Inclusive Teaching Forum: the conversations begin.

The inaugural Inclusive Teaching Forum was held on the Wallumattagal North Ryde campus on 12 April, 2022. Almost 200 Macquarie academic and professional community members came together for an interactive, engaging, and collaborative forum, to think, discuss, and learn from each other about inclusive teaching practices, perspectives, and challenges – and more broadly, about the possibilities for diversity and inclusion at Macquarie.

The forum challenged my thinking and provided new approaches I haven’t come across before. This is an area that needs a great deal of attention in an educational setting and for enhancing the student experience. 

This was only the beginning of a very important conversation, though – there’s still work to do, and there will be further opportunities to get involved in these discussions. In the meantime, you can catch up on anything you missed below, including a thought-provoking showcase video by Macquarie students, and all the presentations from the Forum.

It was a fantastic event – thought-provoking, engaging, and challenging. Great to hear student voices.

Video recordings of all the Forum presentations, with details of the speakers, topics and timings are below.

Speaker	Title	Available to view –
Vice Chancellor Professor S. Bruce Dowton	Welcome	Part 1: 00:00 to 8:00 mins
Dr Michael Donovan Macquarie School of Education	Indigenous Knowledges: Old knowledge used to engage future directions for Macquarie University students and staff	Part 1: 8:05 to 25:45 mins
David Chapman & Hannah Vogel Faculty of Arts	Changing History: Perspectives on Accessibility and Disability	Not available
Associate Professor Kathleen Tait & Dr Sue Silveira Macquarie School of Education	Developing an inclusive learning environment for students with visual impairment	Part 2: 00:00 to 15:00 mins
Dr Noushin Nasiri Faculty of Science and Engineering	Engineers: re-defining the stereotype	Part 2: 15:00 to 25:50 mins
Sophie Curtis Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Lead – Campus Life	Showing up: Creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students	Part 2: 25:55 to end
Professor Debbie Haski-Leventhal Macquarie Business School	Teaching beyond privilege	Part 3: 00:00 to 17:30
Professor Catherine Dean Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences	Narrative pedagogy: using storytelling to promote inclusive practice	Part 3: 17:35 to 27:25 mins
Associate Professor Agnes Bosanquet PVC- Learning & Teaching	A workshop activity	Part 3: 27:25 to 35:50 mins
Dr Prashan S M Karunaratne Macquarie Business School	A Colourful Tomorrow in Every Sphere of Life	Part 3: 35:55 to end

Where to now?

• Since the forum, discussions about inclusive teaching have continued via a series of staff and student focus groups held during April and May. Feedback, ideas, and priorities from the focus groups will be used to inform the development of inclusive teaching resources for staff.
• View Diversity and Inclusion workshops offered across Macquarie
• Look out for forthcoming TECHE posts dedicated to responding to the questions raised by participants at the Forum.

Our thanks to all the Forum speakers and contributors. This event was proudly co-sponsored by the Office of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) and Workplace Diversity and Inclusion.

Header image by Erinn Branagh.
Event images by Erinn Branagh.