Social Sciences PLD

Drawing from the School's wide academic experience and research, an innovative portfolio of learning, including short and medium-length courses taking place online and in-person have been created.

Please contact pld@hope.ac.uk for further information or to discuss specific professional development needs. 

Introduction to Disability and the Built Environment

This short course will focus on disability access to the built environment, which includes everyday public spaces from, schools to supermarkets. It will also focus on access to public transport including transport hubs. It will go beyond current understandings of disability, to consider the access needs of a wide range of people, including those with invisible disabilities.

To enable students to understand how the built environment is disabling it will introduce them to the social model of disability, which demonstrates how disability is a social construct. Drawing on the lived experiences of an array of disabled people, it will enable students to understand how current access provision is not appropriate in providing access for all.

To understand further this course will examine current legislation, including the Equality Act 2010 and Part M of the Buildings and Regulations Act. It will encourage students to critique the implementation of minimal accessible spaces within the built environment.

This course will introduce students to Universal Design to enable them to consider how the built environment can be made to accommodate a greater range of people and this will be demonstrated within their assessment.

Online delivery: 6 weeks, 2 hours per week

Starts: January 2025, (Thursdays 6-8pm)

Cost: £110 per participant

Research for Real World Problems

This course will introduce you to a way of doing research which will help you devise collaborative solutions to real world problems. It is called Participatory Action Research (PAR). When using PAR, research teams co-produce knowledge about real-world problems which are of interest to them. That knowledge is then used to generate solutions to those problems. The solutions can then be put into action and evaluated through further cycles of PAR. As such, PAR is an accessible form of research which has many potential applications both within and outside academia. Central to the philosophy of PAR are appreciation of diversity and of multiple perspectives on the issue or problem under investigation; shared responsibilities, power and decision-making; and participants learning with and from each other.

The course will cover the philosophy, principles and practice of PAR. You will learn the relevant terminology; how to plan a PAR project; the ethics of PAR; methods and skills for data generation and analysis; how to implement solutions; and how to report findings to relevant audiences. The emphasis will be on active learning in a practical workshop environment that engages with participatory methods.

The course will be delivered via a one-day workshop. There is also an option to include three or five hours of 1:1 mentoring with one of our academics to support you in conducting your PAR projects out in the real world. This can be selected when booking or after the workshop. PAR can be used to address problems in businesses, charity and third-sector organisations, youth and voluntary organisations, and schools and colleges. If your organisation has a problem it needs to solve in collaboration with your workforce and stakeholders, then this is the course for you.

Delivery: Face to Face at Hope Park Campus

Dates: November, February and June

Cost: Various options below

One day workshop: £215 per person

One day workshop plus 3 hours of 1:1 mentoring: £473 per person

One day workshop plus 5 hours of 1:1 mentoring: £645 per person

To book any of the above courses or for more information, please contact pld@hope.ac.uk