Inclusive Learning
Leuphana aims to recognise and consciously promote the diversity of university members and to enable learning and teaching processes to benefit from them through targeted experience and reflection offers.
Diversity as an opportunity for learning helps to build understanding and competences, and strengthens personality formation - this is Leuphana's promise as a humanist university in its concept. In addition, training can create diversity competence and as such teach the skills required to resolve social issues and the willingness to accept social responsibility in a diverse society - this is Leuphana's aim as a sustainable and action-focused university.
Teaching development pursues a broad understanding of diversity. Both personal diversity and differences in access to, and requirements for, studies and teaching are taken into account. Diversity is multifaceted and can take different shapes, comprising similarities as well as differences.
The following can be relevant for learning and teaching processes: educational background, mental and physical ability to work under pressure, care obligations, migration experiences, age and gender, as well as study-related prior knowledge, learning style, belief in oneself and one's ability to succeed, motivation and learning strategies.
Diversity influences university learning and teaching processes at different levels, such as that of institutional framework conditions, individual requirements or the interaction context.
Diversity-focused teaching at Leuphana pursues the following approaches: Diversity is highlighted as an opportunity for learning, as learning and teaching content and as a framework condition for learning and teaching.
» Diversity as a learning opportunity
- Learning and teaching settings must be designed such that diversity becomes an object of learning and is experienced as an opportunity for education, such as by enabling and encouraging the experience of, and reflection on, diversity, changing perspectives, becoming aware of one's own standards and limitations, empathy, tolerance to ambiguity and competence to resolve conflicts.
» Diversity as a framework condition for learning and teaching
- Reflect on, and take into account, the framework conditions and factors influencing learning situations and study process when drawing up the curriculum
» Diversity as learning and teaching content
- Transfer of knowledge about diversity and the extent to which it is socially relevant, and of action competence to handle contexts influenced by diversity and promote an attitude of respect towards diversity
Diversity-focused teaching pursues different paths and approaches.
Diversity-focused teaching ...
- … sees diversity as a rhizome of similarities and differences, whose significance varies depending on the context.
- … reflects on diversity as a context requirement for learning and teaching at university level.
- … takes diversity into account when designing the didactics, methods and content of teaching.
- … prepares students for professional work and for shaping a society characterised by diversity, creating varied opportunities, but also contradictions and challenges.
- … is aimed at enabling education through diversity as a learning object.
- … and does not forget to consider the links between diversity and inequality.
- … is based on Leuphana's integrative gender-diversity concept.