Five Principles of Practice (BEACO)
At the heart of the BEACON model are five principles of practice that guide educators in creating more inclusive, fair, and critically engaged learning environments.
Belonging
Definition. Creating a learning environment where all students feel respected, included, and emotionally safe.
Belonging is about students being able to bring their whole selves to university, seeing themselves reflected in the curriculum, and knowing they can do so in a safe and supportive environment. When students feel represented and valued, they are more able to engage fully with higher education and to contribute authentically to learning communities.
“Everybody feeling like the things that are being taught are applicable to a wide group of people and doesn't sideline anybody. Also, that you feel like you belong to the place you're studying.” — Student
“I ensure students have a range of voices that they are welcome to bring to the classroom. I ask students to reflect on a context that they might belong to, or they were born in, and bring those experiences into the classroom and see them as valuable things that we one can learn from.” — Staff member
Equity
Definition. Ensuring all students have fair opportunities to succeed.
Equity is about recognising and removing barriers that arise from different forms of inequality in higher education. These barriers may be explicit or more visible, such as financial or accessibility challenges, or implicit, such as the hidden curriculum and unspoken norms that some students may be less familiar with. Addressing these barriers is essential to DDtC, as it ensures that diverse perspectives can be engaged with on an equal footing.
““…office hours for certain classes can feel a little bit like a men's club. Rather than anyone feeling completely welcome to join the conversation, it was just maybe like a little bit intimidating in that way.” — Student
“Providing all students with opportunities to show the best of themselves. I think it's hard, it's difficult, but that's got to be the goal. And that the skills you're trying to teach people, making sure that everyone gets the best chance to show them.” — Staff member
Agency
Definition. Providing students with opportunities to influence, choose and have autonomy over aspects of their learning.
Agency is about student empowerment and voice in the learning process. In the context of DDtC, redistributing power allows students to shape their own learning and contribute knowledge, rather than passively receiving it. Enhancing agency helps students to see themselves as active participants in the academic community.
“I decided that what I needed to do was get the student voice in the space. I use Mentimeter where students can actively ask you questions or they can signal whether they are enjoying the content or not by pressing the happy button if they like it.” — Staff member
“...it's adapting to the students’ needs and also I think in terms of teaching style, it's letting students as well shape kind of their own educational experience.” — Student
Critical Disruption
Definition. Challenging dominant norms and assumptions by naming power, questioning ‘neutrality’, and making space for structural critique.
Critical disruption asks students to interrogate the frameworks within which knowledge is produced and to recognise the cultural and institutional perspectives embedded in approaches that appear ‘neutral’. Cultivating this lens supports students to engage with learning in more reflective, analytical, and socially aware ways.
“I think, I think it's less about the topic that's being taught and more about the perspective from which it's approached. So certainly there'll be some modules which are absolutely about EDI, right? But I think that there are actually really Western centric ways of teaching about EDI just as much as there are really Western centric ways of teaching about economics, right? I think you can approach that in a really corporatised way, which isn't particularly servicing the interests of decolonisation.” — Staff member
“…so, ensuring that it's not just a single perspective or like a very biased and skewed to what the module leader thinks, it should just be informative for the students…” — Student
Openness
Definition. Valuing multiple and pluralistic ways of knowing, by integrating diverse perspectives.
Openness is about multiplicity; recognising that knowledge can be approached in different ways, without one tradition being privileged over others For DDtC, it creates space for curiosity, comparison, and dialogue across perspectives, helping students to engage with complexity and appreciate alternative viewpoints.
“I remember there were students from many different cultural backgrounds, and everybody was listened to, and everybody had different views and we kind of debated and argued around them, and the teacher also presented views from different angles So, I think that was quite interesting.” — Student
“I would really want my students to have a globalised perspective and not just have examples from the West. I like to bring in indigenous perspectives into my teaching so that students are also aware of the other assumptions or perspectives that are out there.” — Staff member