Show notes

As someone who has been passionately engaged in the craft of teaching for over 20 years - and who has practised at every level from primary to higher education in that time - Virna was keen to explore how to engage an increasingly diverse student body in interesting and relevant teaching. Her journey in producing this fantastic book was triggered by the pandemic, which suddenly made inequalities in access all the more pronounced. Her roots to shoots model, and the metaphor of the tree, emerged from the values that together summarised her understanding of ‘inclusive’ - at which point she discovered the vital importance of finding shared meanings of words, developed further through the guest provocations and narratives that illustrate her intentions so well. The pandemic has brought increased visibility to educators and developers, no matter how they identify, and we all need to make a bit more noise about what we do. A piece of writing is a dialogue between an author and their readership, and despite its challenges, this sense of collaboration and exchange enriches everyone involved.

Healey, M., Matthews, K. E., and Cook-Sather, A. (2020) Writing about learning and teaching in higher education: creating and contributing to scholarly conversations across a range of genres. Elon, NC: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa3. 

Inclusive Learning Design - the companion website (https://inclusivelearningdesign.com/)

Maha Bali - Reflecting Allowed https://blog.mahabali.me/

Rossi, V. (2023). Inclusive learning design in higher education: A practical guide to creating equitable learning experiences. London: Routledge.