Inclusive Education: An Attempt to Reconcile

Inclusive Education

"Inclusion is not a strategy to help people fit into the systems and structures which exist in our societies; it is about transforming those systems and structures to make it better for everyone. Inclusion is about creating a better world for everyone." - Diane Richler, Past President, Inclusion International 

*Picture derived from Tanenbaum's Seven Principles of Inclusive Education

What is Inclusive Education?
Inclusive Education is a method of teaching that focuses on providing opportunities for students to feel represented, heard and included in what is being taught. Not only does it focus on administering a curriculum of varied cultural content, but aims to do so in a way that is inclusive to each individual students' learning style, preferences, interests and cultural and spiritual backgrounds. This is done through varied topics, forms of assessment and through the choice of presenting one's knowledge and understanding that best suits that student. The goal of Inclusive Education is to encourage and achieve success in all students on an academic level, but also on emotional, intellectual and social levels.

Why is Inclusive Education Important?
As is the focus of this blog, I am aiming to use my platform as an educator to help the reconciliation process between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Government. The trauma that The Indigenous Community has experiences in the last number of years is still very much present, regardless of the extinction and closure of Residential schools. The Government has taken small steps in beginning the reconciliation process by formal apologizing and aiming to do better. However, this process is a lifelong one, as we hope for our relationship with Indigenous Canadians to be as well. Learning how to integrate the Inclusive Educational pedagogy into our classrooms is a very important way that we can begin to reconcile and promote a better future for this relationship.

This page provides teacher resources catered to the intermediate grade levels (grades 7-10). These resources are a compilation of personal and academic research I have conducted throughout the entire course.

Direct Teachings:
Below is a resource that can be used in your intermediate classrooms that directly teach about the issues, cultures, histories and traditions of Indigenous people. This resource can be used cross-curricular, combining these topics and lessons with curriculum expectations of your cross-curricular subjects. This document is a resource for teachers that provides lesson plans and teaching strategies focused on encouraging self-reflection within students when it comes to social issues surrounding FNMI. The document is organized in a way that reflects the Medicin Wheel as an educational philosophy, focusing on the holistic learner in four parts: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/deepeningknowledge/UserFiles/File/UploadedAmina_/full-circle-first-nations-metis-and-inuit-ways-of-knowing.pdf

Integrated Topics:
The following resource is a way in which you can integrate topics, teaching styles and traditions of Indigenous culture into the Ontario curriculum. This document, although intended to coordinate with British Columbia's curriculum, is a great tool in learning how to integrate Indigenous perspectives into grade 8 and 9 mathematics. It incorporates traditions and games from Indigenous culture to help teach mathematics concepts.
https://swswlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/math-first-peoples-gr-8-9.pdf

Inclusive Education via Assessment:
The following is a list of assessment options that can help diversify your assessment to help reach inclusive education. By diversifying assessment, you are providing multiple opportunities for students of all cultural backgrounds to reach success, which is the goal of inclusive education. This document was provided by TUFTS University (2020), written by Angelo and Cross.
This document holds 50 classroom assessment techniques to achieve inclusive education.
https://provost.tufts.edu/celt/files/Techniques-for-Assessing-Course-Related-Knowledge-Skills.pdf