I’ve been reading post after post of teachers bitching about how inclusion isn’t working… and of course it doesn’t – because what you’ve got right now has nothing whatsoever to do with inclusion.
Children of different abilities, dynamics, backgrounds, cultures, religions, sexes and whatever else are squeezed into classrooms together – That is not inclusion!!!! That is just being close to each other! Enforced closeness is only one step – they’ve missed the other gazillion steps before and afterwards that are necessary to create inclusiveness.
What schools think is inclusiveness?
Step one.. and only one: don’t exclude anyone (having everyone in the same group or class or area)…. And that’s it! End of task – job done, we are now ‘inclusive’.
Schools have missed all the other steps entirely and call the one and only step ‘inclusive’. It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard or come across. Putting everyone together is about step 5 of the job, it doesn’t start or end there; because putting everyone together actually ads barriers to equity, it doesn’t take it away.
The real first step in inclusiveness is undoing/removing prejudice and barriers. But what schools do- is keep all the prejudice and barriers in place and then just add more dynamics to it and then wonder why they are having behavioural problems and struggling teaching to such broad arrays of humanity – without first identifying those differences and acknowledging that what works for: middle class white heterosexual Christian AMAB’s without disabilities…..ONLY works for middle class white heterosexual Christian AMAB’s without disabilities. – everyone else is immediately excluded and has had massive barriers put in place before them by being added to that environment.
It's like having an existing vanilla cake mix. That cake mix (eg: the school system) works perfectly every time, because it is packaged as a vanilla cake mix (made for the average: middle class white heterosexual Christian AMAB’s without disabilities) – everyone knows it works and follows the instructions to put it together (eg: they’ve used it forever to teach to that middle /average stereotyped student in an environment set up for that middle/average student).
But now, they’ve decided to add more ingredients (students with differences) they’ve changed the recipe without changing the method used to put it together, or changed the container to cook it in or changed the way it’s baked –or changed the oven type or degrees or time. All they’ve done is jam the new ingredients into the old recipe and called it a vanilla cake (“inclusive cake”)… even though the resultant vanilla cake looks like disgusting mud cake with poop added, it is super undercooked in some areas and burnt in others, and the way it was cooked caused salmonella poisoning and the cake is also amazingly lopsided and fell apart when removed from the container. But they continue to call it vanilla cake and add the assumption that it’s now an ‘inclusive’ vanilla cake.
Call a spade a spade – it’s still a vanilla cake that’s been ruined… but not ruined by the addition of more ingredients, it’s been ruined by the inflexibility of adapting and changing the method. It could become a wonderful chocolate, rainbow layered cake with multifaceted flavours that suit all people with food intolerances, allergies and preferences, but instead it’s become poisonous to all humans.
You can’t call that new cake the same name but stick a ‘new improved flavour’ (eg: ‘inclusive’) sticker on it. We all know it’s not working. But teachers and politicians and even some parents are saying – go back to the vanilla cake. NO!!! please don’t do that. That cake was boring and bland and made the majority of society choke. Because the majority of society aren’t: middle class white heterosexual Christian AMAB’s without disabilities. The majority are in the other flavours, eg: female, LGBTQ+, BIPOC/ BAME, of religions other than Christian, older, younger, disabled, etc etc etc. The differences actually make up the majority of society – not the minority.
Mainstream schooling used to detriment girls (AFABs) – as girls were forced out of schooling by societies dictates that they not be educated and instead stay home and have babies. That changed, and schools changed slightly to detriment boys (AMABs) in some ways, eg: sitting silently without fidgeting or moving and listening – doing neat writing and following the rule of law. This is why AFAB’s started showing larger numbers in education (both in learning and in teaching roles). And now we have this schooling system that really suits neither, but no one will admit it…. And instead keep saying ‘it worked in the past, so it’ll work again’. No – get out of your delusions.
That cake recipe and method sometimes ended in a soggy cake. Sometimes because we added too much milk, too much egg or not enough, we forgot about it and over cooked it, we forgot an ingredient or the oven stopped working and didn’t cook it all the way through. In those cases we put up with it, we either threw it out (expelled the kid or they dropped out) but we still called it a success (because they are no longer your problem)… or we ate it anyway (passed the kids along but they hated school and just did it to get the cert at the end). This is inedible poisonous cake, but we say it’s a success because we hate admitting failure.
I’m not afraid to admit failure and to call my crappy cooking what it is. A shit attempt and a shit outcome. Let’s say it together – school is graduating kids with a shitty experience and education and calling it a success. That’s not success – it’s enforced ignorance and failure – or if you prefer: wilful ignorance and plausible deniability.
Please don’t call this a fault of ‘inclusiveness’. Because it isn’t… it’s the fault of the system to admit that fault. It’s their failure to admit they don’t have a clue what they are doing or to admit wrong doing or to ask for help. You know the old saying “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission”… No… you need to ask for help. We don’t forgive you and won’t either. Because we know how to fix it – and keep telling you how – but instead you keep on the broken track of blame and asking forgiveness. Get off your broken track and listen and learn.
Step 1: get rid of everything you are doing currently – scrap it completely
Step 1: Learn about those differences and what their needs are
· Eg; involve all the communities in what they need and want and what they need to exclude (excluding things like behaviourism and aged grouped classes are some of the most important things to the autistic community, but to another community – excluding something else may be most important things to them).
· Talk to and actively involve the LGBTQ+ community, the AFAB and AMAB community (no one is to be excluded, even if they were the ones the original system was built for – because that’s what equity is – including ALL people), BIPOC/ BAME, older generations, younger generations, disabled people of all sorts (not just visible disabilities, or not just autistics), all religions – all people!
Step 3: work with those people to come up with a school system, environment, culture, behaviour management system, bullying system, learning delivery methodology, and curriculum etc that works for all… not just for the minority white middle class Christian heterosexual with no disabilities.
Step 4: trial it somewhere with a cohort made up of all those different people in the one space.
Step 5: meaningfully make changes in true collaboration with all groups.
Step 6: Implement to all schools across the board.
Step 7: you now should have a truly inclusive school system. One that likely actually costs less than the current one – because millions of kids around the world wouldn’t be causing behaviour problems, or absconding, or dropping out, or suffering bullying and mental health issues, or hiring tutors, or experiencing school can’t, or requiring IEP’s or accommodations because everyone has what they need. And teachers wouldn’t be leaving the profession in droves, or suffering mental health issues or struggling to actually teach– because everyone is set up for success in the first place.
When you shove everyone in the one class without doing these steps above; you are teaching the ‘typical’/average child (and yourselves) that differences are only put in the one class because the school was told they have to – you are actually teaching kids (and yourselves) to disrespect differences and to hate them. You are teaching the ‘different’ children that they are barely tolerated, not accepted or appreciated – just endured – but with a fair amount of hatred.
The message you send to the world when you say “inclusion” doesn’t work – is “you should hate all people with differences – because they are the problem”. This is a complete fallacy, they are not the problem. The problem is your lip service to inclusion and then blaming it for your pathetic attempt at it AND your non-understanding of what it is and what you need to do to achieve it.