Inclusive education is being able to ensure that all students are welcome, supported and included in all that we do. During my practicums I made sure that all students, at all levels and cultural backgrounds were included into everything that we did. All students were equal. All students were treated the same and all students were given equal opportunity to be themselves.
Inclusive education is also about making sure that all students received the same quality education by effectively meeting everyones individual needs. In my PRAC 491, I had a student that needed help scribing. With her going into grade 8 middle school next year, she may or may not have the support she needs to succeed with the higher numbers of students, so her independance was our main goal. Our adaptations were minimal but it helped her immensely when we adapted her work load by taking out a few questions or only having to do a certain amount of the worksheet. This took pressure off of the student and made her less anxious. This adaptation prooved beneficial moreso at the end of the practicum where she felt more confident that she was able to finish her work on her own and around the same time as her peers. She felt heard, she felt that her needs were being met and she didn’t feel like she was falling behind like she did before.
Inclusive education to me is also having the students feel safe in their learning environment. Where they can speak openly about who they are and their beliefs as an individual without feeling like they don’t belong. Building those relationships can sometimes be a challenge but I found that when you step away from the lessons and academics and when you step away from the schoolwork, you open up the door to conversations that weren’t there before.
I opened my classroom on Monday mornings with “Circle” where students equally had a chance to express themselves, talk about the weekend and tell a story or two. Some were short to speak while others had taken us through their whole weekend of fun. This gave me the opportunity to get to know the students as well as students learning more about each other. Understanding one another on a different level besides school is something that helps the students connect with one another and to find similarities.
One other activity I did with my students was that we went on walks in the afternoon about twice a week. We talked with friends, opened up to one another and we were able to connect with a peer that some maybe have never connected with before.
I feel that there was a gap between different diversities, but it is changing. I can feel the shift. I also believe that being able to give the students the opportunity to understand different diversities, there will be more acceptance within the classrooms.