For this case study I am focusing on students in their 3rd and final year on the Hair make up and Prosthetics for Performance BA at LCF. They’re aged 18-25 and their diverse needs include language barriers, autism and anxiety.
UAL support networks include academic, disability, language, mental health and wellbeing support. At course level, we offer weekly tutorials and mentoring opportunities. A balanced delivery accommodates various learning styles, utilising digital resources, teamwork, individual work and all students gain personalised feedback in all sessions.
The most effective strategies are those which foster confidence, focus and trust.
These strategies include:
- Regular short 1-1 tutorials
- Breaking down learning into step by step tasks
- Layered skills acquisition
- Regular attendance monitoring
Through tutorials I can identify individual needs at the start of the academic journey and continue to support at regular touchpoints.
Step by step learning creates manageable workloads reduces stress and improves focus. Task Analysis, chunking and scaffolding are relevant theories in my teaching context, further exploration will evolve my practices. ‘Preparing Instructional objectives’ (Mager R F 1997) explores these practices.
Poor attendance is more prominent among diverse learners. One recent strategy is an extra support officer communicating with students by phone. This has been successful in directing students to appropriate services quickly. Speedy responses and contact by phone from neutral staff have improved attendance and reduced stress levels.
During presentations students have the option to pre-record voice overs. This has improved timing, increased digital skills and reduced anxiety. I have introduced presentation and confidence building sessions. By opening these sessions to the whole group it has given confidence to the diverse learners to see that it is something which effects everyone and not just isolated to their individual barriers, building a sense of community and benefitting the whole programme. Moving forward I would embed these sessions from year 1.
The least effective strategy, especially with language barriers, are the monthly 30 minute mentoring sessions with academic staff, not from the teaching team. From personal experience, the purpose of mentoring is not always understood and students feel self-conscious communicating with a stranger. I have also noticed cultural differences in attitudes to mentoring. For students with language barriers I will explore options of student/alumni mentors who share the same first language, student buddy systems and student ‘teams’ groups for FAQ’s. I will also explore AI resources such as google translate to use in unit briefings so students fully understand expectations and do not fall behind early on.
To meet the needs of diverse learners we need to show diversity within the industry and embed diversity within the curriculum. The hair and make-up industry has become much more diverse over the last 10 years in terms of ethnicity gender and culture. To reflect this I have introduced diverse industry practitioners for demonstrations and masterclasses. I have also started ‘The diverse model bank’, providing diverse models for demonstrations showing industry techniques on a variety of skin tones, skin types, gender, disability and age. This has been an effective way of embedding diversity within the curriculum.
Diverse industry practitioner visitors:
Drag Syndrome (Vais D 2025) Instagram March 25
Radical Beauty project ( Vais D 2019)
(McCook , N. May 24) nyglorious instagram March 25
On reflection, to prepare diverse learners for careers in an ever-evolving industry we need strong communication, flexible approaches to teaching and an inclusive curriculum which respects the individuality of learners. Our biggest barriers to this approach are time and resources.
Bibliography:
Drag Syndrome, Vais D Instagram (March 2025)
https://www.instagram.com/dragsyndrome/?hl=en
Mager, R.F. (1997) Preparing Instructional Objectives. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Lake Publishing.
nyglorious face arts Nyomie McCook (May 24) Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/nygloriousfacearts/?hl=en
Academic support link:
https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/41420/academic-support
Student support services link:
https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/45474/student-services
The “Radical Beauty Project.” Radical Beauty Project, Daniel Vais (March 2019) https://www.radicalbeautyproject.com/.
nyglorious face arts Nyomie McCook (May 24) Instagram