The landscape of education has changed dramatically over the past few years. Inclusion in our schools and classrooms has become a very important topic of discussion.
One of my favourite presenters is Dr. Shelley Moore and her Five Moore Minutes. One can learn a lot in five minutes or less from this wonderful human! Her video “United: Inclusion AS Unity” talks about the evolution of her own model of inclusion. Please, take the time to watch it 👇🏻
Take a minute to think about what inclusion in the classroom looks like to you? My own idea of inclusion has changed over the years. Classroom composition was much different when I attended elementary, junior high and high school than my own kids’ classrooms are today. In order to teach for decolonization and open our classrooms to inclusive education spaces we must take what we’ve learned and unlearn it; relearn what we need to be successful and keep on learning!
The acronym EDID stands for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization.
Equity is a key piece in the EDID model as it essentially the glue that holds the reality of diversity and the goal of inclusion together. As I listened to one of our lectures, my sketch of diversity and inclusion was connected by an infinity symbol because in my mind, there is no end to their relationship.
Equity should not be confused with equality.
Above: Visual representation of equality vs equity. Image courtesy of the Interaction Institute for Social Change.
Diversity is quite literally the acknowledgment of differences. This may come from differences in perspective and lived experiences in both societal and educational settings, both of which have an impact on our student’s daily lives. Diversity in education is ever growing and consistently becoming more complex. The pressure placed on our teachers to meet the needs in our complex classrooms is huge. Diversity is something to be celebrated as long as classroom teachers have any fuel left in their tanks to throw a celebration.
Every one of our students has a place in both education and society. When we are able to connect the ideas that we need to recognize the diversity of our students with the goal of all people being welcomed as they are and identify that they feel like they fully belong, that is when we have reached inclusion. Inclusion when it come to education may be in the form of accessibility, but it also might speak to recognizing the diverse ideas and knowledge and have these contributions valued and supported in the classroom.
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to the decolonization of education is opening up the doors and windows to different ways of knowing. Our current system operates under the assumption that all of those enrolled in our schools have the same basic Western knowledge base while giving little to no credit to our Indigenous knowledge systems. This also applies to our immigrant populations who likely come from different educational backgrounds where school spaces and places may be much different than our Canadian counterparts.
The STF shares a powerful film on their website discussing the topic of decolonization in our own province.
Another big change in our education landscape is the acknowledgement of gender. This video provides some ideas on how to create a gender friendly classroom.
At the end of the school day, each and every student has the right to quality education. Everyone must feel safe and supported and it is up to us educators to make this all happen!
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