Best Practices for Inclusion
PISP District Partner Meeting
October 2013
What is Inclusive Education?
British Columbia promotes an inclusive education
system in which students with special needs are fully
participating members of a community of learners.
Inclusion describes the principle that all students are
entitled to equitable access to learning, achievement
and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their
educational programs. The practice of inclusion is not
necessarily synonymous with full integration in regular
classrooms, and goes beyond placement to include
meaningful participation and the promotion of
interaction with others.
BC Ministry of Education Policy Site
A Guiding Quote from a
Famous Thinker
Not everything that
can be counted
counts, and not
everything that
counts can be
counted.
Albert Einstein
Philosophical Orientation
The philosophical orientation we bring to this
meeting is grounded in striving to provide an
education for students that will result in an
enhanced quality of life now and in the future
This philosophy has been articulated by John
O’Brien as the foundation for designing
inclusive educational programs
Quality of Life Indicators
Five broad indicators are
suggested as the
foundation for designing
inclusive educational
programs to achieve
Quality of Life outcomes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Community Presence
Choice
Competence
Respect
Inclusion
Adapted from O’Brien, J. (2005)
1. Community Presence
• The sharing of
ordinary places that
define community life
• Without intentionality
to this goal students
are at risk of being
separated from
everyday settings by
“special” activities,
and different
schedules
• Presence increases
both the number of
ordinary places
students know and
the number of people
who know them
Community Presence
2. Choice
• The experience of
autonomy in small
everyday matters (e.g.
what activity to choose)
and in large matters that
define your life (e.g. with
whom you live)
• Without intentionality
students will be passive
and without voice
• Valued activities increase
the variety and
significance of the choices
students will make
Choice
3. Competence
•
•
•
The opportunity to perform
functional and meaningful
activities with whatever level of
support is required
Without intentionality students
will be deprived of the
expectations and opportunities
that lead to the development
of greater competence
Valued activities provide the
opportunity to build
competence and the
opportunity to be seen as a
competent individual
Competence
4. Respect
• Having a valued place
with others and a valued
role in community life
• Without intentionality a
student’s access to
valued roles will limit
opportunities to be seen
and valued as an
individual
• Valued activities
challenge stereotypes
Respect
5. Inclusion
• The experience of being
involved in networks of
personal relationships that
include close friends
• Without intentionality students
are at risk of being restricted
to close family and paid
supports
• Inclusion provides
opportunities to develop
variety in relationships
Inclusion
Inclusion
A Closing Quote from
Shakespeare
The accumulation of supporting
experiences of various forms
eventually leads individuals to
feel securely that they are
capable and competent people
and that they can be confident
in knowing that there are
significant others who believe in
them, who love them and who
can be counted on in a crisis.
Having this social network
empowers people to live more
effectively and, indeed, more
healthily and for longer.
Tom Shakespeare (2006)
It is important that these values be
modeled by everyone in the student’s
life so that others will come to hold them
as well
All students benefit from inclusive education.
It allows them to develop individual strengths and gifts,
with high and appropriate expectations for each child.
Work on individual goals while participating in the life of
the classroom with other students their own age
Involve parents in their education
and in the activities of their local
schools.
Foster a school culture of respect and belonging.
Inclusive education provides opportunities to learn
about and accept individual differences.
Develop friendships with a wide variety of other
children, each with their own individual needs and
abilities.
Positively affect both their school and
community to appreciate diversity
and inclusion on a broad level
Three Approaches that hold Promise for
Facilitating Inclusion
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Differentiated Instruction
• Assistive Technology
Universal Design for Learning
The Center for Applied Special Technology
(CAST), a leader in the field of universal
design states that Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) is a new paradigm for
teaching, learning and assessment, drawing
on new brain research and new media
technologies to respond to individual learner
differences.
http://www.cast.org/
"The central practical premise of UDL is
that a curriculum should include
alternatives to make it accessible and
appropriate for individuals with different
backgrounds, learning styles, abilities,
and disabilities in widely varied learning
contexts”.
“The ‘universal’ in universal design does
not imply one optimal solution for
everyone. Rather, it reflects an
awareness of the unique nature of each
learner and the need to accommodate
differences, creating learning
experiences that suit the learner and
maximize his or her ability to progress."
CAST
Benefits of a UDL Approach
• allows students to demonstrate strengths,
knowledge, skills, and independence,
• merges the processes of instruction and
assessment,
• encourages the student to engage in learning
that is meaningful and appropriate, and
• provides multiple opportunities for measuring
significant progress.
Online Learning Tools
Tools are available online at the CAST
website such as “UDL Book Builder”
and “Science Writer” facilitate
development of learning materials to
address a variety of student needs (e.g.
text to speech, animated helpers) and
tutorials on developing UDL materials.
Differentiated Instruction
"Differentiation
suggests it is
feasible to develop
classrooms where
realities of student
variance can be
addressed along
with curricular
realities.
The idea is compelling.
It challenges us to draw
on our best knowledge
of teaching and
learning. It suggests
that there is room for
both equity and
excellence in our
classrooms.”
Carol-Ann Tomlinson
Online Learning Resources
Appropriate curriculum modifications are essential to
the inclusion process.
Online Learning Modules are available on the PISP
website http://www.pisp.ca
and the BC CASE website http://www.bccase.org/learning.shtml
to assist teachers differentiate instruction, retrofit, and
design learning materials using UDL principles.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology
whether low or
higher tech can be
key to facilitating a
student’s active
participation and
inclusion
A trend we will
probably see over
the next few years
will be to move
away from
dedicated assistive
technologies to
more generic
devices.
Advances in generic
technology hold a
great deal of
promise for users
with severe
disabilities to access
technologies used
by their peers
Local Assistive Technology Resources
SET-BC
http://www.setbc.org/
CanAssist
http://www.canassist.ca/
PISP
http://www.pisp.ca
In summary
A philosophical orientation based on an
intentional commitment to Quality of Life
outcomes for students with severe
disabilities in combination with Universal
Design approaches, differentiated
instruction and advances in technology
are necessary to facilitate best practice
in inclusive education.
A Slide Show Presentation
Developed by Terry Wendorf showing
examples of PISP students in inclusive
and integrated settings.