When we see students tiptoeing into class as the lecture begins, maintaining a deafening silence after we ask the room a question or eventually not even bothering to attend class as the term wears on, it is easy to blame them for their lack of engagement. But let’s think deeper: what barriers are preventing students from accessing their education? Could structural and cultural hurdles be involved?
Very few students do not want to learn. Instead, creating the best possible conditions for student success, including better communication habits and a learning environment that supports all students, can lead to learning experiences that students are excited to engage with.
Here, I’ll look at five barriers and what educators need to change to bring them crashing to the ground.
Institutional structures that unintentionally restrict access
In university education, we’re seeing larger class sizes every year. Managing cohorts in the hundreds, as well as having to handle all the administrative tasks and responsibilities such as setting assessments and meeting research requirements, make it very difficult to establish a personal connection with each student.
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As a result, it takes us longer to send feedback, our office hours become crowded and mentoring ends up as a brief, transactional exchange rather than an in-depth discussion.
Larger class sizes also naturally affect the dynamics of teaching. Students who depend on being able to sit close to a teacher for focus, audibility and confidence can end up pushed to the edge of the room.
Additionally, the fact that timetables are very rigid can negatively impact students who work, commute long distances or have care-giving responsibilities. Educators experiencing burnout will have a hard time generating enough energy to engage in interactive teaching or to respond to students appropriately.
What educators and institutions can do:
- Create small tutorial groups in addition to larger lectures
- Dedicate some mentoring time to the workload model
- Provide all lectures recorded along with other supporting materials
- Ensure that students needing accessible seating can get it
- Review administrative work that reduces time for teaching and giving feedback
Improving access includes recognising how designing workloads influences quality of teaching.
Learning environments that hinder rather than support engagement
Teaching takes place within a context, and that context is influenced by both physical and emotional environments. Many of us have experienced poor acoustics, uncomfortable seating, a lack of power outlets and an overcrowded classroom; these factors may impede students’ ability to pay attention. In addition, these same factors might disproportionately affect students who have sensory sensitivities, hearing impairments, attention difficulties or chronic health concerns.
Educators’ well-being is important as well. If an educator suffers from burnout, it affects their patience, their ability to be attentive and their ability to give detailed feedback. Ultimately, when the well-being of educators is compromised, the level of academic support given to students will also be compromised.
Practical steps forward include:
- Enhance classroom acoustic environment and access for students who have disabilities
- Establish quiet study areas and alternative learning spaces for students
- Incorporate a blended or asynchronous method of learning materials
- Include institutional support for the mental health of educators
- Provide balanced workloads for educators
Educators’ well-being is the cornerstone on which student success is based. Don’t treat it as an isolated issue.
Language and communication barriers within teaching practice
The language barrier is thought of as something that only applies to international students. However, communication barriers can be widespread among all students. Subject-specific jargon, unexplained acronyms and assumptions of prior knowledge can work to exclude students from learning. Often, when educators come across as hurried or unapproachable, students won’t ask for clarification.
The extra weight of hierarchical cultures can add to this barrier in professional settings such as healthcare. If an inquirer feels as if they are challenging authority, they are less likely to ask questions.
Additionally, students with unaccommodated learning differences such as dyslexia, ADHD or processing disorders might find it extremely difficult to navigate heavily lectured or text-based environments.
From an educator’s standpoint, this forces them to reflect: are they educating to show their expertise or educating to facilitate understanding?
Here are my methods for improving accessibility:
- Make sure all words are defined and there is not too much of a technical language
- Provide an opportunity to ask questions through several different means – this could be anonymous surveys, online forums and small group discussions
- Undergo training in Universal Design for Learning
- Provide multiple forms of material: visual, audio and structured summaries
- Be willing to demonstrate intellectual humility by being open to your own uncertainty
- Provide clarity and approachability as a pedagogical resource, not a choice
Social and cultural barriers to belonging
The teacher’s attitude influences classroom culture. If the emphasis is on authority rather than friendliness, students, especially those who come from under-represented groups, will feel less likely to reach out for assistance. Ignoring some students while praising others for their inputs will naturally make them feel excluded.
Biases based on accents, background, gender or identity create a lack of psychological safety, whether or not it is deliberate. Students who sense an emphasis on hierarchy will protect themselves from any potential consequences of participation, instead of actually participating.
The educators who actively work to develop belonging in their classroom will create positive outcomes for students.
Examples include:
- Encouraging quieter students to contribute
- Responding immediately to disrespectful or dismissive behaviour
- Making expectations about anti-discrimination clearly articulated
- Reflecting on the role that implicit bias plays in how students participate or are assessed
- Thinking of errors or mistakes as part of the learning experience versus as something to feel guilty about
Psychological safety is not about being soft but is critical to deep learning.
Financial and digital divides affecting participation
Financial pressures increasingly influence student attendance and engagement. Students often work either part-time or full-time jobs while studying. When a student misses class because of their job, more often than not it comes down to financial necessity rather than disinterest in the class.
The expanding digital footprint has increased digital inequalities, such as reliable internet access, up-to-date devices and necessary skills. A teacher who designs their class on the assumption that all students have equal and universal access to digital technology will unwittingly create many hidden barriers to learning.
The key is building flexibility into your teaching. Here’s how:
- Provide recordings and notes from lectures
- Provide brief, reasonable grace periods for submitting assignments where appropriate
- Offer a variety of assessment formats
- Recognise financial need in ascertaining attendance
- Increase institutional access to all technology resources
Implementing flexibility will not lessen expectations in a class but it may offer more opportunities to meet those expectations.
Barriers exist in conjunction and can create multiple problems for a student. For example, if a student works while navigating the challenges of a different language, while going to an overcrowded classroom, all while using an unreliable internet connection, they do not have a motivation issue; they’re facing systematically layered obstacles.
As educators, we are challenged to be reflective and to be advocates for our students. The question shouldn’t be whether students are able to learn; rather, we need to think about what we are doing to ensure our institutional structures, teaching methods and resource allocation support the realities of our students.
For access to education to improve, we can’t rely on students to figure out how to adapt. Educators must examine how the system operates, and identify and redesign problematic structures.
The question is not “Are students learning?” but rather “Are we designing an environment for students to thrive in?”
Dina Mohamed Salah is assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Nimrah Afaq is an undergraduate medical student, both at Dubai Medical University.
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