Addressing attainment gaps and supporting our diverse student body through embedding tacit academic literacies

Many might argue that students learn about the academic discipline through exposure to the norms of the academy however this leaves those from widening participation backgrounds including international students at a disadvantage. Rather in this session we make the case for unpicking tacit aspects of communicating discipline-based knowledge and embedding these explicitly in our teaching.

The session will be most relevant to lecturers from arts, humanities and social science disciplines who wish to support students from widening participation backgrounds or international students to feel comfortable and empowered.

The session draws on the work on academic literacies (Lea and Street, 1998) and will enable participants to develop some take away actions for implementation in their particular context.

The format is
10 mins introduction to the session including understanding what are academic literacies, the rationale for embedding them and how they differ from academic skills. The role of academic literacy in our assessment practices.
10 mins small group activity to identify where academic literacy is assessed in typical social science modules
10 mins reviewing some of the ways to embed academic literacies in teaching and learning practices
20 mins small group activity reviewing these approaches and applying to one’s own practice.
10 mins feedback from activity

Reference
Lea, M. & Street, B. (1998). Student writing in higher education: an academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23, 157-172 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079812331380364