Organisational change and development towards inclusive higher education

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the impact of organisational policies around inclusion on individual academic practices, and to develop an understanding of the factors which enable or prevent shifts towards inclusion in higher education learning and teaching.

The paper presents data from the document analysis phase of a larger research project. To achieve an understanding of the complex process of development towards an inclusive higher education culture within one focal university, the research took a qualitative approach, underpinned by a critical realist perspective which acknowledges and demands the investigation of multiple levels of reality. The documentary analysis presented here used a constant comparative technique. Documents were analysed inductively by the project team, leading to the identification of key emergent themes.

Three themes related to the development of an inclusive higher education culture emerged from the analysis of the data. These were: learner empowerment; changing practice through challenging practice; inclusive practice as good practice. The focal university’s vision for an inclusive culture was expressed inconsistently across data sources, and did not provide clear indications of concrete shifts in practice which would be required in order to enact that vision.

The data are analysed and discussed through the lens of socio-cultural theory, allowing for a complex understanding to emerge of the ways in which participation in the valued practices of a university community is affected by the influence of policy and strategy.