I read Haley Flaro’s commentary with her plea not to scrap New Brunswick's system. Children living with challenges to mobility aren’t the main focus in the grand scheme so Ms. Flaro should have no cause for concern. At least we can hope.
Inclusion isn’t working as well as it could, especially for those children whose challenges compromise their abilities to sit still, to comply with following directions and following rules, and not all of them have impediments to freedom of physical movement. Their deficiencies in those skillsets that actually compromise acquisition of knowledge frustrate the learning processes of the entire class as well as the teacher who is forced to wear several hats at once.That is the reality that classroom instructors face each and every day. It’s not fair.
For decades, educating the differently able, who often have depressed learning capabilities, has been a challenge to our Department of Education, school administrations and those on the front lines — the teachers.
We must not forget the impact that forcing an inclusion model to fit in a space where it will never fit has on those among us who have no voice — the students themselves.
Students who are intellectually advanced and require a curriculum that caters to the demand of their insatiable desire to learn get easily frustrated at being forced, yes, forced to slow down so that those who lag, through no fault of their own, can stay connected to the group. Not fair to either. Lots of children with challenges to mobility are of average or above average intelligence; they don’t need sound arms and legs to be gifted in maths, science, language arts and so on. What they need is a landscape that is as architecturally accessible as possible so that they may experience greater participation in those things that other students with no such challenges do with ease. That is a component of inclusion that must remain front and centre.
The ramifications of failing systems go beyond the poor test scores and classroom behaviour and it’s abundantly clear that a change needs to happen now, with no more time and money spent pondering how to tweak a plan that just won’t work. Spend both where they will work.
It’s time for common sense to prevail so that children will stop being punished and be able to get on with their job — the job of becoming accomplished and successful students to the best of their ability in environments that will meet their needs in the long-term. Short-term ‘bandaid’ solutions serve no one and cost everyone.
This forced compliance to stay the course with a model that won’t work is wasting valuable time and resources. Not to be forgotten is the essential waste of taxpayer dollars plodding along with continued failing grades in maths and science, and abyssmal literacy scores. The message these results send is clear - time for a change all around.
Efforts to improve the chances of successful inclusion actually begins in the home, with parents being as proactive and involved in their child’s life as they can be with regard to meetings special needs while the child still spends most of his time with the parent, in the home. Readying the child for the outside world, the real, the messy world, is the job of parents. Doing their part early on allows teachers to better gauge what the child will need within the 4 classroom walls.
For far too long, people have been locked into the notion that separating those with different learning styles, often coupled with behaviour problems and/or challenges to mobility is unacceptable given the goal of mainstreaming is inclusion. Take a step back and see what that rigid position is doing to the children. Because they just don’t get it, some children will become more frustrated and act out. The teacher, reacting or sometimes over-reacting, lowers the boom and unwittingly escalates the situation.
Having free-standing learning centres, either on or off campus allows students who may become ‘at risk’ out there in the world, to thrive in a non-threatening, less pressured environment — allowing them to be who they’re meant to be stimulates learning opportunities across a number of disciplines. What could be better than that?
Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca
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