Valuing Diversity at Wigan & Leigh College
Wigan & Leigh College is undergoing a major redevelopment programme to make its facilities amongst the most modern in the UK. As well as improving facilities, the college has been working hard for the last four years to place increasing value on equality and inclusion for all staff and students, and to create a culture where diversity is valued. In partnership with Academee, the college has put in place the policies, practices, training and development to make this a reality.
The Background
Established for over 150 years, Wigan & Leigh College is a large and diverse provider of high quality education and training. It serves 23,000 students across six sites on two campuses in the towns of Wigan and Leigh.
The Challenge
In 2002, Wigan & Leigh College began to examine its diversity and equality policies. The college recognised this as a key area: it had an equal opportunities committee and policies in place, and had held the Disability Symbol, 'Positive About Disabled People,' for several years. It had also won Beacon Awards for support to students with learning difficulties and disabilities, by the Inclusive Learning Team. The philosophy of Inclusive Learning needed to be embedded in practice across the College.
Although they had achieved the disability element of the diversity agenda there was little or no recognition of the other five key elements - race, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief and gender.
The college had also been running a leadership and management programme with the aim of changing managers' 'observable behaviour.' This desire to change behaviour helped to highlight a diversity need. The college realised it needed to build on these initiatives to create a genuine culture of inclusion.
"We had all the badges," says Roger Shearer, Wigan & Leigh College Staff Development Co-ordinator, "but what we really needed was a complete culture change."
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Diversity and inclusion learning has had a real impact at Wigan & Leigh College, helping to transform college culture.
