The radical pedagogies project: creating inclusive learning development materials

Abstract

This presentation explored how learning development can be reimagined as a more inclusive and critically engaged practice through creative and activist pedagogies. It introduced Radical Pedagogies, an initiative created by Helena Walsh and Sarah Macdonald from the University of the Arts London, that explored student-centred models of participation by weaving social justice, creativity, and activism directly into teaching materials. The project drew from a diverse range of personal and political research interests, which included poetry, film, performance art, feminist and queer theory, anti-racism, decolonising the curriculum, and anti-capitalist critique, seeking to mobilise radical traditions within an increasingly capitalised educational sector.

The initial output of this long-term project was a tactile box set of 28 activity cards designed to foster creativity, curiosity, and risk taking (hooks, 2010). Organised under four distinct themes of ‘Avant-garde action’, ‘Critical thinking’, ‘Radical re-imaginings’, and ‘Thinking time’, the cards were designed for flexible, transdisciplinary application. Central to the project's ethos was a deep commitment to co-creation; students were not merely participants but were recruited as paid collaborators in the design and feedback process, an invaluable experience which the authors posit had transformative potential for both educators and learners. This presentation offered a valuable model for learning developers, academic support staff, and lecturers seeking to embed creative, participatory, and critically aware pedagogies into their own practice.