Case study 1
Debby - Female student
BA (Hons) History & English 1995,
PG Cert. Access to the Historic Environment for Disabled People 1996,
MA Landscape, Heritage & Society 1999
Debby has a mobility impairment. It means she occasionally has to use a wheelchair, as she tires easily. She came to university lacking self confidence.
Her undergraduate course involved a mix of academic and vocationally orientated elements. These enabled her to gain confidence in her own abilities, both as a student and a worker, and enabled her to come into contact with people and organisations new to her experience.
A mature student, she did not initially believe in her own intellectual capabilities. However, the university's nurturing nature allowed her to accept the fact that, not only could she gain a degree, but she could achieve a high standard. This gave her the confidence to progress to postgraduate study.
She took a European-funded postgraduate course that matched her intellectual capabilities to her experiences as a disabled person. The vocational course enabled her to gain employment as a disability consultant, during which time she also returned to the course to teach on it. This gave her confidence to go on to take a full Masters degree and sparked an interest in working in education.
Debby now has a job working with young adults; an area she would never have considered if she had not had the support and opportunities that a higher education has given her.
She had numerous field visits at all levels of her degree programme. Close liaison with an academic was vital, covering everything from the choice of site to transport. She also undertook a Work Based Learning Project in a school, which involved close liaison with a tutor and a dissertation project at the Military Museum in Chester. She produced an access audit which became part of a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid (c. £500,000).
