As a left-handed Spanish lesbian woman who works part-time and has been living in the UK for nearly two decades, I have experienced discrimination on all the aforementioned. I strongly believe that nobody should be disadvantaged or discriminated because of their origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religion/ belief, or any other personal trait or circumstance, such as part-time work.
The UoY Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015-2020 addresses inclusivity, to ensure that all students receive any support the may need, to avoid experiencing any disadvantage:
B.2.5 We should foster in students the recognition that freedom of thought, self-reflection, the development of an ethical outlook, and the testing of ideas through observation, experiment, debate and reason are cornerstones of understanding.
B.4.2 Having met our entry requirements, all students should be supported to do their best. By inclusive design of learning and targeted transitional support where appropriate (e.g. for students new to the UK), we should empower all students to get the most they can from a York education.
B.4.3 Recognising that despite inclusive policies and widened participation, gaps due to social class, disadvantage, disability and public versus private schooling reopen after university, and that other inequalities persist, we should equip all students to play the fullest role in society that they are able. These will include fostering the intellectual tools, ability to form networks, resilience, self-confidence and self-awareness that close the gap of social advantage.
C.3.4 Through the York pedagogy, in particular the design of primary learning outcomes [C.1.3], we will improve students’ development of transferable skills and their capacity to apply these to new situations, including those that are likely to be experienced in employment. Students will develop as global citizens, socially and environmentally aware, and sensitive to international contexts and cultures. The will benefit from the international and cultural diversity of students and staff of the University, and be encouraged periods of study abroad, the York Award, and the community activity of Colleges.
Some of those ideas are encapsulated in the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
I designed TANGO with all that in mind, wanting to spread and instill the principles of Critical Pedagogy (Freire, Giroux) among students, to encourage everyone to take a stand and do whatever we can to built a better society, a better world, for everybody. Also, to develop Intercultural Communicative Competence, ICC, (Byram, 1999) and practise critical cultural awareness: the ability ‘to question, to analyse, to evaluate, and potentially to take action’ (Byram, 2008). Or, as Marcel Proust put it: ‘my destination is no longer a place, but a new way of seeing’.
As I explain further on, in the Specialist option section, throughout the pilot project of TANGO there was a clear appreciation of individual contact with a native speaker and an in-depth sharing of experiences in pairs. Students shared in a safe environment their life experiences, real experiences within a real context, and learnt about the cultural intricacies that surround a language and language learning. They openly discussed their views and experiences in a safe environment, comparing their native languages, culture and cultural heritage, building understanding and empathy.
The students reflected on their learning process, discussed issues they have experienced while doing their work and acquired a better understanding about the target language and their mother tongue due to the nature of their peer-mentoring partnership. All the feedback samples provided have been anonymised to ensure confidentiality for data protection purposes.
I believe that all language learning courses should have a TANGO area where students can learn with and from one another, developing empathy and understanding of issues that are deeply embedded in each language and culture but due to time constraints are not part of it. And the way to make it work, ensuring that students dedicate time to do that, and create and publish work in their online portfolios would be to have this work assessed.
The UoY Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015-2020 addresses inclusivity, to ensure that all students receive any support the may need, to avoid experiencing any disadvantage:
B.2.5 We should foster in students the recognition that freedom of thought, self-reflection, the development of an ethical outlook, and the testing of ideas through observation, experiment, debate and reason are cornerstones of understanding.
B.4.2 Having met our entry requirements, all students should be supported to do their best. By inclusive design of learning and targeted transitional support where appropriate (e.g. for students new to the UK), we should empower all students to get the most they can from a York education.
B.4.3 Recognising that despite inclusive policies and widened participation, gaps due to social class, disadvantage, disability and public versus private schooling reopen after university, and that other inequalities persist, we should equip all students to play the fullest role in society that they are able. These will include fostering the intellectual tools, ability to form networks, resilience, self-confidence and self-awareness that close the gap of social advantage.
C.3.4 Through the York pedagogy, in particular the design of primary learning outcomes [C.1.3], we will improve students’ development of transferable skills and their capacity to apply these to new situations, including those that are likely to be experienced in employment. Students will develop as global citizens, socially and environmentally aware, and sensitive to international contexts and cultures. The will benefit from the international and cultural diversity of students and staff of the University, and be encouraged periods of study abroad, the York Award, and the community activity of Colleges.
Some of those ideas are encapsulated in the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
I designed TANGO with all that in mind, wanting to spread and instill the principles of Critical Pedagogy (Freire, Giroux) among students, to encourage everyone to take a stand and do whatever we can to built a better society, a better world, for everybody. Also, to develop Intercultural Communicative Competence, ICC, (Byram, 1999) and practise critical cultural awareness: the ability ‘to question, to analyse, to evaluate, and potentially to take action’ (Byram, 2008). Or, as Marcel Proust put it: ‘my destination is no longer a place, but a new way of seeing’.
As I explain further on, in the Specialist option section, throughout the pilot project of TANGO there was a clear appreciation of individual contact with a native speaker and an in-depth sharing of experiences in pairs. Students shared in a safe environment their life experiences, real experiences within a real context, and learnt about the cultural intricacies that surround a language and language learning. They openly discussed their views and experiences in a safe environment, comparing their native languages, culture and cultural heritage, building understanding and empathy.
The students reflected on their learning process, discussed issues they have experienced while doing their work and acquired a better understanding about the target language and their mother tongue due to the nature of their peer-mentoring partnership. All the feedback samples provided have been anonymised to ensure confidentiality for data protection purposes.
I believe that all language learning courses should have a TANGO area where students can learn with and from one another, developing empathy and understanding of issues that are deeply embedded in each language and culture but due to time constraints are not part of it. And the way to make it work, ensuring that students dedicate time to do that, and create and publish work in their online portfolios would be to have this work assessed.