Exploring and developing strategies for integration in a classroom setting within higher education

Abstract

Integration in the classroom is discussed openly within the school setting, but largely remains a taboo subject within higher education (HE). Staff often make visual observations that students tend to sit with one another based on sex, ethnicity, class, ability and/or faith. As educators, we can address the issue superficially via the use of classroom plans in the form of covert integration. However, the need to adopt such strategies and their effectiveness remains un-assessed. I explored the issue of integration in the classroom amongst students in the first year of their law degree via action-based research. Initially, there appeared to be a reluctance amongst students to engage in a dialogue on the issue of integration. However, when they did, the students commented on the benefits of social and/or academic integration and were open to the mixing of students within a classroom setting. The research also indicated that after the integrated workshops, students developed an increased confidence in mixing with people from different backgrounds and increasingly felt part of a community both within the classroom and as part of the University.