Contextual Background
The onsite postgraduate fashion marketing courses at LCF have many international students, with a high percentage coming from countries such as China and India. We have students with differing physical and mental abilities. Most of the students are in their early twenties. We have some issues with language skills.
There is even more diversity for the MA Strategic Fashion Marketing Online cohort, with students worldwide studying via distance learning and some more mature students. We have encountered issues such as workload with students trying to balance work and study. Some students prefer an online environment due to neurodiversity. Those with family commitments also like the online environment as it can be more flexible.
Evaluation
Map out your current strategies for meeting the needs of your students, and evaluate the effectiveness of your approach(es).
The book Mindset by the esteemed Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck (Dweck, 2007) was transformative for my personal development and career and has allowed me to succeed in various fields. Based on her career as an academic researcher, the book’s power of applications in resilience, academic achievement, and mental health saw it become a global bestseller.
While I am mindful of creating a safe learning space where students feel comfortable answering, perhaps the accessibility of the content can be improved.
From a practical perspective, I communicate with the course leaders for the postgraduate fashion marketing courses, who share details of students with independent support agreements with the student’s permission.
Moving forwards
To effectively consider and address students’ diverse needs, university lecturers must adopt a multifaceted approach that incorporates understanding psychological frameworks, fostering an inclusive classroom environment, and employing differentiated instructional strategies.
The concept of a growth mindset posits that individuals can develop their abilities and intelligence through effort, learning, and persistence, as opposed to a fixed mindset, which holds that these qualities are static and unchangeable. This distinction sets the stage for creating an atmosphere where mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth rather than failures (Kutasi, 2023). The concept has particular application for students from less privileged backgrounds who may have a fixed mindset due to external pressures (Claro, 2016).
Research shows that incorporating autonomy-supportive behaviours into teaching practices can address diverse students’ needs (Brandišauskienė et al., 2022). The paper shows that when teachers provide choices in learning activities and support students to become self-regulated learners, they cater to differences in motivation and self-efficacy.
These practices are rooted in Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), which posits that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are key elements in human personality and motivation.
Within my unit assessment briefs, meaningful choice is offered through the ability to select a brand to study for the assessment. There is also some flexibility in terms of research design, and the strategy output itself is open to interpretation and creativity. The unit could take the idea of the creative artefact further. I would like to explore the possibility of offering the students different formats for presentation outside of a standard 3,000-word marketing plan.
References
Claro, S., Paunesku, D. and Dweck, C.S. (2016) ‘Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(31), pp. 8664–8668. doi:10.1073/pnas.1608207113.
Dweck, C. (2007) Mindset. New York: Random House .
Kutasi, R. (2023) ‘Cultivating a classroom culture of growth: Nurture the power of a growth mindset’, Acta Marisiensis. Philologia, 5(1), pp. 1–12. doi:10.2478/amph-2023-0090.Ryan,
R.M. and Deci, E.L. (2000) ‘Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.’, American Psychologist, 55(1), pp. 68–78. doi:10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.68.