Inclusive Ed: How can we do it?

As future educators, we find ourselves grappling with the complex dynamics of inclusive education, recognizing the pressing need to navigate its challenges within a system that frequently falls short of true inclusivity. Despite the existence of regulatory frameworks that may appear to promote equality on the surface, we are acutely aware of the stark contrast between these performative measures and the genuine inclusivity we strive to cultivate within our classrooms. In this journey, we are confronted with the task of not only understanding the principles of inclusion but also actively working to embed them into the fabric of our educational institutions, thereby fostering environments where every student feels valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. This weeks lecture focused heavily on the idea of inclusivity vs equality and I believe Simone hit some major points when discussing inclusive ed and how she aids in structuring learning at VISII.

Using Technologies to Support Diverse Learning Needs is a youtube video that we watched in this lecture and something that really stuck with me. As technology use within classrooms are on the rise there still is a ton of questions and uncertainties that surround this topic. However, after watching this video you can see how helpful tools like this can remove barriers for students which at the end of the day is so important in providing a healthy climate within the class and school community.

Something that we are battling now throughout this program has been similar concepts. There’s a large group (including me) that have felt this program in particular has differing standards when it comes to student teacher expectations and the expectations we should have of our future students. While I know that post secondary institutions are a vastly different environment than elementary schools I do still believe that the type of care, patience and flexibility should be embedded into any culture of teaching or learning. This idea of burnout and scrambling for 4 months trying to stay on top of assignments and sometimes exams is just so outdated that I am surprised that it is still a useable platform in education practices. As much as I KNOW systems take an eternity to change and that there have been major progressions with teaching and school systems itself it is still hard to balance what we’re expected to teach and how we’re expected to learn all at once.