Fostering an inclusive and diverse classroom environment

Cambridge OCR's Cambridge Advanced National in Human Biology is a great qualification for teaching in a more inclusive way. As a vocational qualification, not only is its assessment approach a more accessible way for students to continue to study science, but this qualification expects students to think about the physical and mental wellbeing of patients they may meet in the future.

This is the first qualification of its kind to include variations in sex traits (intersex), take a non-binary approach to teaching about reproduction, require students to consider assumptions during drug trials that impact outcomes for patients and to think critically about values like BMI. Students are asked to consider access to IVF treatment, support for people who are pregnant, and why outcomes are different for patients based on age, sex, ethnicity and location.

Through our schemes of work and other resources, teachers will be able to weave better representation into their lessons, support students to think about future patients and their full range of needs and to allow more of their students to be ‘seen’ in their lessons. Our assessments will include a diverse range of individuals, families and communities across its lifetime, as exemplified by our sample assessment material for F176 The Brain and Alex who is a non-binary skater with a head injury.

Our resources for teachers, like our STEM Contributors resource and our many blogs, like this on LGBT+ History Month, offer simple and easy ways to show students where the science they are learning is useful and who uses it. Our schemes of work, written with ECTs and non-specialists in mind, provide all teachers with lists of misconceptions and assumptions to prepare for in lessons, as well as lots of ideas and sources of support for professional development.