In a ground-breaking move two years ago the Welsh FE college, Coleg Cambria, supported by the Welsh Government, offered all its staff what it was already offering to learners: a free assessment to determine if they were neurodiverse and, if so, additional staff support in the form of strategies and specially qualified level 7 tutors to help them overcome any learning needs they might have.
“It’s had a huge impact,” says head of inclusion Lizzie Stevens. “We’ve seen 140 colleagues volunteer to be assessed and we are now regularly supporting 40 of them, of which some may otherwise have left the college by now.”
The college sees itself very much as a FE pioneer in neurodiversity. Lizzie joined the college as a learning support manager in 2016 and the culture has since changed radically, she says. “One of the major things we’ve been trailblazing is staff inclusion. When you think 23% of our learners are neurodiverse (as are 30% of the wider community across Wales and a higher number in England), only 3.5% of our staff disclose any form of neurodiversity or disability. That’s just not representative.”
Colleges create barriers where they should not exist
Lizzie says such statistics can only mean one of three things: “Colleagues just don’t know they are neurodiverse; or they do know but they’re not telling the college and that’s scary; or - scariest of all - they choose not to work in FE.”
She believes colleges - and society generally - are creating barriers where they should not exist. “We’re judging people for, say, simply not spotting spelling errors in a learner’s work when those same staff members are fantastic tutors. But they don’t need to spend hours and hours marking spelling errors; we can get someone else to do that and let neurodiverse tutors do what they are good at - tutoring.”
The college now employs two inclusion assistants specifically to help with things like checking through spelling and grammar to remove the burden. “We have, for instance, a highly skilled lecturer who is dyslexic and struggles with spelling and grammar but is fantastic with learners. We don’t want to lose them - so we allocate other staff to assist with the marking of students’ work for them.”
College inclusion strategy has seen staff retention levels surge
If a staff member with ADHD finds managing deadlines and planning work is getting overwhelming, specialist tutors are on hand to help staff work out strategies such as mind-mapping or putting in place systems that automatically prioritise emails.
Without the college’s inclusion policy, Lizzie believes some colleagues may have left their role at the college because of, say, lack of organisational skills or meeting marking deadlines - all the things that depict a neurodiverse profile.
“We know some neurodiverse staff can spend every weekend marking work as it takes them so long. That sort of task is so hard for them and it’s unsustainable in the long term.”
Coleg Cambria focuses on the strengths of neurodiversity. “We see neurodiversity as a benefit, not a barrier.” says Lizzie. “We use the terms neurodiverse and difference, reflecting the condition is not a negative.”
‘I was told at school I was unteachable’
Lizzie herself has ADHD and only got diagnosed years after struggling at school and being told she was unteachable. She went straight into hospitality where she realised she had a talent for multi-tasking - a special skill often linked to people with ADHD. Her “super hero” skill allowed her to do “a million things at once” - including running a restaurant almost single-handedly. She went back to college to begin training as a teacher, where she realised she could learn after all, thanks to a great teacher who taught her how to learn a bit differently.
Like many neurodiverse people, Lizzie has also had to work hard to harness her special skills. “I get easily distracted so I’m currently practising a type of listening skill. I have all my fidgets (things I can play with when I’m really focusing on trying to listen to you) around me. My brain wants me to ignore what you are saying and think about what I’m going to say next. I want to interrupt all the time - I’m not always successful, of course, which makes meetings interesting!
“As a full-time teacher I’d get bored quickly so I’d split my lessons into 10-20 minute sections of active, multi-sensory approaches to teaching and learning. And because I could think differently, I adopted a creative approach that my learners really enjoyed.”
Inclusion is everyone’s business
Lizzie says her department has given substantial training to tutors on neurodiversity to recognise and understand it, and make them more aware of the impact of their own actions on others. “Inclusion is everyone's business - we all have a part to play,” says Lizzie. “We don’t want learners being sent to specialist tutors but want to give all tutors the right level of understanding of neurodiversity in both colleagues and students.”
Her advice to neurodiverse people considering teaching is to find out first and foremost if colleges they are applying to promote an inclusive culture. If they have ticked certain boxes in their applications, they need colleges to offer them reasonable adjustments from the start - something maybe as simple as dimmer lighting within the interview room.
“At all staff inductions we say inclusion staff are there for all learners and staff. We tell them: ‘We embrace your diversity, so feel free to talk to us and ask how we can help.’ ”
Treat teaching staff right and they won’t consider leaving
Every conversation with the inclusion department is confidential, says Lizzie. “In fact, confidentiality has seen many more people coming forward for support and it’s led to a much happier workforce. And if an individual needs a number of reasonable adjustments they are encouraged to approach HR themselves and their line manager.”
Lizzie cannot argue strongly enough that colleges must look after and retain staff with disabilities - they have special talents and to lose staff who feel they’ve lacked support is “shooting yourself in the foot”. But if potential or former staff now know they won’t have to spend excessive additional hours marking work but can have a more work life balance, a FE teaching career remains attractive.
“If colleges really want to move forward,” Lizzie concludes, "they have to increase diversity!”
AoCJobs, part of the Association of Colleges, connects teachers and support staff with schools and colleges for online job opportunities.
