There are few issues that have emerged for me from my readings that “burn” me: race, gender, and inclusion. Inclusion, I feel, bothered me most because I can discuss inclusion from perspectives of race, gender, ability, economics and the list goes on.
As a teacher who deals with special needs of students, I become frustrated by the exclusion my students’ experiences. I cannot count the number of times I have had to approach a colleague to say Mary’s IEP states this or that so that she can better complete the task you have assigned. They do not always agree with me. Sometimes, I wonder if this is how my students feel, 15 and taking on a 50 year adult as to why the process has to be changed if they are to meet their personal best and full potential as students! It is frustrating to discuss and/or debate the need for change with someone who is not ready to listen, or someone who believes teaching is a top-down process. Sometimes when a teacher stops talking is when the learning really begins. The dialogue that occurs in a classroom, the questions that are asked and the responses given, is important for a teacher to observe and use when planning. How are we to challenge our students to think critically if we don’t listen to them? How are we to know what critical tools to plan for introduction? How are we to discover the tools that we may be missing critically?
I really do believe everyone has something to contribute to the discussion and that the classroom has to be a safe place where students can be encouraged to do so. I have discovered as a teacher that I have had similar experiences as some of my students and some experiences I will never have. I have had many experiences. I have been the English as a second language student and the Latin student but I have not been the student of colour, physical disability or learning disability. I have something to share, my experiences, but also have something to learn about, the experiences of others.
In the last 3 years I have worked to foster self-advocacy in my students. I want my students to know and understand who they are and what they need to be successful and present. I want them to feel and know they are “someone”. I want them to read the world around them, examine it and question it. I do not want my IEP students to accept things as they are; they should know that in our school setting they can and should examine the world and how they fit into it, and are part of it, while being supported. They should feel that their teachers are on their side, that teachers want the best for them. When students do feel that their teachers are on their side, the classroom becomes inclusive, becomes accepting and safe. Teachers have the opportunity to be positive role models of inclusion; I feel they have the responsibility to be the best role models possible.
