The Perspectives of Higher Education

#### **Chapter 1**

## Perspective Chapter: Gender, Social Class and 'A Sense of Belonging' at University – A Historical Perspective

*Sam Shields*

#### **Abstract**

A sense of belonging is a critical aspect of the university experience for undergraduates. However, with greater heterogeneity in the backgrounds of students in mass higher education systems, it is recognised that those with marginalised identities are less likely to develop a sense of academic and social belonging. This chapter offers a historical perspective of how gender and social class have impacted a sense of belonging for students over a one hundred year period. First, this chapter reflects on how participation in higher education in the UK has increased, with 4357 students graduating from an undergraduate degree in 1920 compared to 359,115 graduating in the academic year 2020–21. Second, how the number of women studying in higher education has changed since 1920 is considered, alongside patterns of degree subject choices for women. Third, the social class composition of university students and the extent to which 'working-class' students have 'fitted in' to the university environment are explored. Fourth, funding and financial challenges experienced historically and currently by less advantaged students are discussed. Finally, this chapter concludes by suggesting that women's experiences of university have improved significantly, but social class continues to impact on a sense of belonging for many undergraduates.

**Keywords:** belonging, women, university experience, social class, gender equality

#### **1. Introduction**

In the United Kingdom (UK) participation in higher education has increased dramatically in one hundred years. In 1920, 4357 students graduated from an undergraduate degree [1] compared to 359,115 graduating in the academic year 2020–21 [2]. However, further analysis of these figures shows distinct patterns of participation in relation to gender, for example 1212 women received degrees in the UK in 1920 [1]. By 1950, 3.4% of the UK population had access to a university education [1]. In 1962/1963, 'in the case of women only 7.3% of the age group entered all full time higher education …compared with 9.8% in the case of men' [3]. In 2020 in the UK, 31% of men and 43% of women started university [4]. Like many countries, over a

one hundred period the UK has moved from university being a limited opportunity to a privileged few, towards a 'mass' higher education system [5].

As countries move towards 'mass' higher education systems with greater heterogeneity in the demographic characteristics of students, developing a sense of academic and social belonging becomes increasingly important to support student achievement and minimise attrition [6]. A sense of belonging, defined here as: 'valued, included and accepted' [7] is key component of a successful transition to university. Furthermore, a university student with a sense of academic belonging is likely to have positive emotions about studying their degree subject and have increased levels of academic motivation—which in turn is likely to both enhance student achievement and decrease student attrition [7]. A student with a strong sense of academic belonging will be confident and satisfied about their attainment and achievement levels [8]. However, in a mass higher education system, not all students start university with a strong learner identity or 'high' academic confidence [9]. Pedagogic practices to support university students to develop a sense of academic belonging is of central concern to many universities in the twenty-first century [10]. Conversely, social belonging was of great concern in the early twentieth century [11] as universities came under increasing pressure to diversify their homogenous student intake of men and to offer access to women [12, 13]. The Suffrage movement alongside challenges to previously held notions of women's innate intelligence and women's role in society were contested and brought pressure on higher education institutions to allow access to women.

The University of London was the first English university to award women degrees in 1878 [14]. Other countries had begun awarding degrees to women earlier than this, for example, a Canadian university awarded its first degree to a women in 1875—a Bachelor of Science degree to Grace Annie Lockhart [15]. Thirty-two women enrolled in Spanish universities between 1872 and 1882, with twenty-eight of these women receiving degrees in Medicine [16]. Australian universities were slightly later than the University of London in conferring degrees on women, starting in 1881 [17]. The University of Cambridge was the last English university to award women full degrees in 1948. Nevertheless, by the end of the 1920s, women's participation in higher education had reached a high of 28% [18].

The proportion of women graduating 'remained stuck at 23–24% until the 1960s' [18]. A number of factors are likely to explain the lack of growth in women entering higher education. In the early twentieth century, teaching was the most feasible career option for women after university, but teaching opportunities became scarcer in the 1930s due to limited government spending [18]. There also tended to be less scholarship opportunities offered by Local Authorities for women. However, the 1944 Education Act, with changes to secondary schooling meant that an increasing (although limited) number of women and working-class men were likely to hold the requisite qualifications to be eligible for a university place.

The Robbins Report recognised that there was an increasing demand for higher education places and not enough spaces. Robbins [3] in particular was keen to attract 'all young persons qualified by ability and attainment to pursue a full-time course in higher education should have the opportunity to do so'. In terms of the participation of young women, Robbins recognised that although fewer young women were likely to stay at school to study GCE Advanced Levels (A Levels—the standard qualifications for entry into higher education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1951), for the young women who did pass these exams—they were as likely to go into higher education as young men. The percentage of women accessing higher education has steadily

#### *Perspective Chapter: Gender, Social Class and 'A Sense of Belonging' at University – A Historical... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109166*

increased in the UK since the Robbins Report. Women were 56.1% in 2020–21 of undergraduates [19], with women being the majority of undergraduates since 2010–11.

The 'reserves of untapped ability', who Robbins [3] had wanted to access higher education included those from working-class backgrounds as well as women. Robbins [3] cited 4% of higher education students as having fathers from skilled manual occupations in comparison to 45% of young people with fathers occupationally classified as being 'higher professionals'. Robbins indicated that a combination of factors resulted in differential participation by social class background: parental income, parental educational levels and parental attitudes towards education. However, in terms of the demand for higher education he recognised that there were still increasing numbers of young people with the requisite qualifications from professional familial backgrounds and that the growth in demand for higher education would not be solely from those from the poorest financial backgrounds. A lack of heterogeneity in socio-economic background of university students remains an issue in many countries [20, 21].

'Participation of Local Areas' (POLAR) quintiles are used as a proxy for socio-economic background by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). POLAR data classifies local areas based on the proportion of 18 and 19 year olds in that area going into higher education. The POLAR data is analysed using five quintiles—with quintile 1 being the lowest fifth of young people participating in higher education and quintile 5 the highest fifth of young people participating in higher education. UCAS [22] shows the proportion of UK 18 year olds accepted to university by POLAR quintiles. Those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds (Quintile 1) are increasingly like to accept a place at university—23.3% in 2020 up from 14% in 2011. However, the figure of 23.3% is a combined figure of 28.9% women from the most disadvantaged backgrounds attending higher education in comparison to 17.9% of men from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. This skew towards women being more likely to participate in higher education holds true in all quintiles. Whilst in Quintile 5—51.2% of young people attended university in 2020—this was proportionally 31.3% of men and 43% of women. This analysis indicates that women are now more likely to go to university regardless of social class background, but proportionally those from the least advantaged socio-economic backgrounds are still much less likely than their wealthier counterparts to access higher education.

The uneven pattern in the socio-economic characteristics of participants is likely to impact on feelings of belonging for undergraduates in a university environment. Reay et al. [23] seminally described working-class university students as 'contingent choosers'. The term 'contingent chooser' reflects the difficult decision-making undertaken by students from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds as they consider the potential rewards of becoming a graduate against the challenges and risks they are likely to encounter, particularly in relation to financial constraints, a focus on local higher education institutions and the chances of 'fitting in' in this setting. This can be compared with middle-class students who are more likely to have a familial pattern of accessing higher education with university being seen as a 'natural' part of their educational journey with lots of choices available. However, for much of the twentieth century, it was gender, rather than socio-economic factors that appeared to be a major issue in terms of developing a sense of belonging in a university community with women being in an academic minority.

#### **2. Women as an academic minority**

Women remained an 'academic minority' in higher education until the 1960s, when numbers of women began to steadily increase. The push for university

education for women had led to the creation of separate women's colleges at Oxbridge, for example Girton College at Cambridge which was co-founded by Emily Davies (although it was not able to confer full degrees on women) [24]. This women's college was originally named the 'College of Women, Hitchin' in 1869 before moving to Girton in 1873. Women's colleges were typically viewed in one of two ways, the first being that these were 'safe spaces' for women and enabled women to take on leadership roles. However, the second perspective was a sense of 'inferiority' for women not studying at one of the male colleges, which were deemed to be more prestigious. By 1939 all of the colleges of the University of London accepted women (except some medical schools and four women-only colleges). However, women's colleges were increasingly seen as an anachronism and pressure mounted to move towards co-education. Consequently a predominant concern for the women's colleges was that the male colleges would recruit the brightest women students. The University of London achieved full co-education in 1965 [13].

The Oxbridge women's and men's colleges moved more slowly than the University of London towards becoming co-educational with significant changes not happening until the 1970s, with the Sex Discrimination Act coming into force in 1975 (banning discrimination in areas such as Education on the basis of sex or marital status). Women in the previously all-male Oxbridge colleges which began to open-up in the 1970s) had been in a significant minority. Furthermore, Dyhouse comments 'It was by no means uncommon for (male) senior members of the former men's colleges to assert that the advent of women had left the "essential character" of the college completely unchanged' [24]. There was limited evidence to suggest that the previously all-male colleges made any substantial attempts to ensure women felt welcome. Although, the civic universities which claimed 'no distinction of sex' also had examples of women being treated with ridicule and consequently feeling the need to keep a 'low profile' in the early twentieth century [25]. Likewise, men were a significant minority in the previously all-women's colleges. The introduction of a BSc General degree in 1957 at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London gradually increased the interest of men to study at this previously all-women college [24]. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the previous women's colleges did everything they could to make the men feel welcome, for example ensuring that they could share sporting facilities with other colleges and ensuring a male academic was part of the welcoming party [24].

Nevertheless, it should be noted that in some subjects, particularly in Arts Faculties, women had always been the majority of students—so subject choice was also likely to have impacted on the extent to which gender shaped a sense of academic and social belonging. Women in the early twenty-first century are still much more likely to study Arts and Humanities [26]. Men are much more likely to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM subjects) [26]. 'The difference in the proportions of male and female students within certain subjects remains large. In 2020–21, 82.9% of engineering, technology and computing undergraduate entrants were male, compared to just 13.8% of those studying courses in education and teaching' [27]. Women are currently 26% of STEM undergraduates, but a higher proportion in physical sciences, such as Chemistry at 43% in 2018–19 [28]. Therefore, gender 'mix' is still likely to shape the likelihood of co-educational cohorts for men and women in a range of academic disciplines at universities.

*Perspective Chapter: Gender, Social Class and 'A Sense of Belonging' at University – A Historical... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109166*

#### **2.1 Gender and the civic universities**

Unlike Oxbridge and some University of London colleges, the civic universities had always been organised upon co-educational lines and it became clear that academic co-educational opportunities were popular amongst many students. Teaching spaces and libraries had been 'mixed' from their inception at the civic universities. Although, Wakeling's study [29] of a Scottish University, points to types of social gender segregation in the post-war period, such as the student body opting to keep separate Student Unions for men and women. Gender segregation included separate Halls of Residences. By the 1950s and 1960s university residential accommodation became more widely available to women at civic universities. Moving away from home to go to university became increasingly possible for students as financial support from local authorities became more accessible. However, concerns about propriety for women students meant that their behaviour was heavily regulated in university residential accommodation. Nevertheless, significant attention was also paid to developing a sense of belonging for these young women in their university accommodation.

#### **2.2 Mother-Daughter system**

Universities and teacher training colleges developed a strong focus on pastoral care for women in residential accommodation through the 'Mother-Daughter system'. The Mother-Daughter system meant that each new woman undergraduate was allocated a 'Mother' (a student who had already completed their first year at university). The 'Mother' was responsible for the wellbeing of her 'Daughter', with some institutions insisting that each 'Mother-Daughter' pair would sit together during meal-times [30]. However, there was also curiosity about male students and there appears to have been some attempts to escape from the confines of all-women social interactions. Social occasions that enabled men and women students to mix were viewed positively by the women [31].

#### **2.3 'Masculinity' and male halls of residences**

Whilst women students reported social events with men students positively in the 1950s and 1960s [31], there were concerns about how male students came to 'belong' socially. There were a number of examples of concerning initiation ceremonies for new male students in halls of residences [32], indicating that particular types of masculinity were dominant in male residences. Dyhouse [24] also reports a number of incidents of high jinks by male students who were admitted to the previously women's colleges. On a number of occasions it appears that this type of behaviour led to male students being asked to leave the institution [32]. Segregation by gender in university life in the twenty-first century in the minority global North is unheard of, with mixed halls of residence accommodation, University Societies and university opportunities open to all regardless of gender. Though, socio-economic background impacts on the likelihood of being able to access the 'university experience' including living away from home [33].

#### **3. Social class composition of universities**

Today, students from less socio-economically privileged backgrounds, are likely to make comparisons with their more socio-economically advantaged peers contrasting 'the (stereotypical imagery of the) ideal student life with their experience of gaining

a degree through dedication and persistence' [34]. Historically, the lack of university residential accommodation for women students at the civic institutions, with a general trend for students at civic institutions to commute to university from their family homes meant that social forms of gender segregation and socio-economic disparities, may not have had a significant impact on a sense of social belonging for men and women until university accommodation and improved funding became available in the 1960s. Wakeling's study noted the sense of discombobulation felt by working-class students at a Scottish university with a relatively egalitarian student intake:

*I did not meet anyone who was from a similar background to me. (1950s medical student, father a semi-skilled factory worker) [29]*

*I came from a very low income family and only got to university because of a) opportunities made available through comprehensive philosophy and b) generous student grants. In retrospect, I think that I felt out of my depth culturally and socially. There was little or no help available to prepare working-class students for this very middle-class environment. (1970s graduate) [29]*

These interview quotes are indicative of a sense of not belonging due to a lack of social capital. Jackson and Marsden [35] cite their nine working-class boys at Oxbridge, with seven of these young men receiving third class or lower second degrees after promising starts. Jackson and Marsden believed that in part this was related to a lack of social belonging as having worked so hard academically for so long, they began to question the purpose of university and often felt widening barriers in their familial relationships. These concerns about socio-economic background impacting on a sense of belonging or not experiencing the 'ideal' student life do not appear to have abated for students in the twenty-first century:

*No, I think one of the reasons why I always felt so negatively about my experiences was because they didn't have that…it would have been a hell of an expense again taking a pragmatic, business point of view, why am I paying to be in worse accommodation, to eat worse food. It just didn't make sense. They had all moved out and had the university, the social life… I didn't have time to get involved in the societies and things like that. So I always felt slightly robbed of that. (Male, working-class university student) [36]*

University students in the 1970s and 1980s were still in enough of a minority for maintenance grants to be available and ensure that as Robbins [3] had wanted those who were eligible and able to benefit from higher education were able to do so. However, as university provision has increased further, the burden of funding university education has shifted to the student (via a tuition fee system initially beginning in 1998), with tuition fee loans and student maintenance loans now embedded into the English higher education system. For those students who report being from a less financially advantaged background, the maintenance loans are generally insufficient to cover the cost of living-away from home.

#### **4. Funding arrangements**

Historically, funding was largely not an issue for the women who attended Oxbridge as they typically came from privileged backgrounds (although persuading *Perspective Chapter: Gender, Social Class and 'A Sense of Belonging' at University – A Historical... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109166*

their families to allow them to have a university education may have been very difficult). The women attending the civic universities were likely to come from relatively financial comfortable families with fathers working in Business or in a profession. It was more feasible for a working-class man to attend university with a variety of scholarships being aimed at men. Although women were generally happier to take the 'Pledge' to teach for five years after graduating and were able to receive financial support through this mechanism [37]. Local Education Authorities had more limited scholarships for women and at times would divide one scholarship between two women.

Although many universities are increasingly sensitive to some extent to the need for paid employment amongst students today, this has not always been the case. Groves [31] comments that there was a general sense of not having much money during 1954–55 at university. However, she also notes the lack of empathy the university had for students engaging in paid employment, with a friend who did not own a coat being told to give up their term-time employment in a public house. The account suggests that there was little acknowledgement of the financial precarity this placed the student in. It appears that financial precarity was not unusual historically, but it is often portrayed as an individual case of financial hardship. The pattern today appears to be a more uniform one which may be in part be due to the better access to university for students disadvantaged social backgrounds and concomitantly the reduction in financial support. Working-class university students in the twenty-first century recognise how their social class impacts upon their experience of university in comparison to middle-class students:

*I feel like at uni there's two types of students that you get. I've always been working class and everyone I have been surrounded by have been working class, so I've never really known that other side. But I think that being in that social class has changed my uni experience a lot. With the budgeting, you get some people who get their rent paid for them and I feel like coming to uni and having this set amount and having to budget for that, and I don't really get any help from my parents, which I'm thankful for because it's made me mature a lot quicker. A big part of uni has been learning how to do that, learning how to budget, prioritise. And I feel like maybe a lot of students don't get that. And they leave and they haven't had that life experience that they could have had. (Female working-class university student) [36]*

Likewise, the reduction in financial support for many students today means that part-time employment is ubiquitous amongst the least financially advantaged students. There are both academic and social implications for developing a sense of belonging when engaged in extensive paid employment, with the time to study and engage with academic content becoming constricted.

*I needed the money so I couldn't just give up the job …I did get stuck in some jobs that I hated. At the end of [\*large supermarket company] job I absolutely hated it, it was horrible treatment from managers and things but I couldn't afford to leave because it would put me in a bad stead for university so I had to find something else and it had to overlap. (Female working-class university student) [36]*

It is not only working-class students who need to engage in paid employment during term-time under the current funding arrangements, but it does appear that socioeconomically disadvantaged students may be working a significant amount of hours:

*I got a job up here. So I was balancing uni work last year, that was when I got a job. So it was quite a shock. It was weekend work which was obviously quite good in a way because it was like uni week/weekend work. But the problem was realistically after uni I wasn't doing work on the weekdays because I was tired and I had excuses. So when I needed to be doing work on the weekend, I had work like 9 hours a day and I'd come home. And so it did get quite hard with that, knowing I had to do work in the week whereas I would normally rely on the weekend. That was quite hard at first. But then I spoke to her [manager] and was like I need one day a week work, it wasn't that hard. Because me trying to balance 9 hours compared to some people I know trying to balance 30 hours work. (Female, middle-class university student) [36]*

Therefore academic and social belonging is likely to be impacted by the extent to which a students can fully immerse themselves in a 'student identity'. The need to be in paid employment and/or familial commitments can reduce the scope of a student to fully identify as a university student. Therefore socio-economic background is likely to impact significantly on the experience of being a university student in terms of both academic and social belonging.

#### **5. Conclusion**

This chapter concludes with suggesting that women's experiences of university have improved significantly as their academic capabilities are valued by fellow students and academics. In fact, gender is rarely considered as an issue, unless related to women-only colleges, subject choice and graduate employment. There remains graduate pay disparities amongst men and women which in part are related to degree subject choice and women are still marginally less likely to be a postgraduate students. However, alongside a strong sense of academic belonging, women are active in university societies and generally have a sense of social belonging socially (with concerns about harassment and misogyny increasingly being addressed by higher education institutions). The progress for women broadly in higher education does not seem to be reflected in the same way in relation to social class. Social class continues to impact on a sense of belonging for many working-class undergraduates, with the emotional injuries of not having the same social, cultural and economic capital as their more privileged counterparts often being keenly felt. Strong learner identities for workingclass students at elite institutions are particularly significant for succeeding, but many appear to 'choose' a safer, more local option where being working-class is socially accepted. As attitudes towards women at universities have changed for the better, it is hoped that not only is there an increasing recognition of the value of diversity in demographic backgrounds [38], but that it will be increasingly possible to feel a sense of social belonging and acceptance in learning environments that have historically been accessed only by the privileged few, for those with marginalised identities too.

*Perspective Chapter: Gender, Social Class and 'A Sense of Belonging' at University – A Historical... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109166*

#### **Author details**

Sam Shields Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

\*Address all correspondence to: samantha.shields@ncl.ac.uk

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 2**

## Perspective Chapter: Will the Traditional Teacher Education Models Stand the Pandemics and Cyclones?

*Lazarus Obed Livingstone Banda and Jane Thokozani Banda*

#### **Abstract**

The chapter portrays the impact of COVID-19 and tropical cyclones on scrambled teaching practice supervision in the Southern African Development Community countries. Focus group discussions with student-teachers and field supervisors revealed that the pandemic and the natural disasters highly hampered teaching practice supervision quality. Delayed commissioning of the exercise due to damaged infrastructure and minimal physical mobility between the college and the practice schools impacted the frequency and spacing of field visits. Neither of the players preferred the scrambled supervision model. The chapter emphasizes that face-to-face traditional teacher education methods cannot absolutely stand the taste of pandemics and tropical cyclones. Resilient higher education institutions and requisite structures are key to sustainable quality teacher education amidst cyclones and pandemics.

**Keywords:** higher education, COVID-19, teacher education, teaching practice, SADC, Malawi

#### **1. Introduction**

Around the world, there have been several problems with teacher education, including an inadequate allocation of human resources, particularly in developing nations. Most sub-Saharan African nations have modest GDPs, making it difficult to recruit top candidates for teacher school. The unintended and unplanned adoption of the Free Primary Education and Education for All aims had a harmful knock-on impact [1], flooding the public primary schools with learners. As a result, there was a significant shortage of good infrastructure and skilled labor [2] in many countries, such as Malawi [3]. The high school education subsystem was consequently substantially impacted by the primary school enrollment levels' meteoric growth [4]. As a result, teacher education institutions (TEIs) were required to prepare an equivalently large number of secondary school teachers in the shortest amount of time possible using both traditional and open and distance learning methods [3], putting more emphasis on quantity than on high-quality teacher preparation [4], reducing the length and adversely impacting the mode of practicums.

#### **2. Field experiences from scrambled teaching practice supervision**

Several issues can cause institutions to scramble teaching practice supervision. Two of these factors are understaffing and program scheduling. For illustration purposes, let us visualize a possible situation in which a higher education institution uses three distinct zones where student-teachers are placed for their field practicum experiences. Suppose a zone has 20 schools, and each has 13 student-teachers against a team of only 30 teaching practice supervisors with specialized knowledge in various subject areas for students to learn from. In that case, it will be very challenging to map each student with their corresponding subject specialists for classroom observation unless the exercise was scheduled for the whole year.

Because of this, the school's annual calendar must include a block of time dedicated to teaching practice during the academic year. For all of the students to be visited frequently enough, the team in charge of coordinating the teaching practice has no choice but to make compromises regarding the matching of the students' and supervisors' respective areas of expertise (in terms of frequency).

#### **2.1 Trade-off in scrambled teacher education field professional practice supervision**

Professionally, teaching practice is a crucial component of teacher education since it serves as the cornerstone of professional development [5, 6]. Depending on the level of education, such as preparing to be a primary or secondary school teacher, and the higher education institutional operational structure and regulatory framework in place, secondary school student-teachers may choose to focus on teaching either one or two teaching subjects [7].

Student-teachers worry about their supervisors' quality [8, 9]. During teaching practice, they expect final coaching, advice, evaluation, and fair assessment [7]. Scholars in teacher education suggest that supervisors should have the relevant abilities, topic knowledge, and pedagogical understanding, as required by principles of teaching and assessment [10, 11] without depending just on theory, to scaffold student instructors and prepare them for classroom dynamics and learner variety [12], due to the discrepancy between theory and practice in the university and after graduation [13].

However, Zeichner asserts forcefully that several worldwide research institutions consider teacher education programs to be of low standing [14]. Likewise, teacher education is frequently trivialized [3]. Realities in the practicum hinder the professional growth of student-teachers [14]. In certain instances, faculty members supervise student-teachers during practicum regardless of the supervisors' specialization or expertise. This kind of practicum supervision is known as the scrambled model. For instance, a Computer Studies instructor may assess French Grammar classes (with zero language knowledge). Without communication, how might such supervisors determine if a pupil is instructing the incorrect material or utilizing the incorrect method? How would the supervisor give real guidance and assistance before and after the lesson delivery to maximize the trainee's potential? In this circumstance, how would the two have a fair pre- and post-conference?

#### **2.2 Learner support**

Teaching is a moral activity; therefore, those engaged in it must do it morally correctly [15, 16]. Learner support is essential for the quality of learning, retention,

#### *Perspective Chapter: Will the Traditional Teacher Education Models Stand the Pandemics... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108183*

and knowledge transfer if supervisors are to assist students in making connections between material and practice, rather than just recommending different classroom practices [17]. On the contrary, in many higher education institutions worldwide, not all faculty members have enough interest in teacher education literature, teaching practice supervision knowledge, abilities, and experience [9]. For instance, there is evidence that some student instructors are instructed by graduate students rather than academics [9]. Nonetheless, any faculty member observes, evaluates, and assesses teaching practice lessons without regard for the specializations of faculty and student-teachers [9]. The disparity affects the quality of feedback and the assistance student-teachers get [18]. Despite being specialists in one discipline, such supervisors lack vital TP supervision experience and expertise in other fields by involving them in supervision before successfully resolving their classroom practice strategies [9]. Teaching others to become teachers contrasts sharply with training them for a different purpose and demands special training in the relevant field [9].

Notwithstanding that, practicum remains an indispensable and inextricable component of professional teacher education [5, 19–21]. Despite a plethora of studies supporting the role of practicum in teacher education, alternative research has significantly criticized its impact mainly because of how it is usually carried out [22]. As many schools of professional practice pay less and less attention to helping students obtain experience, the teacher-final learner's only hope is the supervisor [23]; the ethicality of the scrambled practicum model needs to be determined.

#### **2.3 The impact of the pandemics and natural disasters on the scrambled teaching practice mode**

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the global lag in developing education systems pandemic-resistant and adaptable to other issues of face-to-face higher education. Higher education in the Southern Africa Development Community Region has been persistently adversely impacted by socially regressive, economically unsustainable, and emotionally upsetting policies [24], storms, and devastating cyclones [24–27]. Since 2000, at least 30 cyclones have hit the SADC area, including Cyclone Eline in 2000, Cyclone Japhet in 2003, Cyclone Dineo in 2017, Cyclone Idai in 2019, Cyclone Chalane in 2020, Cyclone Eloise in 2021 [28], Cyclone Ana, Cyclone Batsirai, and Cyclone Emnati [26].

Subsequent displacement, loss of means of subsistence, and depletion of assets exacerbated the poverty levels of affected households, which continue to exacerbate in the larger community [29]. Many education institutions were temporarily closed due to the devastation of school infrastructure and road networks, making them unreachable by road, while others were closed for use as temporary shelters for the displaced masses [30, 31]. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the temporary closure of several secondary schools had a significant impact on field practicum programs. Second, the frequency of practicum supervision was drastically reduced [25] because of COVID-19 prevention and control measures associated with mobility and social separation.

#### **2.4 Student-teachers' experiences from the scrambled TP supervision**

The tropical cyclones and COVID-19 had a significant impact on the timing of teaching practice supervision. Along with the lockdowns and travel restrictions put in place to control the pandemic, the rains also damaged practice school roofs and

washed away roadways, which delayed the start of practicum supervision. An interview with student instructors revealed several challenges caused by the unpredictable teaching environment in the SADC during COVID-19 and the days after catastrophic tropical cyclones. According to an analysis of supervisors' portfolios, specialists gave student instructors more precise feedback than nonspecialists (positive or negative). Nonspecialists often gave course observation tasks higher scores than specialists did. Supervisors with more experience seemed to be more critical of employees' performance.

All coordinators from the six TEIs that participated in this study acknowledged that supervisors were not always assigned based on their area of expertise but rather on the TP schedule's convenience, the number of teacher-learners in a zone, and the available human resources. According to coordinators, they first establish the overall number of students in a zone, then, utilizing the human resources at their disposal, they decide on the proper ratios. Although supervisors frequently choose where to send the lecturers, they make an effort to provide a proportional number of lecturers to each site depending on the total number of teacher-learners. Any supervisor on-site may supervise any student-teacher according to the daily timetable.

All student-teachers acknowledged a severe shortcoming in this area when asked how frequently the expert could watch over the students. They said that occasionally, erratic visits worry them. A child may occasionally go the entire term without expert observation, despite other children at the same school receiving more.

The design and implementation of school visiting schedules and the overall effectiveness of supervision are influenced by financial resources, human resources, transportation, school location, school timetables, and the school calendar, according to teaching practice supervisors in Malawi. Some schools are dispersed across the county's interior, far from the main thoroughfare. A zone could only have two vehicles but four different daily routes. Supervisors must make sure that every school is visited within the allowed period. During the visit along the path, some students would not attend classes, while several students might have concurrent lessons with the same supervisor. As a result, several students will be absent. There are several circumstances where students are never entirely under the supervision of experts.

The entrance of supervisors and student-teachers on the scene for supervision and the start of class observation and evaluation, according to supervisors and studentteachers, leaves inadequate time for them to start another session. Usually, they have to rush to another school, attend back-to-back lesson observations with several students at the same school, or join their supervisory team to accommodate the schedules of other supervisors who are far from the current school, which prevents them from having time for pre- and post-conferencing.

The initial visit after deployment is meant to be for general observation rather than evaluation, allowing students to practice their teaching skills in a real-world situation. This differs from institution to university and depends on other factors. However, several student-teachers quickly saw that some students were given grades on their first visit due to COVID-19's constrained teaching practice observation time and the delayed opening brought on by the aftermath of the sweeping cyclones.

Twelve participants concurred that not all supervisors were knowledgeable about subject-specific procedures and content-specific disciplines when asked about their overall view of the scrambled supervisory model during a focus group session. They were not happy with academic supervision since it lacked the professional insight and advice they most urgently needed. When nonspecialists disagreed with what they believed to be the proper instructional strategy, students were

#### *Perspective Chapter: Will the Traditional Teacher Education Models Stand the Pandemics... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108183*

disappointed. If student instructors brought up a legitimate issue with a nonspecialist, they worried about coming out as haughty—unfortunately, children who heard devastating remarks and received poor grades grieved in silence. The student-teachers' overwhelming professional and practical underperformance was attributed to various stressful situations. The presence of a teacher whose emotional stability I am unsure about and who did not have time for a pre-conference to build rapport before the start of the classroom observations added to the tension. Since there was always a measurement component associated with the activity, it appeared that the supervisors were essentially fault-finders in a highly stressful setting typified by intense anxiety. Typically, the student-teachers had the impression that they were taking an exam from a strange examiner with weird test items. Prior to teaching practice, the only professors who led us in micro- and peer-teaching sessions were those who had already supervised us through coursework. When a stranger enters my classroom unexpectedly, I find it frightening. Exclaimed a delighted student-teacher.

However, if a nonspecialist notices inconsistencies between epistemic truths and instructional practices, the paradigm permits brazen student-teachers to cheat. Both students and supervisors agreed that this strategy enables students to blame others when a supervisor doubts a student's sincerity in their classroom behavior. In the end, grades are determined subjectively. In addition to being a curriculum review process where supervisors decide how to help students improve in areas where they have demonstrated weakness, teaching practice should aim to assess student-teachers and award a grade commensurate with their performance. Supervisors lamented that, on occasion, student-teachers would respond to questions by saying that what nonspecialists dislike is what specialist faculty had taught them in college.

Supervisors occasionally observed the same student twice a day due to the short observation period, which gave the student-teacher little opportunity to reflect on the observations and performance from the first inspection before the second. This flagrantly breaches the standards of fair assessment by depriving student-teachers of the chance for a spaced-out review. It significantly affected the test lag effect. The main objectives of teaching practice supervision were the evaluation and grading of student instructors for certification, with minimal focus on learner aid, lecturers' acquisition of new subjects and methodologies, or curriculum creation.

Students and supervisors have different ideas about the right amount of monitoring. Coordinators liked to meet with students on the same subject frequently. Students resented being often observed by nonspecialists because they were frightened by managers since they were given insufficient assistance.

Some pupils would have to wait a long time before they could watch due to scheduling concerns. I want to be observed as much as possible for feedback, not grading, bemoaned one student-teacher. Realizing that all of your colleagues have at least three supervisors, but you have one observation from a nonspecialist, is unsettling. You already feel as though you are struggling and require more supervision at this point. If you already have two supervisors, you pray that no one else will take the opposing side.

#### **3. Conclusion**

This chapter has emphatically demonstrated that traditional face-to-face teacher education methods cannot stand the taste of pandemics and tropical cyclones.

Resilient higher education institutions and requisite structures are key to sustainable quality teacher education amidst cyclones and pandemics.

The lack of a unified policy governing teaching practice is partially to blame for the inadequacy of learner assistance during teaching practice in higher education. The main goal of the activity would suffer more significant damage from nonspecialist monitoring than from professional observation. Some teaching practice supervisors would get into class observation without engaging in a pre-conference to better get to know the student-teacher and provide advanced guidance. Nevertheless, this can be when the kids require scaffolding [9]. Institutions must understand that producing teachers who can represent them intellectually and professionally through a standardized procedure is their most significant source of pride. Therefore, they must allocate enough funding for this equally crucial stage of teacher education far in advance of the exercise's deadline to avoid negatively affecting the program's quality. In order to provide the core business the attention it so richly deserves, proper resource mobilization, allocation, and appropriation must be an ongoing activity in institutions of higher learning. Although TP can provide input on implementing the curriculum, it must be kept in mind that TP supervision is the last opportunity for a student-teacher to get assistance from faculty members. If TP is a way for college lecturers to hone their instructional techniques, then such TP sessions cannot be graded in a way that affects the student's award.

Developing nations must devote more funds to education and ensure that they are invested wisely and for specific purposes. It might be worthwhile to try out virtual classroom observation now that COVID-19 is available. As a result of the supervisors not serving as carrier agents and going from school to school, the likelihood of transmissions will be reduced. As groups of supervisors collaborate on each observation, it will help improve the standardization of observation and comments.

Faculty should be committed and compassionate experts who can mentor, scaffold, and give authoritative subject knowledge assistance [9, 14]. For high-quality teacher education, their practical supervision functions are essential [32]. Before monitoring student-teachers in the final school-based TP, new and inexperienced faculty members should be well assimilated and participate in clinical supervision for fairness and efficiency. In all areas of supervision, only professionals should oversee students ensure adequate feedback. Pre-conference direction and post-conference feedback are crucial for effective learner support [8, 33]. As they interact with their students regularly, higher education institutions should create a conducive climate for academic success. To control and synchronize practice, a formal national policy that is well articulated must be created.

*Perspective Chapter: Will the Traditional Teacher Education Models Stand the Pandemics... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108183*

#### **Author details**

Lazarus Obed Livingstone Banda1 \* and Jane Thokozani Banda<sup>2</sup>

1 Ministry of Education, Nalikule College of Education, Lilongwe, Malawi

2 Ministry of Education, Directorate of Higher Education, Lilongwe, Malawi

\*Address all correspondence to: lazaruslivingstonebanda@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 3**

## Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities – Lessons to Learn from COVID-19 Era

*Faith Kurete*

#### **Abstract**

This chapter intends to look at the resilience of tertiary education students living with disabilities and the lessons that can be drawn from the COVID-19 era. The 1975 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes the right to education, employment, health services, etc., which has seen a number of tertiary institutions enrolling students living with disabilities of varying conditions. COVID-19 caught most people unaware and it changed the face of education from face-toface to online or remote learning. The lecturer and students were ill-prepared for this, psychologically and in terms of skills to operate ICT gadgets for teaching and learning purposes; however, learning had to take place. This impacted negatively to students particularly those of hard hearing and the visually impaired students. There are lessons that can inform tertiary institution managers on how to improve inclusivity in the tertiary institutions they lead.

**Keywords:** resilience, disabilities, COVID-19, tertiary education, support system

#### **1. Introduction**

Inclusive education has been globally recognised as a philosophy for ensuring that there is equality, justice and quality education for all children, regardless of conditions they may have. This accommodated students living with disabilities who have been traditionally excluded from mainstream education due to disability and other characteristics [1]. Inclusive education is a programme that essentially enables all learners with or without disabilities in the life and work of mainstreamed settings to meet his or her learning needs as adopted from the 1975 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Inclusive education enables all learners to have equal opportunity to jointly undertake learning situations under the same roof without discrimination. Therefore, any learner who is considered to have a deviation from others as a result of a loss or damage be given a chance to belong to the mainstreamed setting. The damage or loss can either be physical or mental development should be given the right to enjoy the benefits that other learners are enjoying in the same

learning environment as those who do not have disabilities. This implies that students living with disabilities should not only have access and right to education but they also have the right to be incorporated into the mainstream education system [2].

Disabilities manifest themselves in a wide range. Persons living with disabilities may have challenges that can interfere with the development of learning, mobility, social growth and adjustment. Persons living with disabilities present unique educational needs. These educational needs are best addressed early in life [1]. These educational needs include concept development, improving listening skills, and development of study and research skills [1].

Institutions of learning should have an appropriate inclusive learning environment to cater for students living with different ranges of disabilities. These include friendly infrastructure, teaching facilities, and both materials and equipment. Human resources and other related services are also essential to meet the needs of students living with disabilities as well as their well-being within the learning institutions [3].

#### **2. Theoretical framework**

#### **2.1 Bronfenbrenner ecological theory**

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of development shaped and guided this study. The theory consists of five interrelated types of environmental systems, namely, micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystems, the levels range from small, closer settings, which directly influence development, to the distant settings (Bronfenbrenner,1979) [4]. This theory is ideal in this study as it will

*Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109660*

help in explaining how the environment helps to promote positive healthy development among students living with disabilities. The theory also helped the researcher to have a good understanding of how relations between activities and other settings influence the developmental process of the student as shown below in **Figure 1**.

Human development is based on the tenet that there are interactions among systems, which affect the young individual's change, growth and development. The pressures of one level are felt by the other level until it gets to the student at the centre of the system [5]. The student is affected by what is happening in all the systems that surround him/her.

Development of a human being is assumed to be a product of four interacting properties namely 1) person, 2) context, 3) process and 4) time. Person refers to factors that interplay with the setting to influence development, such as age, gender and competency. In this study, person implies the students living with disabilities, the roles, that they occupy within the setting and how the activity affects, vary across individuals. Context factors are the settings, which Bronfenbrenner (1979), named the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chronosystems. The student is at the centre of these settings.

Process factors imply complex reciprocal exchanges between person and context. It is the interactions between a person and context. That is interactions between the student and his/her environment. Development is mainly ignited by closer processes that occur regularly over extended periods of time. Time is construed at various levels of the ecological system. The students' developmental process is also influenced by the institutions they are affiliated with, as they spend a minimum of three years in institutions of higher learning.

The importance of family-school partnership is essential in uplifting the students' development and well-being. Every parent is committed to ensuring the well-being of their child, regardless of the socioeconomic level, ethnic group and/or type of family structure. They state that what we should do is to try to change the circumstances, not families where the student is coming from [6].

#### **2.2 Self-determination theory**

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a theory that was developed by Deci and Ryan in 1985. They state that all human beings thrive to grow, develop, improve their surroundings and enjoy life to the fullest. Human beings are able to do so if their needs are met. The three human needs are competence, autonomy and relatedness [7]. The researcher chose this theory to guide the study as it thrives to explain the importance of three needs for ideal intrinsic motivation, psychological growth and well-being, when the three needs of a human being are met, a person feels full of energy and eager to face life with its possibilities and challenges.

Autonomy refers to when people have a need to feel that they are the masters of their own destinies and that they have at least some controls over their lives. Most importantly, people have a need to feel that they are in control of their own behaviour [7].

Competence focuses on knowledge and skills individuals have. People have a need to build their competence and develop mastery over tasks that are important to them [7]. Relatedness (also called connection) refers to people's need to have a sense of belonging and connectedness with others. Each of us needs other people to some degree.

SDT is a theory that links personality, human motivation and foremost functioning. It posits that there are two types of motivation that are intrinsic and extrinsic. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are effective forces in moulding individuals' personalities and the way they behave [7]. Extrinsic motivation is a drive to act in positive methods that come from outside forces and outcomes in outside rewards. While intrinsic motivation comes from within. There are innate forces that motivate us to act in certain ways, such as our core values, our hobbies and our private sense of morality [7].

This theory is relevant to this study in that if the three human needs are met, students' resilience is enhanced. The students living with disabilities like anybody else need intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to help them have eager to achieve their potential and be resilient.

#### **3. Literature review**

#### **3.1 Challenges faced by students living with disabilities**

One of the most difficult challenges faced by students with disabilities is the preparedness of the institution itself to accept students with disabilities. The faculty's lack of understanding about disabled students also contributes to the difficulty of accommodating students with special needs because they are not familiar with the services on campus [8]. The students living with disabilities face challenges from the institutions as well as from peers, lecturers and also students at learning institutions [9].

The provision of assistive devices has a facilitative role, which in turn has a positive impact on the functioning of students with visual impairments in a university. A study of the inclusion of students with disabilities in a university in Zimbabwe quoted a student with visual impairment who expressed appreciation for the provision made by the Disability Resource Centre, which was established by the institution [10]. This showed that challenges of students living with disabilities were minimised through the services availed at the centre. Generally, positive experiences occur when the students living with disabilities have access to funding for learning support needs and appropriate equipment [11, 12], other studies revealed that students with visual impairment find it difficult to trust anyone, and this might be a result of their inability to take in visual cues [13].

There is evidence to show that students with visual impairments are more likely to face isolation and rejection as compared to their sighted peers [14]. Although this may be the case, if inclusion in the university is to be meaningful, the students living with disabilities need to socialise with other students. Students living with disabilities are scarred psychologically and socially if they are enrolled in a university setting where marginalisation and exclusion of students are practised [15].

Students with disabilities particularly the visually impaired may be subjected to misunderstanding and outright prejudice from their sighted peers, accusing them to be faking a disability [16]. Therefore, the students with visual impairment may be caught in a dilemma. Thereby making self-assessment that is most of the time made in a context of severe anxiety. This often led to a self-perception of inefficacy and/or making excuses for incompetent behaviour [17].

*Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109660*

#### **3.2 Resilience**

Resilience is a successful outcome of healthy adaptations during stressful life events [18]. Resilience is often viewed in the psychological context to refer to the cognitive ability to remain psychologically stable in the face of difficulties [19]. It is a psychological phenomenon, a perception of an individual inner strength that allows for the physical manifestation of that strength, which is being able to come out of adversities strong and function to one's highest potential [20, 21]. Resilience in individuals is exhibited by their adaptive coping skills and ability to see and take advantage of opportunities for learning and development from stressful events. Therefore, resilience levels in students living with disabilities and the manifestations of that resilience are related to effective adaptive resources to academic stress [21].

Resilience is the ability to come out stronger after exposure to hardship, pressure, family psychopathology, anxiety, stress, and trauma [22]. Resilience is defined as the "incidence of factors that are protective such as personal, social, familial, and institutional safety nets, which enable the individual to defy life stress" [23]. Research has shown that the resilience of an individual at any moment of time determined the presence of protective factors versus the presence of risks [24]. An individual is said to be resilient if they have been exposed to risks or trauma of any sort and come out functioning well.

Lazarus expressed that an individual's ability to successfully manage stressful events and overcome life stress is resilience [25]. In terms of student's academic life, resilience deals with high levels of achievement, motivation and performance in spite of the stressful conditions that place individuals at the risk of poor performance and dropping out from their educational streams such as colleges and schools [26]. Resilient students are highly optimistic and have the ability to foresee the problems they encounter and solve them logically. They also have the ability to advocate for creative solutions to problems.

The four patterns of resilience from individual resilience synthesised by Polk [27] are the following. Firstly, dispositional patterns are aspects that promote resilience and are related to physical and ego-related psychosocial qualities. These include a sense of independence or self-reliance, a sense of basic self-worth, good physical health and good physical appearance. Secondly, rational pattern stresses the closes relationship of an individual in a society through relationship with others. The relationship that an individual has with his/her society may enhance or hinder the individual's resilience. Thirdly, the situational pattern addresses the aspects involved in a situation that is more stressful and the personality traits of the individual who is handling it. It also focuses on the individual's problem-solving ability, the ability to evaluate situations and responses, and the potential to take action in response to a situation. Fourthly, the philosophical pattern, which is built on the individual's view of the world, beliefs for interactions and self-development promotes resilience in individuals.

#### **3.3 Accessibility of online learning**

Accessibility in online learning environments is effective usage of online course content by people who have visual, cognitive, physical and mobility impairments [8]. The design of many online learning courses erects barriers to the full participation of students and instructors with some types of disabilities [9]. Although there are many assistive technology tools available to help people with different disabilities to use computers and the Internet, these tools do not remove all access barriers [8].

#### **4. Methodology**

This study was guided by the transformative paradigm. This paradigm was ideal for this study as it focuses on lived experiences of diverse groups, which were traditionally been left out. The researcher gets an opportunity to interact with them and their voices on their life experiences with the aim of advocating for social justice. The transformative paradigm additionally offers a framework that incorporates the complexity within the community of disability and leads to full knowledge and understanding of the real lived experiences of the participants. The researchers who use transformative paradigm should channel the findings of their studies towards improving the lives of the participants.

The qualitative approach was used in this study. Transformative paradigm does not have its own specific set of practices or approaches. In this study, transformative paradigm complimented well with qualitative approach, as it necessitated dialogue between the researcher and the informants. The researcher gets more data for the study through careful listening and valuing each informant's voice.

Qualitative research makes sense of and meaning of subjective experience of individuals. In the case of this study, the qualitative approach helped the researcher to make sense of and understand the lived experiences of students living with disabilities in tertiary institutions by exploring their resilience.

#### **4.1 Population and sample**

The population of the study was tertiary institutions in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The researcher initially wanted to have a sample of students living with a variety of disabilities. However this was not possible with the hard of hearing as there was communication barrier. An assistant who had prior agreed to assist with communication with the hard of hearing and deaf students became busy at the last moment. Hence the sample comprised of the visually impaired students only.

Purposive sampling was done and come up with a sample of four students living with disabilities. Two of the students for this study comprised three students with blindness and three with low vision, making a total of six students. It was necessary to keep the sample small enough to enable a thorough analysis of data.

#### **4.2 Data analysis**

The researcher transcribed data that was generated through the semi-structured interview. The transcribed data were coded and the researcher came up with themes. Data were then analysed using the themes that emerged after coding data (Silverman, 2011).

#### **5. Results**

#### **5.1 Challenges faced by students**

Psychological issues: Students living with disabilities stated that they experienced psychological issues. These psychological issues emanated from the psychosocial issues as a result of effects of COVID-19 lockdown. In the absence of peers and

*Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109660*

lecturers, students living with disabilities felt a huge gap in their support system. The gap, the students living with disabilities felt, led them to be anxious about their academic performance. The era COVID-19 saw the introduction of online lessons due to lockdown. Students did not have access to the institution's counsellor as people were working from home. This applies to students who have institutional counsellors.

*As persons with disabilities we face more challenges as compared to our fellow students who do not have disabilities.*

*We have more psychological problems than our fellow students. Apart from the general pressures that a student in tertiary level face, we need constant counselling on acceptance of the disabilities that we have.*

Another informant had this to say, *we blame ourselves and others for the disability and we need to be helped to accept our conditions so that we can concentrate on school work*.

*We will be worried if ever we be able to engage in a meaning lasting love relationship.*

#### **5.2 Access to equipment and material**

Students living with disabilities feared failure to complete their studies within the minimum timeframe for the programmes that they are studying. The students with visual impairment in particular had challenges accessing learning guides and materials sent on learning platforms that were used by most institutions. The materials sent on learning platforms were mostly visual. Hence, those students with visual impairment had to depend on others to read out the information for them. One student noted that some of the people or family members that they relied on to read out to them could not pronounce the words properly. This made understanding the concepts difficult on their part.

*I spend most of the time with children at primary level and it will be a burden to ask them to read out to me. Anywhere l once tried it but they cannot pronounce words correctly then l will not understand*.

Another student had a different opinion on the subject of failing to access learning materials in pdf format. The informant indicated that there is an application on most ordinary phones, which converts pdf documents into audio. This is the application of the informant's use so s/he does not miss out on any learning materials sent in pdf format. Then, informant added on to say that some students are not aware of the application on phone due to lack of exposure.

*I use an lnstant reader application that converts pdf documents into audio. It reads out what is written on the pdf document. It is available on affordable phones, which most people are using.*

Students living with disabilities do not have access to technological gadgets for learning purposes. A few are able to own a laptop and a phone that they can use to surf the internet. Those who have the gadgets noted that some of the websites are not user-friendly to students living with disabilities particularly the visually impaired. Students noted that the institutions did little to nothing in assisting to cope with their studies during the lockdown due to COVID-19. It was mentioned that institutions were ill-prepared for the situation that was brought up by COVID-19. The instructors were also learning how to use technology media for teaching.

Most institutions do not have technology media that can accommodate students living with visual impairment. This becomes a challenge for the instructor or lecturer who would be conscious that there is inclusion in their educational set-up.

*We need donations of ICT gadgets for learning purposes as education is adopting online learning.*

*Donations of gadgets would help us a lot as most of us come from poor families that are struggling to send us to tertiary education*.

#### **5.3 Support system**

#### *5.3.1 Institutions*

Informants of this study indicated that they had support from members of their various faculties in helping them continue with their studies. The lecturers would go out of their way to try to meet the needs of students living with disabilities. One of the informants in this study noted that the lecturers had no idea of how to handle or work with students with disabilities.

*I had to teach them how to handle me, as they as l was their first encounter with a person living with a disability*. *I could sense their fear of lack of knowledge on how to handle me but they could not send me away because of the blueprint that states that everyone should be given an opportunity to education.*

Knowledge of policies assisted the informant to be brave to enrol for studies and want to pursue education. The statement of the informants acknowledged that the institutions that they enrolled in were ill-prepared to accommodate students living with disabilities.

*I had not indicated that l have a disability, l later showed them my certificate of disability after l have been admission to the institution.* Said another informant.

The other informants indicated that they had declared their disabilities and were accepted in their conditions. However, they all agreed that institutions were not well prepared to accommodate students with disabilities. The institutions were illprepared in terms of equipping lecturers and other staff members on how to meet the need of students living with disabilities.

#### *5.3.2 Family support*

Students living with disabilities, though they lacked support from their learning institutions, had to depend on family members a lot for support in their studies. Family members play an important role in supporting students living with disabilities. The support ranged from social and emotional to academic support. Families have to go out of their way to ensure that the special needs of students living with disabilities.

*Had it not been for the support that l get from my family member's l could not be pursuing my education*.

*Most of us persons living with disabilities we come from disadvantaged families, it takes a lot of effort on our families to send us to school.*

*I get most support from my family and personally l have an inner drive to be independent, and l reliase that education is the route to be independent.*

#### *5.3.3 Peer support*

Informants of the study indicated that they also get support from peers while at institutional campus. These peers would act as their guides and give assistance in many ways. The informants regarded their peers as members of their extended family. They expressed gratitude for the way their peers treat and relate with them.

*Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109660*

*My peers are like my brothers and sister at the campus, they cheer me up and help me get to lecturers' office for assignment submission*.

Another informant had this to say: *I feel like they are family to me.*

#### **6. Discussion**

The study found that a supportive environment assisted in the development of the participants' resilience. The positive impact of a supportive environment resonates with the findings of a scoping review of resilience in higher education students by Brewer et al. Students living with disabilities noted that they receive support from immediate family, peers at the institutions and peers from their communities as well as the campus staff members.

Accessibility of online learning material can create a barrier to students living with disabilities and to full participation in education. This collaborates with the findings of this study. Students living with disabilities stated that they experience challenges in accessing some of the websites with learning material. The findings also resonate with Chataika [4] that students with visual impairment were grateful for the donations of gadgets they had received. In this study, students living with disabilities indicated that they would appreciate and most welcome donations that would assist them in their learning.

Findings of this study depart from what Hasnah et al. 2010 found on the source of problems faced by students living with disabilities. Hasnah and colleagues noted that problems of students living with disabilities do not only come from the faculties but also from peers and lecturers. This study found out that peers and lecturers are very supportive though the system is ill-prepared to accommodate them fully. They cited the failure of faculties to provide learning gadgets and equip members of staff with ICT knowledge that embraces students living with disabilities.

#### **7. Conclusion**

The study can conclude that inclusive education has not been fully embraced in most institutions of higher learning. Most of the institutions of higher learning do not have facilities to cater for students living with disabilities. The lecturers had little knowledge of the use of ICTs especially in accommodating students living with disabilities, particularly the blind and visually impaired.

#### **8. Recommendations**

Lecturers to have basic knowledge of handling students living with disabilities. They should also be empowered on use of ICTs for learning and teaching purposes that includes webs for students living with disability. Resource centres should be established in every tertiary institution if inclusion is to cooperate holistically. Students support services to establish online helping centres to assist students with psychological issues while away from the learning institution. As in the case of lockdowns, due to COVID-19, students were learning online; hence, psychological services be made available online.

### **Author details**

Faith Kurete Women's University in Africa, Zimbabwe

\*Address all correspondence to: fkurete@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Perspective Chapter: Resilience of Tertiary Education Students Living with Disabilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109660*

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[27] Mertens DM. Transformative Research and Evaluation. New York: The Guilford Press; 2009

#### **Chapter 4**

## Social Impact through the SDGs: Case Studies in Higher Education

*Belén López*

#### **Abstract**

Since the approval of the SDGs by the United Nations in 2015, public and private institutions worldwide have been working to meet the global goals identified in the 17 SDGs. This research is based on the analysis of the contribution of universities in Spain on these challenges to promote sustainability considering public information from international rankings. Following this, the main objective of this chapter is i) to understand how universities generate social impact, ii) how rankings measure the impact on SDGs through the university activities involving their stakeholders, and iii) how these actions affect people and society. The results, based on the scores from The Higher Education Ranking 2022, show that the best performance in Spanish Universities is related to the SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 5, SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 11, SDG 16, and SDG 17. In addition, the success of an educational project for social inclusion is presented (SDG 4), where the capacity of universities to generate social impact is shown through an original program using a higher educational method and created for people at risk of exclusion, in order to increase their employability.

**Keywords:** higher education, sustainability, SDGS, inclusive education, social impact

#### **1. Introduction**

Since the 2030 agenda was adopted at the United Nations (UN) in September 2015, the 17 SDGs have been developed in public and private institutions around the world [1] and signed by more than 190 countries. Also, several universities have increased their interest in implementing and reporting their activities following the SDGs of the UN, in a similar context than other industries.

Moreover, universities have an important role to facilitate the transformation of society educating people for a sustainable future and considering the impact of climate change and other global risks for humanity [2]. Therefore, universities are including the SDGs in their strategies through teaching, research, and projects proposing many solutions and measuring their impacts. Consequently, it represents a clear advance to better understand the social impact of universities considering their responsibility in educating people for a sustainable society [3].

To understand the level of progress in higher education, we need to analyze some studies that show what universities are working on and which SDGs they are implementing in several activities. In this sense, some studies have been carried out to obtain this global vision [4] explaining the connection between universities

and sustainable development. In addition, we can evaluate the global results from a quantitative perspective in different rankings, such as The Impact Ranking, that show the progress of universities in this area [5]. Additionally, many universities report annually on their sustainability policies and include some practices/activities and projects on their corporate websites.

However, the quantitative analysis provided by the rankings can be completed with an appropriate strategy in universities. These institutions can internally connect the purpose and values of the institution with research applied to the different areas of knowledge, and with student learning in all areas of knowledge. In addition, this level of progress is facilitated by different international networks (Sustainable Development Solutions network) to implement good practices in the educational sector. All this makes it easier to progress on sustainable development through higher education, as well as the analysis of global needs adapted to specific environments through the SDGs. All this should increase the number of studies with specific results on the level of progress of higher education in achieving a sustainable society.

This study provides an analysis of the contribution of Spanish universities based on the data provided by The Impact Ranking 2022. To this end, the scores in each SDG are shown, which makes it possible to identify the strategic areas for these universities. In addition, to have a qualitative approach to the implementation of the SDGs, a case study of inclusive education developed at ESIC is explained. This project is based on the training provided to groups at risk of exclusion through a communication skills course carried out with university methodology whose objective is to increase their employability. All of this contributes to generating a social impact in the community through quality education (SDG 4).

This chapter is structured as follows. The next section shows an analysis of the role and contribution of higher education to sustainable development through the implementation of the SDGs. Below are the Spanish Universities ranked by SDGs score in 2022. The following section is a case study based on inclusive education at ESIC University. Then, a discussion is generated about the main contributions of higher education in the world and finally, some conclusions are summarized in this study.

#### **2. Universities' contribution to sustainable development**

The capacity of universities to influence the transformation to a more sustainable society is relevant to educate future sustainability leaders and supporting the SDGs implementation [3]. In fact, university staff and students are actively working towards a sustainable world [6]. Moreover, the integration of diverse disciplines improves students' problem-solving capacities, changing their minds to create solutions for different challenges [7], promoting coherence between theoretical discourse and action, and between theory and practice [8, 9] to face global risks [2]. In other words, higher education also provides socio-ethical skills to students through projects with a social impact and connecting the classroom to the community [10] and developing learning activities with a social purpose [11].

The role of universities is strategic for sustainable development and its relationship with stakeholders [12, 13] through different dimensions: education, research, outreach, and management [14–16] where all the experiences in universities can be relevant in social, economic, and environmental transformation. Consequently, stakeholders should be involved in sustainable development through academic discussions [17] and discussing sustainability with students, and administrative and

teaching staff [18]. In sum, the challenge is creating a sustainable and global mindset that should be incorporated in academia connecting studies and best practices and measuring impacts to know the contribution of educational institutions. Moreover, educators need to construct their understanding of sustainable development that can guide them in their curriculum planning and teaching. After this critical analysis, understanding the sustainability concepts, issues, and risks, they will shape their resultant pedagogical practices [19]. This is a dynamic process in constant evolution implementing best practices, case studies, and materials for the students.

Higher education is a transformational agent with a tremendous impact on students' habits and contributions to a prosperous society. Thus, sustainability needs to be at the center of the modus operandi in universities and their organizational culture [3] because universities are considered influential players that foster the growth of partnerships with governments and communities [20]. In fact, more than 300 universities have partnered with the UN to create a network for sustainability called Higher Education Sustainability Education [21] to identify relevant aspects for development and considering that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in supporting and accelerating SDGs' success through research and education [4]. However, there is a need to create an appropriate guideline in universities to facilitate the evolution of SDG achievements [22]. Some scholars [23] proposed a model to engage in promoting sustainable development activities in the three core areas of HEIs: teaching, research, and serving society, projects and best practices have been developed in universities worldwide. It requires using indicators of progress in SDGs and the identification of accountabilities which involves universities and their stakeholders [24, 25]. Some universities use the metric management model (MMM) to evaluate their performance [26]. The MMM is a system based on quantitative, which summarizes the right behavior with a numerical score [26], such as Times Higher Education Impact Rankings [5], among others., to have a quantitative measure of their performance against the SDGs. This ranking allows having an idea about the level of progress from HEIs worldwide and it was evaluated empirically by some scholars [4] following the MMM system. The results show that SDG9, SDG3, SDG13, SDG12, and SDG4 positively increased the obtained general ranking score in their research [4]. This ranking also demonstrates that the number of universities committed to SDGs across countries has increased in the last years (467 in 2019, 768 in 2020, 117 in 2021, and 1406 in 2022) [27].

In recent years, some studies have been connected to the impact of universities on sustainability [28, 29], more studies are needed to know how universities can be more sustainable through the SDGs using specific indicators and connected with the 2030 Agenda. Also, there is the need to align strategic planning with all hierarchical levels, to inform higher management's decision-making regarding SDGs [30].

#### **3. Spanish universities ranked by SDGs score (THE)**

The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings are global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have selected this Ranking because The Times Higher Education use calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive comparison across four areas in its methodology: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching evaluating excellence in Higher Education. The 2022 Impact Ranking is the fourth edition, and the overall ranking includes 1406 universities from 106 countries/regions.


*Higher Education – Reflections from the Field – Volume 1*

*Social Impact through the SDGs: Case Studies in Higher Education DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109811*


*Higher Education – Reflections from the Field – Volume 1*


*Social Impact through the SDGs: Case Studies in Higher Education DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109811*


*The impact ranking 2022. Spanish universities SDGs scores.*

**Table 1.**

It is interesting to remark that The Impact Rankings are growingly each year as many more universities seek to demonstrate their commitment to delivering the SDGs; and they allow institutions to demonstrate improvement year-on-year, by introducing new policies or by providing clearer and more open evidence of their progress. Furthermore, we can analyze the level of progress worldwide following this method. In this case, we selected the Spanish universities included in the ranking 2022. Thus, **Table 1** shows the scoring of Spanish universities related to their activities connected to the 17 SDGs in 2022. In general, we can see the score of 37 universities, 6 in the range of 101–200, 12 universities in the range of 201–300, 4 of them in the range of 301–400, 11 universities in the range of 401–600, 3 in the range 601--800, and 3 universities in the range 801–1000 in the global ranking 2022. Moreover, we can highlight that 14 universities include information on the 17 SDGs.

In general, the best performance in Spanish Universities is related to the SDG 3 (64,5), SDG 4 (69,3), SDG 5 (69,3), SDG 7 (62,2), SDG 8 (69,9), SDG 11 (62,8), SDG 16 (66,4), and SDG 17 (66,6). See **Table 2** with a media scoring per SDG. This means that the fundamental focus of these universities is on these global challenges, such as Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).

In the case of ESIC, the Sustainable and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy of this institution is focused on some aspects, such as SDG 4 (80,7), SDG 10 (75,5), SDG 8 (73,1), and SDG5 (70,1). And SDG 16 (45,7) and SDG 17 (49,4).


#### **Table 2.**

*Impact ranking 2022.*

*Social Impact through the SDGs: Case Studies in Higher Education DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109811*

These SDGs are correlated with quality education in all the programs, employability, and projects with a social impact in collaboration with NGOs. Below is explained a project based on inclusive education through a program with future development for its impact and results. All this is linked with the global purpose of this institution summarized in the idea of Transforming People through education.

#### **4. Case study: relánzaT, an inclusive educational project at ESIC**

RelánzaT is an educational project that provides specific training to increase the employability of people at risk of social exclusion (women, young people, over 50s, etc.), who are unemployed and/or have precarious jobs. The RelánzaT project is directly linked to the goals of SDG 4, Quality Education, SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 17, Partnerships to Achieve the Goals. By identifying the needs of each target, a training itinerary is offered with 20-hour courses that provide an ESIC University certification to improve their employability.

The 3 editions developed in the academic year 2021–22 have been carried out with participants from the San Martín de Porres Foundation, located in Madrid, and focus on homeless people with whom we have identified the need to improve communication skills by offering the Communication Skills program. To this end, at ESIC University we designed the program for the 2021–22 academic year together with this Foundation, where three professors created the contents and materials of this training following a university methodology adapted to this target working as volunteers.

In addition, we offered complementary material from ESIC Play, which are free videos in multiple areas of specialized training (https://play.esic.edu/). An additional bibliography has also been provided for them to complement their communication skills for employability with some readings.

The program aims to provide communication skills (intrapersonal and interpersonal) to provide autonomy, organizational skills, and good communication. The academic guide also has defined the learning outcomes, such as i) Develop intrapersonal communication skills to face different challenges oriented in the personal and work environment. ii) Obtain interpersonal communication guidelines and techniques oriented to labor insertion. iii) Develop digital competencies for the management in social networks of the professional profile (LinkedIn).

The evaluation system applied is the Continuous Evaluation (CE), a methodology used in ESIC University courses, in which class attendance is mandatory. In this way, students should present the different written evaluation tests or compulsory work of the subjects taught in class, completing the training with the development of a practical part based on writing their own experience.

Therefore, students are evaluated by presenting 3 pieces of evaluation that will add up to 100% of the grade following this scheme:

I.Written presentation of a case on intrapersonal communication: 33% grade.

II.Written presentation of a case on interpersonal communication: 33% grade.

III.Written presentation of a case on communication tools: 33% grade.

In addition, active participation in the classroom is a fundamental part of the experiential nature of the training. Further, in order to pass the program, it will be necessary to pass each of the evaluation sections (cases and final work). The program consists of the following sections described in the academic guide of the program:


The participants are people of different nationalities who have been selected by the San Martin de Porres Foundation among the Associations with which they work to achieve their fast insertion into the labor market.

Out of the total of participants enrolled in the 1st edition, (November 2021) 8 of them have passed. In the second edition, (February 2022) 11 of the participants passed. In the 3rd edition of RelánzaT, 6 of them have been passed, altogether by delivering all the work required by the teachers and having an adequate attitude, as well as active participation in class (25 participants in 3 editions) Although it should be noted that on different occasions they have had to drop out of the program, both for personal circumstances (health) and family circumstances.

In general, the evaluations of the participants are highly satisfactory, as well as the comments of technicians and managers of the San Martín de Porres Foundation, since they have seen that the training in Communication has provided them with tools to face different situations, both at a personal and professional level. The managers perceived their change of attitude at the end of the program, which materialized in the active search for employment, as well as in their self-confidence to communicate their needs to third parties. For all these reasons, the managers consider this training excellent, since the university methodology followed at ESIC involves learning and effort that has a direct impact on the employability of the participants. As a result of the results obtained in this project, the San Martín de Porres Foundation expresses its interest in continuing with the training in future editions, since Communication continues to be a fundamental area for these groups at risk of social exclusion with whom they work daily. Also, they recognized that the communication program continues to be a relevant area in training for employability, and where they identify profiles for the program with agility and efficiency including people who need a boost to achieve employment quickly. This is the greatest advantage of this program since 60% of the participants of the program have obtained employment after the training (considering the 3 editions carried out in the 2021–2022 course).

The RelánzaT project is directly linked to the goals of SDG 4, Quality Education, SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 17, Partnerships to Achieve the Goals. and its main peculiarity is that it is a project with social impact that has excellent results since people without university studies obtain a

certification from this University by achieving a positive evaluation of the pieces evaluated by the volunteer professors.

As a result, this program has some strong points: it provides training to people without resources; it improves the employability of people at risk of exclusion and allows teachers to offer their knowledge in a supportive way. Moreover, considering that education is a universal right, higher education expands its social impact with a project such as RelánzaT.

#### **5. Discussion and conclusions**

Higher education is a key sector to face global challenges and risks [2], where quality education (SDG 4) has the objective in universities of adequately training future leaders in sustainability, from theory and practice [8, 9] as well as providing education to people in exclusion, since education is a universal right, as describes the Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN).

To the extent that higher education continues to integrate the SDGs in different institutional areas, its results internally (annual reports) and externally (rankings), we will be able to better understand the contribution of higher education to sustainable development. In this way, both the quantitative data collected by the rankings and the best practices, it shows what is relevant for each university and allow us to know their commitment and relationship with the different stakeholders to work on this common objective.

Together, the areas of education, research, outreach, and management, all together contribute to social transformation [14–16] considering that education is a fundamental pillar in the development of nations and the 2030 Agenda.

Although there are more than 1400 universities around the world that report actions related to SDGs, there is still a long way to go to contribute to a global mentality that is born before studying at the university, therefore, all educational institutions must work for this common goal. In this sense, the mentality of the students will facilitate a sustainable perspective to solve social problems. To increase their impact, universities should put the SDGs at the center of their strategies and culture [3] providing skills and competencies to the students.

While THE publishes the level of progress generated from more than 1400 universities in the world in 2022, this document analyzes Spanish universities and their scores; additionally, a case study is explained on inclusive education at ESIC, as an educational institution with the purpose of transforming people through education. Furthermore, there are many challenges for universities for sustainable development, both from an economic, social, and environmental perspective.

Finally, to accelerate the contribution of universities to the SDGs, indicators are needed and allow educational institutions to be evaluated and compared with others in their environment and other countries. Different rankings, such as THE, show these contributions to be analyzed through different scores. However, it is necessary to know how these activities are raising awareness among all stakeholders in relation to increasing sustainable behaviors. Then, qualitative research can help us to better understand these insights and future directions. Additionally, researchers can explore new methodologies in terms of sustainability, as well as the use of different technologies to understand the contribution of institutional activities to sustainable development.

### **Author details**

Belén López Department of Communication, ESIC University, Madrid, Spain

\*Address all correspondence to: belen.lopez@esic.university

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Section 2
