Creative Approaches to Student Inclusion

2024

I was commissioned by King’s College London, working with the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care to deliver two workshops with students exploring creative approaches to student inclusion. This focused on (amongst many things):

• Identifying and celebrating cultural differences with ethnically diverse students.

• Exploring belonging: how do we know when we feel it, and what stops us from belonging? So much of this was about being valued, heard, recognised, included in a meaningful way.

• Considering within the faculty how to tackle racism, including:

  • using more inclusive teaching materials that go beyond just white bodies.

  • having more diverse teaching staff and role models.

  • challenging why we feel defensive when someone asks us to be inclusive.

I can think of nothing more valuable than learning about the multiplicity of bodies in health education. The real life tangible impacts of not doing this are vast, resulting in misdiagnosis, illness and death. Thank you to the students who went on a journey with me throughout the day, trusting me to share their personal stories of identity, culture, and what can be done to make the world more inclusive of others.