Abstract/Summary

In this paper, I discuss a few teaching strategies and learning support methods Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) can adopt to create an equal, diverse, and inclusive learning environment in the small group teaching context. Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are important values required by the Equality Act that UK universities look to adopt in various ways, but GTAs, whose role is very specific, are rarely part of the debate on how to implement them. I will argue that the classroom is of particular importance when it comes to the implementation of EDI in the context of HE, and that it is essential to develop inclusive teaching practices for all students. My paper will fill the gaps in EDI training identified in the literature by proposing the following teaching strategies and learning support methods (and discussing the likely challenges they may cause as well as ideas for solutions): setting ground rules at the beginning of term, close cooperation with the Student Wellbeing teams, strategies on how to learn students’ names in advance to make them feel welcome regardless of their cultural background, effective use of teaching platforms to encourage equal, diverse, and inclusive participation, as well as developing accessible learning materials and teaching structure. I will draw on my experience of teaching as a GTA at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES).