Celebrating two years of the Inclusive Practice Partnerships Scheme

Today we mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with an update on the work we are doing to diversify and decolonise our curriculum as part of our wider Race Equality Charter Action Plan. Find out more about the fantastic work our students are doing through the Inclusive Practice Partners Scheme and how you can get involved too. 

As part of Brighton Achieves, the Inclusive Practice Partnerships Scheme empowers our students and staff to work together to create a more inclusive curriculum. This year, we have employed 42 new undergraduate Inclusive Practice Partners from across the university, to join our 21 returning student IPPs. Each School now also has an Inclusive Practice Partner representative, who will be raising the profile of inclusivity and race equity within their School. 

At the start of the academic year our student and staff partners took part in workshops on why we need to diversify and decolonise the curriculum, and have since been busy putting this training into practice on their course. We have also been running dedicated sessions to assist with the personal development of our IPPs, to build on the skills they are gaining during the scheme, to empower them to continue to advocate for equality and diversity in the wider community. 

Recruitment for the next year of the Scheme, will begin in May 2022. If you are interested in applying for one of these paid roles, to bring about change for our current and future students, keep an eye on the blog for more details. 

Neesha Sivaratnam, IPP representative for the School of Applied Sciences describes her experience of being part of the Scheme for the last two years: 

Being the Inclusive Practice Student Representative for The School of Applied Sciences, has been a great opportunity to work in collaboration with staff and other student IPPs across a variety of subject disciplines. I have been an IPP for University of Brighton within Biomedical Science, for two years now. In my first year, I made material changes to the curriculum of the course I studied, by making recommendations for literature sourcing within the science field to implement more inclusive practices in scientific writing, collaborated with library staff to make educational resources used within the library for literature searches and made recommendations for more inclusive resources to be used in lecture material. My biggest achievement was that alongside other IPPs in Pharmacy, we came up with the recommendation for unconscious bias training to be implemented for students just as it is staff. This has the potential to make those significant changes in the environment in higher education that will eventually follow students into the workplace, creating a more inclusive environment overall. 

This academic year, as Inclusive Practice Student Representative, I have had the pleasure of being part of a podcast, speaking about my own transition to higher education, being of a first-generation university student background, especially in my field, bringing light to potential barriers one may face and spreading awareness about different backgrounds. Alongside this, I am working on further recommendations for modules I have already completed last year, alongside other IPPs in The School of Applied Sciences, I wish to further this in some research into inclusivity practices in higher education. I also most recently designed a poster template for International Women’s Day 2022, which was used at the dedicated event this year. My motivation to be within the IPP scheme, has always been to empower and represent others of all backgrounds, to help the decolonisation of the curriculum and uphold inclusive practices within my field. 

I am someone, who wishes to embark on a career in medicine, I know how important it is to make sure everyone is included and ensure everybody is equally represented in education and the workplace, this will allow me to ultimately have a better prospect for the patients in the future. Doing this project, has allowed me to make changes, and have real world impact, that will ultimately help others in their journeys as professionals and students, allowing others to be successful and achieve their dreams. It has been amazing so far and such a great experience. I cannot wait to see what is next for me and what I can achieve through the IPP scheme. I think it’s invaluable to the inclusivity and diversity implementation within higher education and will continue to be for years to come.