A Few Truths to Remember in the New School Year
By Jordyn Zimmerman, M. Ed.
As educators, we know all students belong.
In fact, our ultimate goal is to presume and cultivate the potential within every student, right? Yet sometimes, due to what is shared or our own discomfort, unease, and uncertainty about how students learn, communicate, interact, and more, we may create environments that reflect low or differing expectations of what students can do. At The Nora Project, we know a few things to be true, which I want to remind you of as we start a new academic year!
Inclusion is a right.
Sometimes we find ourselves trying to seek proof that inclusion really works. It’s often shared that placements must be “appropriate” before services and supports are provided. However, these are the very things that can make a placement appropriate and accessible for a student. When we provide the necessary support and tools, we create environments where students can thrive. When we have these thoughts or internal wonders, it’s essential to remember that there are no prerequisites or student “to-do’s” when it comes to students’ human and civil rights. Students don’t need to prove they belong or earn their place — all students belong as they are.
Students who are included now, are more likely to be included later.
The research* has been clear about students who are meaningfully included early, and throughout, their educational career. Future indicators of success— however that’s defined by an individual themselves— include being in community with classmates at a young age. When students are included in the school(s) within their own communities, they grow up living in their communities with people they know, as independently as they desire and with the supports they choose. To make this a reality though, we must teach students about the many ways of showing up in the world, present opportunities to work with people who are different from themselves, and celebrate as well as support all our collective strengths and challenges.
When we segregate students, we choose their community for them.
Students must be given the tools, support, and autonomy to decide the spaces they want to be part of. Empowering students to choose their own learning spaces does not leave them adrift, but rather empowers future planning and community building. When we choose a students’ space for them, we may negate their experience(s), part of their identity, their needs, or their dreams. Yet, when we value student choices, even and especially if we disagree, we send a message of belief and potential. We also set the groundwork for students to create and foster friendships with their chosen community of fellow learners.
There is beauty in ‘failure.’
Sometimes we might feel an immense pressure to succeed at all costs, especially in the classroom. However, this contributes to student anxiety and hinders a willingness to take risks. When we shift our perspective and allow some “failure” to be an opportunity for discovery and creativity, we can challenge perceptions of how things should or can be. Plus, meaningful inclusion embraces messiness and failure, as this is all part of what makes us human. And so, as I encourage you to embrace failure with students, I also encourage you to embrace failure with yourself. Challenge yourself to create a space that might lead to different outcomes than expected, and provide access in a new way. You might be surprised with the result.
To go deeper, The Nora Project has curricular units that teach students how to adapt to challenges and celebrate strengths! We teach all students about disability as part of human diversity, whether they identify as nondisabled, disabled now, or disabled in the future — because it’s important to take pride in ourselves and each other. No one should wait to see themselves represented in our education system and what we teach students must reflect the multitude of ways students show up.
We know everyone has a right to learn, to play, and to thrive together. But by opening our hearts and minds, we can make this a greater reality.
About the Author: Jordyn Zimmerman M. Ed.
As a nonspeaking autistic person who was denied access to effective communication until age 18, Jordyn Zimmerman has personal experience challenging the status quo, as featured in the documentary, This is Not About Me. Jordyn is a Program Strategy Manager for The Nora Project.
Never miss a post! Subscribe to the Nora Notes blog and get the latest delivered straight to your inbox weekly.