Off Campus Teaching
Off campus elements may be made inaccessible through a variety of means.
The barriers your students may experience could include, physical barriers, cultural barriers, financial barriers or transportation barriers. For example:
Physical barriers - for example, a location may be inaccessible for students with mobility difficulties.
Cultural barriers - Maybe dietary constraints, or what is considered culturally acceptable modes of behaviour could act as a barrier to some students.
Financial barriers - If your off-campus events are costly they can act as a barrier to students on limited budgets.
Location barriers: if your venue is inaccessible by public transport this may act as a barrier to some of your students.
Consider each of these elements when arranging off-campus teaching and request information from the organisations working within your off campus venues regarding accessibility. Ensure that these organisations will be ready and prepared to meet the needs of your students.
Planning and preparation are essential when organising inclusive off-campus teaching opportunities. You should consider the barriers likely to exist in your off-campus venue or activities, and consider how you can enable participation by all your students. This could involve changing your venue, agreeing an alternative learning opportunity for affected students or modifying your activities.
Changing Venue:
If an off campus element is unnecessarily inaccessible it is good practice to choose an alternative off campus element that is accessible to all. For example, if you have the choice of a variety of similar venues for the same learning opportunity, it is good practice to choose the venue that is accessible to all students.
Alternative Learning opportunities
Sometimes this will not be possible to change your venue. Maybe your learning opportunity, by it's very nature, is inaccessible; or perhaps the learning opportunity can only take place in a unique location (for example, fieldtrips to specific geographical, historical or geological sites) or at great expense.
Where some, or all of your students, cannot attend the actual venue you could offer an alternative learning opportunity. Examples of alternative learning opportunities include on-campus role play, and the use of technology to create a virtual fieldwork environment or experience.
Modifying Activities
If a specific activity is inaccessible you may find that it is possible to offer alternative activities to overcome this difficulty. For example, while on field trips you could divide the tasks up ensuring students with differing levels of mobility, fitness and skills can each contribute to the experience.