It is time to rethink our approach to including students with more significant challenges in our secondary schools.
We have been able to promote friendships at elementary school, but once we get to secondary school, we segregate rather than include. When we do include, we do so with Educational Assistants (EA) who appear to be attached to their side. We must create opportunities for all students to be friends and accepted.
Teenagers need to be with each other and not with other adults. The best way to learn how to be a teenager is to hang out with other teenagers. All kids have interests and passions, and they come out. Sometimes, we are afraid of other students' reactions and worry that they will hurt the feelings of our students with disabilities.
I have a story of a student who has a particular interest in time travel. He was included in classes at the secondary level but always with an EA. He did not sit with the other students; whenever he was unhappy with what was going on in the class, he watched movies about time travel.
At the beginning of the year, his classroom teacher for a computer course questioned this practice. She wanted to know why Bobby could not sit with the rest of the class during conversations and participate. It was quite a struggle to move to a point where Bobby was more comfortable. There was much discussion with Bobby, his EA, and his teacher. The teacher pointed out that Bobby was invited to participate as a class member. If he chose not to, that was ok, but it did not mean he could do whatever else he wanted because that was not what being a class member was about.
The teacher did many team-building activities, and Bobby was initially reluctant to participate. There were a few outbursts at first by Bobby, but the teacher stayed true to her desire for Bobby to be a contributing part of the class. Slowly, Bobby joined. He was willing to be in groups, but only in some community-building activities. The teacher acknowledged his “right to pass.”
As the year went on, the classroom teacher wanted to give the students the experience of creating and presenting a PowerPoint in front of the class. As a bit of a twist, she said it would be like Dragon’s Den, the popular TV show where entrepreneurs vote to invest money in innovative projects. She wanted everyone to think of a business pitch and present it using PowerPoint. Each student had 1500 points to allocate to one or more of the pitches.
Bobby created a presentation on a time travel machine. The teacher wondered if the other students would make fun of the idea, as it seemed a little “out there.”
On the contrary, the students were glued to his every word and voted him the prize won by the best pitch.
The teacher reflected on her success. She had built up the class culture so that every student’s opinion would be respected. She had indeed included Bobby in the class. Rather than sitting alone with his EA, he now participates with peers. His EA could roam the classroom, interact with other students, and support Bobby.
Most importantly, the teacher was confident Bobby would bring his best to classroom activities.
We need more of these kinds of stories: courageous teachers willing to say: “That may happen in other classes, but it’s not happening in mine. We can do better than this.”
Dr. Jacqueline Specht is a Professor of Education at Western University, London, and Director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education.