Inclusive Design and Design Justice in Practice
Inclusive design is intentional and iterative design work aimed at supporting a range of human diversity. In education, inclusive design focuses on the creation of learning spaces and materials that support diverse learners and that help to counteract biased and exclusionary designs that pervade education. Inclusive design can be a collaborative process through which teachers thoughtfully re-imagine their classrooms, sparking creativity and inspiration in teaching and learning. Using design justice and critical race design lenses, inclusive design can (and should) also be a way for teachers and learners to embrace anti-racist principles and actively work against systemic racism and other entrenched inequities in education and in our society.
This track will offer a chance to learn about and work on inclusive design, design justice, and anti-racist/critical race design through a project-based approach. Project work begins on Day 1, and is woven throughout the course. Through a variety of formats, including whole group sessions, small group sessions, individual project work, consultation with facilitators, and optional just-in-time workshops, participants will be able to tackle a real inclusive design challenge from their own contexts. This track is ideal for anyone who sees themselves as a designer of learning experiences (faculty, instructional designers, technologists) and people looking to connect their design work to action and change in the current educational, social, and political context.
This track is ideal for:
Recommended Reading
- Jess Mitchell, "Inclusive: What is it?"
- Sasha Costanza-Chock, "Design Justice: Towards and Intersectional Feminist Framework for Design Theory"
- Kat Holmes, "What Is Inclusive, and What Isn't"
- Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University, The Inclusive Design Guide
- Deena Khalil and Meredith Weaver Kier, "Critical Race Design: An Emerging Methodological Approach to Anti-Racist Design and Implementation Research"
Faculty

