I attended this event to help me consider marrying the reading I’ve been doing with my teaching practice, my creative practice and notions of diversity, perceptions, positionality in relation to inclusive practices.

The online format I observed the options we were signposted to, to make the experience more inclusive, eg. closed captioning, option to turn camera off, chat function, etc., a few practical things I can offer with online teaching.

I wanted to learn about Bessa’s practice and how he considers diversity and positionality within his illustrations. Maybe unusual but I don’t any gay illustrators so I was interested to listen to his story. In order to develop inclusive practices within my teaching role it is important for me to hear different stories that I might not necessarily come across in my daily life. Pushing myself outside of comfort zones, hearing new voices, seeing new work and imagery, finding opportunities to ask questions to experts in their field provides fresh insights that informs my approach to teaching and learning.

I have been thinking about what Inclusive Practices actually means. Words like disability, faith, race are central within the IP unit. How do my biases reflect my thinking around inclusivity and diversity?

Bessa – “it’s important to know when your voice is not the voice that’s needed for a project”

Forbes – “who has the right to depict diversity?”

For me being an inclusive practitioner means being mindful that I have limitations, biases, as do my students and colleagues, but that I can be honest and open about these within safe spaces, and to dig deep for the courage to be open outside of safe spaces. Self-awareness around positionality is also crucial. IP also means listening to, opening spaces for, and inviting students to share their experiences to validate their voices.