Theorist

Dr Beverley Hayward

Committed to inclusion and lifelong learning, with nearly twenty years’ experience of teaching, coordinating and managing in HE, I recently, completed a PhD that is multi-disciplinary, exploring the subjectivities of support workers in a post-structuralist context of lifelong learning. I favour mixed methods that draw upon quantitative approaches to explore widening participation and inclusion, specifically those students with SpLDs, mental health issues and from disadvantaged backgrounds. I often expose my own vulnerabilities of being dyslexic and from a working-class background, in my teaching practice,  with the expectation of putting my students at ease. The intension is to encourage those that have a learning difference or disability not to give up on their education, but to continue in a collective community of learning. In that community of support and encouragement a democratic pedagogical experience can be fostered to initiate a dialogue to help each other through challenging times. Only recently have I had the confidence to speak out about my own literacy difficulties, but in sharing my experiences, I feel I have fostered a more authentic approach to teaching. In finding my own voice and telling my story, I hoped to facilitate a horizontal approach to enable adult learners to feel comfortable to speak their truths and be successful in their/our lifelong learning journeys.