Please see the attached link of Ethical Action Plan
Ethical Action Plan Template 2025-26 3.docx
I chose to focus on international students because institutional measurements of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) primarily reflect home students. This is understandable, as UK higher education institutions are reminder accountable to UK government frameworks and regulatory requirements. However, his focus creates a significant blind spot.
At UAL, international students constitute approximately half of the student population and contribute a substantial proportion of the institution’s income. Despite this, international students are largely absent from EDI measurements, consultation processes, and decision-making structures. This absence suggests that international students are structurally present within the institution but conceptually excluded from its diversity frameworks.
My interest in this issue is also shaped by my own positionality as a former international student. During my studies, I often felt excluded from decision-making processes and misunderstood within teaching contexts. At the time, I was unsure whether these experiences were specific to me or indicative of a wider structural issue. However, over more than five years of observing teaching contexts both from the perspective of a student and later as a staff member I have noticed that similar challenges are repeatedly reproduced across cohorts.
Since becoming a member of staff, this pattern has become more visible. While institutional statements emphasise diversity and inclusion, their implementation remains limited, particularly in relation to international students. International students are rarely involved in EDI or decolonisation frameworks, and there appears to be a significant gap in shared understanding of what decolonisation means within this context.
I chose to frame this inquiry through decolonisation because it foregrounds structural and political questions, rather than focusing solely on representation or inclusion. Decolonisation allows for a critical examination of how knowledge, power, and legitimacy are organised within mainstream art education at UAL.
I intentionally chose not to undertake immediate action within this project. I did not want to implement initiatives without first understanding the underlying issues. Instead, I have used this opportunity to investigate and clarify the structural conditions shaping international students’ experiences. This research forms the basis for more considered actions in my future teaching practice and artistic work.
Finaly, I would like to strongly note that decolonisation from Home students included the UK education must have a different view. International students encounter decolonisation discourse from a different historical and institutional location.