Tuesday 17 September 2019

Back to School: Inclusion and Exclusion


All through school, teachers did their best to make sure I was included.

I took French until the tenth grade. In Grade 6, it was common for students to go on a trip called Ecole du Neige (that's Snow School in English), a couple-day retreat to a camp where students spoke French, stayed overnight in cabins, and participated in outdoor, Wintry activities.

During the first parent-teacher meeting about the event, my parents, aide, and a couple other teachers were nervous about me going, but my French teacher, who was also leading the trip, advocated for my inclusion and said he'd find ways to accommodate me. I went, and most activities like game nights and snow fort building contests I did with everyone like normal, but for things I just couldn't do, like snowshoeing, I got to go snowmobiling, with my French teacher driving (he just wanted to do it, and I was his convenient excuse!)

In the eighth grade, my Gym teacher and aide coached the Boys' basketball and three-pitch teams. Since those were two sports I needed a lot of accommodations in order to do, my teacher came up with a clever way of including me. With her and my aide, I would act as assistant coach of both of those teams. I was tested on rules, had to attend the same practices and events, and had to follow the same conduct as the other players. 

Sometimes though, especially when I got into high school, exclusion had more benefits than inclusion.

All the accommodations in the world weren't going to prevent me from getting a dodge ball to the side of the head because I couldn't move quick enough. Same thing for games like rugby or floor hockey. 

And when I started to do exams and in-class essays, it wouldn't  have been fair to the teachers and other students who were concentrating on their work to have to hear me dictating to my aide, so doing these things in a separate, quieter room made more sense. 

Inclusion and exclusion. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. It's all up to personal preference. 

Cheers!

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