Lecturers’ Teaching Experiences with Invisibly Disabled Students in Higher Education: Connecting and Aiming at Inclusion

Abstract

This qualitative study is positioned in critical disability studies and explores lecturers’ teaching experiences with invisibly disabled students. Five lecturers in the Norwegian higher education sector were interviewed. The study uses a transactional perspective and a relational approach to disabilities. The participants experienced a lack of institutional guidelines, formal training in inclusive practice, and access to pedagogical resources. Their diversity awareness increased over time through connections and interactions. In turn, new insights led them to transformative change by creatively exploring approaches and teaching methods which, in their perception, had an inclusive effect. The study recommends that all institutions of higher education embrace their formal responsibility of accessibility by providing academic staff with clear guidelines and obligatory training in inclusive practice to ensure a fair and coherent educational program. They are also encouraged to establish an online platform dedicated to inclusive practice that will serve as a pedagogical resource bank.

Keywords

• higher education
• inclusion
• disability
• lecturer perspective
• transactions