Welcome to the Same But Different Website -
Same but Different leads on from the earlier Meeting the Challenge project and draws on research from universities, the NUS, Skill and other equality and diversity organisations, as well as from students themselves. Working successfully with our students acknowledges their needs, but we also need to recognise and challenge the attitudes of some of our colleagues and work with them to bring about positive change.
Same But Different is a film-based project which comprises a series of scenes of film sketches showing aspects of student life and ways in which staff respond to different situations, together with a workbook which includes discussion points and further resources..
The project aims to promote good practice in and support staff working with student diversity and covers areas such as gender, religion, disability, mental health, ethnicity, sexuality, caring responsibilities and age. It does not provide all the answers, but we hope it raises important questions about how we work with students and provides some ideas about strategising for success.
Life at university can be challenging in any number of ways for students and difficulties in their personal lives will often complicate their learning experience. But staff recognise the importance of understanding and supporting students who bring academic and/or personal issues into the classroom, so that we maximise student learning and enable them to interact with the wider world feeling confident and empowered. The ways in which staff in universities and colleges manage the dynamic relationships between ourselves and our students, especially the ways in which we work with sensitive issues and vulnerable students, is crucial.
Check out our last HEFCE-funded project which is a searchable database of good practice in relation to equality and diversity initiatives in HE - http://edihe.org
