In Australia and internationally much still needs to occur to promote inclusive practices in education and society with many educators not feeling equipped to recognise or appreciate diversity or cater effectively for inclusion (Hardy & Woodcock, 2015). It is into this space that a University of Southern Queensland team of researchers, practitioners, and academics intends to contribute an open textbook “Opening Eyes onto Inclusion and Diversity”. With embedded audio–visual components, the Open Textbook is designed to enhance the quality of the reader’s experience with each chapter posing key understandings underpinning inclusion and diversity. Readers are encouraged to answer questions on culture, special learning needs, varied educational contexts, gender diversity and more. The key expected outcome of this open textbook is to engage readers in making meaning of inclusion and diversity and applying their learning to their own individual contexts.

This e-resource is aimed at guiding and supporting human services students through their placements.

This e-resource is aimed at guiding your overall learning and supporting you during your placement. It is important to note that this book is not a textbook. Rather, it is an information resource that will scaffold your learning as you move from the initial stages of your placement to the final few days. Topics covered include those that are immediately relevant to your placement (such as identifying learning activities) as well as hands-on, self-paced activities that will help you reflect on your learnings and develop skills necessary for your career in the human services. It is however also important to note that entire books have been written about the topics that are covered in the resource. Therefore, you will find relevant references and readings are provided throughout. If you are interested in a particular topic you are encouraged to refer to the references and readings during your placement and your future study.

In terms of the e-resource structure, the resource is made up of three modules.  The aim is to cover content relevant to the beginning, middle and end of your placement journey. As we work through the modules, we will cover content in the area of learning styles, supervision, values and more.

Further, each module includes topics that you need to Understand, Examine and tasks to Complete. Click on the image below to explore the topics that will be covered in each module.