I met with Matt Crowley, the Critical Practice Co-ordinator on the BA Textile Design course over Teams and discussed my ideas for my ARP. I thought meeting with Matt would be really beneficial as within his role he introduces BA1 students to the concept of keeping a Technical notebook/file as a way of recording the process and developing critical engagement with making.
We spoke about the concept of negotiated assessment and curriculum and although I do not formally assess students within my current role, nor do I currently assess their technical notes in any way, students are required to record physical technical notes as part of their assessment. The idea of choice and agency is highlighted through these concepts and so It became clear through the conversation that presenting choices to students in terms of templates for technical notes would be important instead of just developing one revision of the technical sheet.
Initially, when creating my first ethical action plan, I had planned to gather data from all year groups from the BA Textile Design course. However after this conversation, I decided that to help filter my data, focusing on BA1 was going to be the best course of action as BA1 students would be in similar positions in regards to experience with making technical notes. They have recently been briefed on the requirement for a technical notebook/file for assessment and it made sense to focus on students’ perspectives and feedback from a more manageable position. Their technical experience level is not yet advanced and the notes they are required to make would be less complex compared to a BA3 student or an MA student, for example.
The decision to focus on BA1 students only was also influenced by the fact that during this time of term, the timetable is heavily catered towards BA1 students who are attending inductions in each specialist workshops for the first time. Going forward it would be interesting to gather feedback from BA2, BA3 Grad dip and MA to see how feedback differs from year to year, and to obviously see how we can develop the support we give to these year groups around the same topic.
During the conversation with Matt we also spoke about the struggles students may face throughout their studies without additional support in the form of ISAs, study skills support, mentoring, and more. It was discussed that some students who are afforded ISAs don’t always want to utilise the additional time or support and how providing those students the additional support they require from year one, would be most beneficial. However, some students don’t have the context to understand that they are struggling. They may believe they are feeling the same way everyone else is, particularly if they are not yet diagnosed with a neurodiverse learning difference. This is something that resonates with me as someone who was diagnosed with ADHD during my late 20’s. A learning difference which “was once thought to be a male only disorder, leaving women and girls to suffer in silence (Nussbaum, 2012). In childhood, the ratio of boys to girls with ADHD is about 3:1 whereas in adulthood it is closer to 1:1, suggesting that women and girls are underdiagnosed in childhood (Da Silva et al., 2020).” (Nussbaum, 2012; Da Silva et al., 2020, as cited in Attoe, D. E. & Climie, E. A. 2023). This feels particularly important to highlight especially as the student intake on the Textile Design programme is predominantly women.
“Healthcare professionals, teachers and parents often have limited knowledge of the specifics of ADHD in women and girls (i.e., symptoms, behaviors, and outcomes more commonly found in females), resulting in differences in diagnosis and treatment. Quinn and Wigal (2004) found that 40% of teachers report having more difficulty identifying ADHD symptoms in girls and that 85% of teachers and 57% of parents think girls are more likely to remain undiagnosed. Lynch and Davison (2022) found that teachers and clinicians struggled to identify symptoms of potential ADHD in young women. Despite these young women displaying symptoms of inattention and executive dysfunction both teachers and clinicians did not identify these as being problematic for these young women. They did not view these symptoms as needing further assessment. As such, delayed diagnosis may prevent women from accessing treatment options that could mitigate risk factors associated with ADHD (Da Silva et al., 2020).” (Quinn and Wigal, 2004; Lynch and Davison, 2022; Da Silva et al., 2020, as cited in Attoe, D. E. & Climie, E. A. 2023)
For these reasons, creating an equitable learning environment, with resources that are helpful for all students and a universal design, is imperative. It’s also appropriate to focus on BA1 years students to effectively embed this practice into their methodologies so that the habit is attainable looking forward towards their professional careers.
“It is apparent that undiagnosed ADHD in childhood can have lasting negative consequences into adulthood. Missed or late diagnosis can be damaging for a woman’s self-esteem, mental health, and overall wellbeing” and so whilst i think it’s imperative that “Targeted intervention aimed at educating health professionals, teachers and parents to contribute to closing the gap in diagnosis for girls providing them with increased treatment options at an earlier age.” (Attoe, D. E. & Climie, E. A. 2023), I think it’s also really important for small steps like the one I am trying to implement are made, so that in the absence of these larger societal changes students do not have to unnecessarily struggle in areas where support can very feasibly be given.
References:
Attoe, D. E. & Climie, E. A. (2023) ‘Miss. Diagnosis: A Systematic Review of ADHD in Adult Women’, Journal of Attention Disorders, 27(7), pp. 645–657. doi: 10.1177/10870547231161533. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10173330/ (Accessed: 1 January 2025).
Azarnoosh, M. and Kargozari, H.R. (2018) ‘Negotiated syllabus’, in Azarnoosh, M. et al. (eds) Issues in Syllabus Design. Leiden: Brill, pp. 165–175. doi: 10.1163/9789463511889_012. (Accessed: 13th November 2024).
Brown, P.S. (2012) ‘Introducing a negotiated curriculum’, in Irie, K. and Stewart, A. (eds) Realizing Autonomy: Practice and Reflection in Language Education Contexts. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 31–44. doi: 10.1057/9780230358485_4. (Accessed: 15th November 2024).