Designing inclusive schools for students with disability receives ARC support

A multidisciplinary project to make schools more inclusive for students with disability - embracing government, industry, and disability support sector partners and expertise - has received funding support in the latest round of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects scheme.

Designing Learning Spaces for Diversity, Inclusion and Participation will provide evidence-based guidance on designing and modifying mainstream school facilities to better accommodate students with disability. The project is led by Associate Professor Benjamin Cleveland and Professor Christine Imms alongside investigators from the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, and external partners.

An overwhelming majority of Australian students with disability attend mainstream schools, as inclusive education policies have sought to support more students with disability to attend mainstream schools. Associate Professor Cleveland said that this requires every school to accommodate the needs of students with diverse abilities; and that improved school design could play a major role in supporting the inclusion and participation of all students.

The ARC will provide $899,582 to the project, alongside government, industry and disability support sector partners contributing $885,000, and $1,245,000 in in-kind support including project advocacy, the development of design industry outputs to embed new ways of designing schools, communications and dissemination of findings to target audiences.

Project outcomes will include the production of an inclusive learning spaces design framework to provide evidence-based approached to designing and modifying mainstream schools to benefit all students’ access and meaningful involvement in learning.

This framework will include critical evidence, tools, and guidelines to equip school planners, designers, educators, and people with disability to create safe, welcoming, accommodating, and stimulating schools. The research project will integrate previously separate knowledge from architecture, education, and health fields.

Associate Professor Cleveland said: “While the big picture objective is to inform school systems and architects to better accommodate students with disability, the shorter-term goal is to inform them about the ‘design challenge’.

“By effectively communicating the design requirements for students of varying abilities, better design responses can be expected.”

The first phase of the project will document a day in the life of primary and secondary students with a broad scope of disabilities, to assess opportunities and challenges.

Professor Christine Imms said: “It isn’t possible to design effectively for inclusion of students with disability and neurodiversity without knowing and using their lived experiences. This research has real potential for positive change because we are committed to co-research.”