1. Chapter 1
1.1. Defining "Diversity"
1.1.1. "Diversity encompasses all children"
1.1.2. "Even a group of so-called typical learners from Caucasian, middle-class families are diverse in how they learn best."
1.1.3. "Teaching to diversity requires that teachers create a learning climate in the classroom and devise activities that allow all children to feel safe, respected, and valued"
1.2. Diversity and Social and Emotional Learning
1.2.1. "To teach such a range of individual students in one classroom, we must build a compassionate learning community that recognizes the deeper needs of all people, including a sense of safety, a sense of belonging, and the feeling of being part of something meaningful."
1.2.2. "The human mind cannot learn when overcome with a sense of anxiety, alienation, and stress"
1.2.3. "To combat alienation and the increasing rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicide (Modrcin-McCarthy and Dalton 1996) and at the same time meet academic and curricular demands, schools must explore instructional frameworks that integrate a spiritual paradigm within academic learning"
1.2.4. "By spiritual , I do not mean religious . Rather, I use it to mean teaching to the heart as well as to the mind, exploring the deeper meanings of what we learn, connecting with the community we learn and live with, and coming to know ourselves."
1.2.5. Social Inclusion and Social Exclusion
1.2.5.1. "Social inclusion recognizes the need that all people have for belonging, for acceptance, and for opportunities to participate fully and equally in economic, social, cultural, and political institutions. Inclusion also means recognizing and valuing diversity, engendering feelings of belonging that lead to social equality through the participation of diverse populations, including the disadvantaged."
1.2.5.2. "The United Nations, through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , and Canada, through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , make equality a constitutional right"
1.2.5.3. "Despite the policies of inclusiveness in every province and territory, more than half of the children with disabilities spend more than half of their learning time outside of the regular classroom (Canadian Council on Learning 2007)."
1.2.5.4. Five criteria for successful social inclusion:
1.2.5.4.1. 1. V alued Recognition: Conferring recognition and respect on individuals and groups.
1.2.5.4.2. 2. Human De velopment: Nurturing the talents, skills, capacities, and choices of children and adults to live a life they value and to make a contribution that both they and others find worthwhile.
1.2.5.4.3. 3. In volvement and Engagement: Having the right and the necessary support to make, or be involved in, the decisions affecting oneself, one’s family and one’s community, and to be engaged in community life.
1.2.5.4.4. 4. Pro ximity: Sharing physical and social spaces to provide opportunities for interactions, if desired, and to reduce social distances between people.
1.2.5.4.5. 5. Material W ell-Being: Having the material resources to allow children and their parents to participate fully in community life.
1.2.5.5. "Cultural capital is what parents hand down to their children — experiences with literature, language, field trips, travel, and intellectual discussion of beliefs and values, languages, and relationships. We can become more inclusive by valuing what our students do bring — their languages, experiences, talents, and cultural richness"
1.2.5.6. "Social inclusion involves sharing the wealth, which does not mean taking from one group to give to another."
1.3. Defining "education"
1.3.1. "Education must develop the whole child and cultivate all the skills, attitudes, and knowledge necessary for a person’s successful integration into society. Inclusive practices that aim to educate students in the full sense of that word must promote their social, emotional, and physical development in addition to their academic achievement."
1.3.2. "A growing number of studies suggest that children’s social and emotional learning can be fostered by intervention efforts in classrooms and schools (Graczyk et al. 2000; Greenberg et al. 2001). Given the data indicating the rising rate of children at risk (Greenberg et al. 2001), school-based programs and instructional paradigms that develop all children’s social and emotional learning must be a priority for educational researchers and teachers."
1.3.3. Diversity and Academic Complexity
1.3.3.1. "In the early years, kids learned together but as their talents became evident, we quickly placed them into ability groups, sometimes as early as grade one (reading groups, for instance)."
1.3.3.2. "We modified their programs so that they worked on math when the other kids did, but theirs was a separate math curriculum, usually practice activities on worksheets under the supervision of an educational assistant. This meant that the neediest learners were being taught by the least trained people and involved in the most rote pencil-and-paper styles of learning."
1.3.3.3. "The learners who were advanced in some way were also streamed or excluded, that is, sent to advanced placement and international baccalaureate programs, or gifted classes and other enriched opportunities. Such classes might be intellectually stimulating, but they are also socially isolating and frequently less culturally diverse."
1.3.4. Academic Inclusion and Exclusion
1.3.4.1. "inclusion is based on the assumption that all children have the right to be a part of the life of the classroom — socially and academically , and that schools need to create programs that accommodate and celebrate this diversity. In other words, we fit the program to the kids, not the kids to the program."
1.3.4.2. "Academic exclusion refers to denying the opportunity for an education, in the fullest sense of the word, to some individuals or groups of students: 1. the denial of enrolment in neighbourhood schools 2 . the lack of exposure to curriculum and instructional activities 3 . the absence of interactions with qualified teaching personnel and services 4 . the separation from peers during learning activities"
1.3.4.3. "We must get better at building capacity in our classroom teachers, and we must make clear their job is to teach all the students in their classroom, and I do mean all. Not only are students with disabilities often being taught by untrained personnel, they are also segregated from interacting with, and learning from, their typical peers — a situation that has serious outcomes, for all involved"