DISABLED PEOPLE AND ACCESS OPPORTUNITIES INTO HIGHER EDUCATION[䨂K檲퍆ဂë⭗1]

James M Palfreman-Kay (Research Student)

Department of Social and Community Studies, Faculty of Health and Community Studies, De Montfort University, Scraptoft Campus, Leicester LE7 9SU.

Paper presented at Higher Education Close Up, an international conference from 6-8 July 1998 at University of Central Lancashire, Preston. This conference is jointly hosted by the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University and the Department of Education Studies, University of Central Lancashire and is supported by the Society for Research into Higher Education

Introduction

This research investigates the experiences of dyslexic and deaf students enrolled on access programmes at colleges of further education that are affiliated with De Montfort University.

Throughout the 1990s there have been attempts to improve the access opportunities into further and higher education for disabled students. The Tomlinson report (1996) recently recommended the move towards ‘inclusive learning‘ for further education. Other developments within this sector have been through legislation such as the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992, which requires the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) to take regard of the requirements of disabled people by providing additional funding to individual colleges. For higher education attempts to improve access have occurred through the Higher Educational Funding Council Special Initiatives (M23/96). These initiatives have required individual institutions to competitively bid for money from the funding council to establish a provision for disabled students within each institution. Joint developments within both sectors have been the introduction of the disability statement through the Disability Discrimination Act (1995).

These changes in further and higher education aim to make both sectors more accessible for disabled people. Therefore it is crucial to investigate the student experience to discover if such developments are contributing towards a successful experience.

This research has been conducted in two stages. The aim of the first stage was to establish whether or not disabled students were enrolling on access programmes with a focus on dyslexia and deafness. This was achieved by conducting a series of un-structured interviews with key members of staff such as access, disability and learning support co-ordinators. One of the main findings to emerge from this stage of research was

That staff had limited experience of dyslexic and deaf adults enrolled in access programmes.

Before embarking on the second stage of the data collection, which is currently in progress, contact was made with the relevant institutions to determine whether or not dyslexic or deaf students were enrolling on access for the academic session 1997-98. The responses revealed that dyslexic rather than deaf students were enrolling on access programmes. Due to the lack of deaf students enrolling on access for this academic session it was decided to focus on the experiences of dyslexic students.

Methodological and Theoretical framework
Critical Ethnographic Method

A critical ethnographic approach (Harvey, 1990; Thomas, 1993) otherwise known as critical social research (Carspecken, 1996), was implemented to explore the student experience of access.

This method was adopted because of the value commitment of a critical ethnographic researcher, which is to fighting oppression within contemporary society. Carspecken (1996) summarises such values:

“ Criticalists find contemporary society to be unfair, unequal, and both subtly and overtly oppressive for many people. We do not like it, and we want to change it. “ (Carspecken, 1996: 7).

With the commitment of critical ethnographers towards fighting oppression and changing society for the better, this research method fits into the emancipatory approach (Oliver, 1992) towards conducting disability research. This is evident with Oliver’s (1992) definition of this paradigm:

“ The emancipatory paradigm, as the name implies, is about the facilitating of the possible by confronting social oppression at whatever level it occurs “(Oliver, 1992: 110).

With critical ethnographers adopting the values of the researched, there is a move away from a value free approach towards conducting social research. It can now be interpreted as a method with a political purpose.

Bearing this in mind, critical ethnography is able to overcome some of the issues that emerge during disability research. In the past, disabled people have viewed disability research as playing a role in their oppression (Hunt, 1981; Morris, 1992) Barnes (1997), feels that if disability research is to fight oppression researchers, should move away from the idea of ‘academic independence‘ (Oliver & Barnes, 1997) and move towards “ joining … [disabled people] … in … [the] … struggle to confront and overcome this oppression “ (Barnes, 1997: 243). The value of critical ethnography for disability research is that it is a method which can assist in the fight for societal change (Thomas, 1993).

Social Model of Disability

The social model of disability emerged in [ဂë⭗䨂K2]

the 1960s (Hunt, 1966) and 1970s (UPIAS, 1977) by disabled activists challenging the control that the quasi medical and social service professions exerted over disabled people. They used the medical and individual models to provide an alternative definition of disability. It was through the work of Finkelstein (1980) and Oliver (1990) that the social model of disability has established itself as an alternative in which disabled people can locate their experience of disability. According to this model disability is created through a society, which does not fully take into account the needs of disabled people by imposing:

“ restrictions … ranging from individual prejudice to institutional discrimination, from inaccessible public buildings to unusable transport system, from segregated education to excluding work arrangements “ (Oliver, 1996: 3).

The social model of disability is a holistic interpretation developed by disabled people to maybe show their position in society. It is attempting to collectivise and politicise disabled people into a single unit by establishing an identity for disabled people. Campbell and Oliver (1996) express the value of this interpretation when they state that the social model:

“ freed up disabled people’s hearts and minds by offering an alternative conceptualisation of the problem. Liberated the direction of disabled people’s personal energies turned outwards to building a force for changing society. “ (Campbell & Oliver, 1996: 20).

The social model highlights the areas in society where disabled people experience discrimination and provides an opportunity for disabled people to take collective action. By flagging up areas of discrimination, the social model is attempting to achieve for disabled people the same citizenship rights enjoyed by non-disabled people. The value of adopting this interpretation of disability is that it will help to identify the barriers that disabled students experience within the further educational environment.

Defining Access

The purpose of access is that it aims to attract “… specific groups of adults in the community which have been identified as under represented in higher education“(UCAS, 1996: 3).This interpretation ties in with the original aim of access when it was established in 1978, which was to attract “ those groups who have been least well-served by the school system and who face particular barriers to entry to higher education “ (Kearney & Diamond, 1987: 38). Therefore the goal of access is to provide an entry route into higher education for non-traditional groups such as disabled people and ethnic minority groups.

Findings

In this stage of research a range of categories emerged as important to the student experience of access. These categories represent a range of themes drawn from the interview data, which reflect the variation of experience between the respondents. There are some issues that could be placed in more than one category. However, it is important to identify distinct themes in order to present the data in an accessible form and also to be able to develop a practical application.

This paper presents a brief presentation of the first three categories and a detailed analysis of the fourth category. The categories are:

  • Prior Educational Experience.
  • Reasons for undertaking access.
  • Discovery of dyslexia.
  • Student Relations

Prior Educational Experience

The prior educational experienceof the respondents demonstrated little recognition of deaf issues and dyslexia. This lack of awareness resulted in the development of a range of coping strategies to survive secondary education. The implications of this are that prior educational experiences may act as a barrier throughout the educational experience. Therefore, it is important to market access in a manner which shows adults wishing to return to education that similar experiences will not be repeated.

Reasons for undertaking access

The majority of the respondents chose access because they viewed it as an entry route into higher education. None of the students identified their disability as a reason for undertaking access. This suggests it is likely that this educational route into higher education is providing new opportunities for adults who have previously experienced failure within education. However, in order for disabled students to maximise this opportunity it is important that access staff display disability awareness and the support provision available.

Discovery of dyslexia

The majority of the dyslexic respondents were not aware that they were dyslexic until they enrolled in access. Dyslexia was discovered through either college testing or marking procedures of written work. On confirmation of dyslexia the majority of the respondents displayed mixed feelings of anger and relief.

It is important to discover whether or not the adults enrolling on access are dyslexic at the earliest possible stage due to the short length of the course. The respondents showed various procedures in which they became aware of their dyslexia. A possible solution would be to screen adults prior to the commencement of the programme. This approach would provide a valuable opportunity to develop support packages for dyslexic students. However, access students would need to be convinced that such an assessment would aim to increase both the chances of a successful experience on the programme and increase their opportunities of progressing within the educational system.

Student Relations

Whilst investigating relationships formed between respondents and other access students different experiences emerged. The students provided examples of positive and negative awareness.

Positive Awareness

When investigating the awareness displayed by fellow students there was a range of examples given such as general and educational support. One dyslexic respondent viewed their disability as an opportunity to provide and receive general support that helped to form good relations with fellow students.

“ It didn’t bother me because everybody else was doing the same thing, I passed it onto other people and vice versa it was a good group, it was not because I was dyslexic it was because everybody else struggled in some way or another, so everybody was helping each other. “ (Dyslexic female respondent)

The respondent is open about declaring her disability because she feels that it is not an obstacle to forming good relations. A possible explanation for this is the similar educational backgrounds of other students and the target groups access was designed to attract. Access was originally viewed as a ‘second chance‘(McFadden, 1995) to individuals who previously had a poor experience of education (Stephenson et al, 1989). The students can view this entry route back into education as ‘another chance to do something better with their lives‘(McFadden, 1995: 40). Disabled and non-disabled students may not view disability as an obstacle because both groups of students have similar goals that have been hampered by poor prior educational experiences. This suggests that disabled students within this educational environment are not experiencing the same level of discrimination that disabled people face within society (Morris, 1993).

After declaration of disability, the development of relations between students progresses a stage further. This is displayed by fellow students showing a supportive attitude as is indicated by one dyslexic respondent.

“ How can we help was their attitude which was the general attitude through the course anyway. If you could help somebody you would do. We discussed everything.“ (Dyslexic male respondent)

Possibly the level of awareness displayed towards the dyslexic respondents because fellow students are able to identify with these individuals because of their poor experiences of education. Previous research that has included an element of student relations within further (Ash et al, 1997) and higher education (Taylor, 1996) supports this view. Ash et al (1997) provides an example of some disabled and non-disabled students supporting each other in certain circumstances.

“ On my course there have been a few people with problems writing essays and I was fortunate in reading a good book on how to write an academic essay and got a very good mark. Consequently, I’ve been asked for lots of help.” (Student quoted in Ash et al, 1997: 616).

This supportive approach results in the respondents feeling included within the student body. Stephenson et al (1989) suggests a supportive attitude is a common characteristic displayed by access students irrespective of disability.

“ It give you like a unison, you’d all get your heads together. If you only sat and listened, if you don’t contribute, you’d learn something “ (Student quoted in Stephenson et al 1989: 35).

It is the nature of access that helps to draw students together, which can be extended to include disabled students. This feeling of togetherness may be a result of the nature of the respondents disability. Non-disabled students may find it easier to bond with dyslexic students than students with other forms of disability. Yet again this unity is contrary to what dyslexic people experience in society especially in the work place. These positive actions may also have the effect of developing individual’s self-esteem (Stephenson, 1989).

When investigating the experiences of deaf respondents, they displayed difficulties in forming good relations with fellow access students.

“ The other people on the course, much as they tried to make friends with me I would cut myself off, if anybody would ask me questions about my private life I felt they were talking behind my back and stuff like that. “ (Deaf female respondent)

The difficulty in forming relations with hearing students may be due to previous bad experiences that deaf students do not wish to repeat. Foster et al. (1991) provides an example of the difficulties in forming relations between hearing and deaf students.

“ Some hearing people are afraid … if they sign to a deaf person they’re gonna laugh at you for making the wrong sign. That’s why a deaf person is afraid to talk, cause they’re gonna laugh at you for making a wrong sound…the wrong pronunciation. It’s just a fear of a new language that’s what it is. “ (Student quoted in Foster et al, 1991: 189).

Difficulties in forming relations between deaf and hearing students may be a result of communication problems between the two groups. Additionally, if the respondent attempts to communicate there is a fear that they are going to look stupid and become an object of humour. Therefore the need to withdraw could be interpreted as a coping strategy (Higgins, 1980) to survive within the hearing world. It may be an attempt to reduce the chance of stigmatisation. An explanation for this strategy is provided by Kirk et al (1993).

“ Most people who have severe hearing impairments still find that interaction with the hearing world is both painful and difficult. As a consequence, they segregate themselves as adolescents and adults “ (Kirk et al, 1993: 349).

It is the lack of awareness of deaf issues that is producing this obstacle between deaf and hearing students. This lack of awareness is displayed because hearing people assume that everyone is able to speak and hear (Higgins, 1980). Hearing people display such an attitude because deafness is a hidden disability and until hearing and deaf people interact, deaf people would be viewed as ‘normal.‘

Educational Support

While investigating the disabled student experience, examples of educational support being provided by fellow access students have been discovered. As one dyslexic respondent indicated:

“ Yes, I suppose so in the sense of like note taking. I could borrow peoples notes if I had not got them. Sometimes I would have written absolute garbage down and would not of got anything right. “ (Dyslexic female respondent)

Another example of support is respondents’ work being typed by fellow students.

“ There was this student girl she used to type my essays and actually got her a job, she was being paid which was really good. “ (Dyslexic male respondent)

These responses show informal and formal educational support being provided by fellow students. Taylor (1996) suggests that it is likely fellow students would provide their disabled peers with this type of support such as offering to collect handouts and provide informal note taking for fellow deaf students. Both groups of students will benefit through this type of support by helping to develop their own learning skills and confidence. Cann (1985) supports this view.

“If opportunities are given for people to test their knowledge against others in a supportive environment then incidental learning can create general satisfaction“ (Cann, 1985: 101).

As mentioned earlier this type of support can help to develop a greater unity and togetherness within the student body. Furthermore, such support allows the disabled student to feel more included and to develop good relations with others.

Educational support from fellow students has lead towards a feeling of greater inclusion,

which has raised the students’ awareness within and outside the educational environment. Ash et al (1997) supports this with their investigation of the disabled student experience of further education.

“ … they [non-disabled students] can start to learn everyday things about a disabled person. It does them good. They are learning as well as us” (Ash et al 1997:617).

Negative Awareness

While enrolled on access the respondents displayed examples of negative relations being formed between fellow students. One respondent talks about herself and another dyslexic student being treated as an object of humour.

“ They would play silly games such as not speaking to me or her today. Or if you are going for a break, I would say do you want a coffee and she would say I am staying and I would bring you one up. I would go down with them and theywould look at me and then run out the door “ (Dyslexic female respondent).