being themselves and owning who they are and to hear that this had happened in my team too was the catalyst for this artefact. Is there a small way in which I could use this moving forward? We started talking about the email signature as a way. Similar to the inclusion of pronouns, a small statement about being neurodivergent. In the hopes that it could potentially filter down- not just change the culture in the wider team, but create safety for students seeing it and even potentially encourage them to do the same.
Before the recommendations at UAL to include pronouns in email signatures I had seen it used in many ways and for different contexts. My first instinct was that I didn’t need to do it – because I didn’t feel the need to share that information (perhaps because my pronouns are considered typical/ normal – whatever that means) but on further reflection I realised that the inclusion of them could in fact create a place of safety for those who use pronouns that might make them more marginalised. That using them doesn’t have to be about me and my needs but is maybe bigger than that. That seeing me declare mine might give a hint that I’m an ally or make a student more comfortable. This dynamic alters when it becomes policy however as opting to share is a different statement to following a policy.
So where does bias and safety fit? Does declaring such details as being neurodivergent open you up to discrimination? is it safe to do so? For example, context is important. The first person that came up when I was researching including neurodiveristy in your signature was Pip Jameson CEO of the Dots – her signature reads ‘Delightfully dyslexic, excuse typos’ Pip’s list of achievements is long.
Does the inclusion of her neurodiversity in her signature come from a position of privilege? As CEO of a company the implications of declaration are undoubtedly different to say a graduating student looking for work. But there is also a case to say that seeing someone with such success is both neurodiverse, and importantly celebrates that is empowering. So even without enacting it themselves, I think for students and grads to see that is important.
Thinking about being diagnosed late and the fact that actually I think in my case it had some benefits – I wasn’t put it in a box or made to feel I couldn’t do things because of my neurodiversity. I do acknowledge that declaring any difference in this way may cause people to make assumptions about ability, but without seeing people who are working professionally and successfully in the creative industries who are neurodivergent is like only seeing Art History through a white male lens.
Measuring the impact – in all honesty I think I’ve become so comfortable with not necessarily being able to measure the work our team does. Working curriculum adjacent means our modes of measuring are completely different to course specific teaching staff. And completely different to formal assessment measures. This is often both freeing and problematic, and as someone who favours anecdotal feedback and evidence anyway this is definitely an area I needed to explore more. I work in a very holistic way and favour that- in fact it’s what I receive the most praise from students on. “You’re the first person to humanise this topic and you’ve done it in a such a helpful way”
When belonging is concerned it’s so hard to measure, as with comfort and kindness. This artefact and intervention are designed to create a culture and an openness that allows people to share their needs and stop apologising for them. How do you measure the success of that? How do you measure culture shifts? It’s a long game – I can remember things lecturers told me that years later resurfaced and I realised had subconsciously helped me feel more at ease, safer or more comfortable. That’s’ nigh on impossible to measure!
There are measures that can be made though, there are also pre-measures – so I began speaking to people (most of whom are neurodiverse) to get their take on this idea. The responses were varied but all very positive that this is something that has value and they would be keen to do or see. Please see appendix 2 for examples.
Learning Theory
Working Alliance Theory – the relationship of teacher/ learner. Mutual trust understanding & safety
Play work theory – being an invisible facilitator until required, enabling over teaching
Evaluation
I am able, based on my positionality and privilege and safety in my team to do this from a position of relative safety. But that’s the point – if I can use my privilege albeit in a small way to create safety and raise awareness then I should. This is about collectively building a safe collaborative learning environment (T. Rogers, Daniel, Working Alliance). The filter down is also important, I’ve seen first-hand because of the nature of my role and going into many different course teams that it filters down to the students when the academics don’t feel safe and held in their teams. So, by starting in a localised way it can have an impact that is potentially further reaching. By doing myself I also have anecdotal evidence to speak on with students. i.e. I had this statement and used it in this way, this is how it worked for me. But you could also try XYZ. That might not feel comfortable for you, but you could….
So in this case and at this stage with limited impact to measure, knowing that those who it is designed to help see value in it in as a proposition is important. Sometimes the invisible work is the most important work. There are so many ways for people to feedback, as subtle as a nod of agreement to a well composed comment on a feedback form. And in this case the outcome is highly personal, the intention and choice to use the signature in this way will differ, and therefore the expected and achieved result or outcome will be different. Moving forward it would be great to conduct focus groups to discuss the possible impacts with students. See appendix 3 for action plan.
So, is it important to take this risk/ stance? yes, in order to foster belonging you must “Show your own vulnerabilities. Be authentic, share and take risks together with students.” (Tagoe, Nicola. 2021. Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy)
Appendix
Bilbiography
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https://www.iampayingattention.co.uk/read/stkfyu7hb4ldvwo0e73zqc749qpefq
Inniss, Kaiomi. 2022. I am a Black Caribbean woman with ADHD. No one believes me. [online] Available at:
https://www.iampayingattention.co.uk/read/i8cg4lnzj7v08yjlv1cpwfp7a99h4s
Annett, Ruth. 2022. Concept map of teaching theory insights[online] Available at:
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T. Rogers, Daniel. 2009. The Working Alliance in Teaching and Learning:Theoretical Clarity and Research Implications. [online] Available at: https://tinyurl.com/4x84386s
Willems, Julie. 2010. Understanding the multidimensional nature of student disadvantage to better inform the provision of ‘glocal’ learning. [online] Available at:
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Tagoe, Nicole. 2021. Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy. [online] Available at:
https://tle.myblog.arts.ac.uk/spotlight-on-fostering-belonging-and-compassionate-pedagogy/
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https://defradigital.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/24/why-im-celebrating-being-neurodivergent/
Britton, J. 2020. Being an insider and outsider: whiteness as a key dimension of difference. [online] Available at: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/150844/3/Britton%20J%20Qual%20Research%202019%20final%20version.pdf
LADSON-BILLINGS, GLORIA & F. TATE IV, WILLIAM. Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education. [online] Available at: https://learn.redlands.edu/theme/keypath/courses/MALT610A/Section03/doc/Toward_a_Critical_Race_Theory_of_Education.pdf
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