​
​A sheet of paper rests on the table top.  Two opposing teams lob legal jargon back and forth across the table, staying laser focused on the document between them.  The plaintiff makes their case, and the defense makes theirs. The nonstop clickity-clack of fingers on keys fills the air as the recorder captures every word, every detail.

For a moment I forgot where I was. Was this a courtroom?

No. It was an IEP meeting.

It was the first one I’d ever attended, so I was shocked by how legalistic the whole thing was.

Weren’t we talking about a child? A real-life person who we all knew and cared about?

There was no human aspect to the meeting; it was sterile, rote, mechanical. We were dissecting a document.  It had become all about the sheet of paper. 

​Well, that and making sure no one pulled any fast ones on each other. Which everyone seemed fully convinced was going to happen.  There was no trust, and we’d forgotten all familiarity.

Perhaps as a coping mechanism, I caught myself daydreaming back to what felt like a past life, where students with disabilities were treated like humans, and where educators and families partnered together to collaboratively meet the needs of the child.  Where students took an active role in advocating for their own needs, sitting at the same table as the adults if the conversation was about them. (It was their education, after all.)

It felt so far away.  I let my mind take me back there for a moment.​

​Flashback to another place and time...

Being part of a school start-up team was one of the most formative experiences of my career.  We had the unique opportunity to build a school basically from scratch, designing every aspect of the experience to reflect what we believed to be best for our students.  

The school we were building was specifically purposed to serve students with a range of disabilities-- ADHD, Autism, and other learning differences. 

Instead of IEPs, students got to know themselves by creating Learner Profiles that captured their unique learning style, regulation strategies, strengths and challenges.  

Instead of high-stakes standardized testing, they curated portfolios of work that they showcased at Celebration of Learning events.  

Instead of stuffy formal menus of accommodations and modifications (that rarely get followed correctly), class size was small enough that teachers could truly know the students and tailor the experience to their needs.

Instead of students with differences being suspended or expelled at disproportionate rates, we designed a school-wide positive behavior support system that met students where they were and helped them acquire the skills they needed to find success in a school setting.
​

​
The only trouble with the environment I just described is that it technically wasn't "inclusive" by definition. In fact, it was purposely exclusive-- a whole school built just for students with disabilities.  But I wanted more kids to have access to that kind of education.  I knew it was time to try scaling up and sharing it in the public school world.

As you may have noticed in the first vignette above, I was a little naive with my ambitions and clueless about what it would take to bridge the gaping canyon between education as I'd known it in my tiny bubble, and what was going on in the wider public education world.

Regardless, I still haven't given up hope and I never will. I believe education can be better and can serve all kids well.

So how do we do it?
We co-create an inclusive experience.
​

​#2)  INCLUSIVE

Let's start with some definitions. At Co-CreatED, we define inclusive a little more... well... inclusively, to be frank. 

We're talking differences in any of the dimensions of identity and culture.  
​Because inclusive means just that: it includes everyone.​
  (PS: Rosetta Lee, who made that model, is awesome!)

​There are three particular elements of inclusion that if approached differently, could result in radically different outcomes for our students.​

Whether you lead a classroom, a school, a district, or otherwise, these tips will help you do the self-work necessary to reframe your mindset around inclusion.  Change comes from within. That's not to disregard the systemic factors at play-- trust me, I rack my brain about those pieces all the time, too.  I know individual change can only go so far without systemic change.  But ya gotta start somewhere, and looking inward is an important first step.

TRY THESE 3 INCLUSION POWER PLAYS:

​​
1.  Want to be inclusive across ability differences?
​

• ​​[X]  STOP categorizing kids into three fake buckets.
  • There is no such thing as “special ed,” “general ed,” and “gifted ed.”  Humans don’t fit neatly into boxes, so those categories are made up and unhelpful. Time to ditch them.
    ​
• ✅  START using Universal Design for Learning.
  • Everything exists on a spectrum. Serve all kids and accept that they come with a range of differences.  If you teach to the edges, you will inevitably reach the middle, too.
    ​
  • It looks like this:​

​Learn more  HERE.

2.  Want to be inclusive across racial/ethnic differences?

• ✅  START bulking up your Cultural Proficiency. 
         (What's that, you ask? Click the link to find out!)
  • Quiz: where are you on the cultural proficiency continuum right now?
    • Answer the questions HERE and HERE to self-assess your cultural proficiency. That will give you an idea of your baseline, then you can grow from there.
      ​
• ​​[X]  STOP looking outside yourself for the answers...
  • ...until you've done the self-work first. Because cultural proficiency begins within.  We cannot understand others until we examine ourselves: our own biases, assumptions, and stereotypes that we may not even realize that we have (but we ALL do!). ​

Try this activity to discover your own cultural identity:

3.  Want to be inclusive across socio-economic differences?

• ​​[X]  STOP operating from a “deficit model”  (...it’s blamey).  
  • A deficit model focuses only on what students lack, be it tangible resources at best (lack of home technology, lack of food or shelter), or assumed internal attributes at worst (lacking motivation, lacking parental guidance, lack of caring, lack of values, and other harmful stereotypes.)
    
    
• ✅  START operating from a “both/and” model:
  • 1.  Asset-based:  Students living in poverty bring many assets-- especially resiliency-- to the classroom.  They are individual people with a range of unique traits. Build on those!
                                                *AND*
  • 2.  Poverty-aware, trauma-informed:  Living in poverty can result in trauma for many students, which affects the brain.  Learn how poverty and trauma affect the brain and use it to inform your educational practice.  
    
    “Both/and” thinking considers the whole person: the assets they bring to the table, along with the very real external factors that can affect their readiness to learn.  Both matter, and neither is as effective in isolation as the two are combined. ​

Buy Eric Jensen's book, Engaging Students With Poverty in Mind.
You won't regret it.  See:

IN CLOSING...

Make no mistake: leading a classroom or a school full of widely diverse learners is  Really.  Hard.  Work.

​One teacher trying to reach students across a range of ability differences, racial/ethnic differences, socio-economic differences, and more is a BIG undertaking, not for the faint of heart.  Then throw co-teaching in the mix and you get a whole other set of challenges to navigate ("you mean I have to share my classroom with another grown up?!").

At Co-CreatED, we don't believe there are easy solutions to complex challenges.  Inclusion is a big deal, and we'll only improve it by combining the necessary self-work with the necessary systemic and policy work.

​
To continue the self-work, check out:

• https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/fact-sheet/whats_sharing_power_got_to_do_with_trauma-informed_practice_2.pdf
• https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/351/Leading-Learning-for-Children-From-Poverty.aspx
• https://www.cosa.k12.or.us/sites/default/files/images/13th_handout.pdf
• https://www.cosa.k12.or.us/sites/default/files/images/networkcoachengagementorganize2_27_14f.pdf
• https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/for-educators
• https://udl-irn.org/
• https://inclusiveschools.org/classroom-strategies-for-diverse-learners/

​To get involved on a systemic level, check out:​

• https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_ahead/how-can-teachers-influence-decisionmakers/
• https://educationalequity.org/
• https://edtrust.org/
• https://www.crpe.org/
• https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/teacher-activism-education-reform/
• https://georgiaopportunity.org/

​THE 4 SECRET INGREDIENTS IN A CO-CREATED EDUCATION

At Co-CreatED, we are in relentless pursuit of making education humanizing and equitable for all students. To do that, we think there are 4 big “secret ingredients.”

A co-created education is:

1. Empowering
2. Inclusive
3. Rigorous
4. Supportive

These BIG FOUR are where the magic happens. They are the make-or-break difference between education that maintains the status quo and education that disrupts it for the better. 

​The question is, what do we mean by those 4 terms, exactly?

This week, let’s take a look at the first ingredient: empowering.

​#1)  EMPOWERING

How can you tell whether a learning experience is empowering?

There are two key features to look for:

​I.   Empowering through a student-centered approach:

• There's a partnership.
  • Student and classroom leader (f.k.a. "teacher") are co-creating the learning path together. The classroom leader brings professional expertise to the table; the student brings individual passions, interests, needs, strengths, and perspective. Both add value.
    
    
• There's ownership.
  • Students take ownership of their learning path. They set goals, reflect, exchange feedback, and adjust.  They take pride in their work, seeing it as meaningful and important.
    
    
• There's a power-balance.
  • Power is shared.  Students have ample voice & choice, and they also still know what their boundaries are.  The classroom leader is seen as a caring authority, which makes students feel simultaneously valued and secure. Respect is mutual.
    ​
• Human nature counts.
  • Every element of the experience-- from instruction to schedule to environment-- reflects awareness of the developmental needs and readiness of the child or adolescent.
  • Classroom leaders are well-versed in how the brain works, so they employ brain-based teaching and learning strategies
    ​
    

II.   Empowering through critical pedagogy:

• Step 1: Awareness.
  • Critical Issues are integrated throughout the curriculum so that students become aware of what’s going on in their community and in the larger world. Lessons are taught through an anti-bias framework and a social justice lens.
    
    
• Step 2: Action.
  • Students exercise voice and take action to bring about positive change.  Activities are relevant and meaningful to them, so they engage actively.​​
    ​
    

Student-Centered Learning visualized!  Everything exists on a spectrum, including learning. Check out these continuums, ranging from teacher-centered to learner-driven. In my experience, aiming for the happy medium on the continuum provides a developmentally appropriate balance. What do you think?  (Credits:  images by artist Sylvia Duckworth;  content by Barbara Bray & Kathleen McClaskey)

​MAKING IT PRACTICAL

While theory, conceptual understanding, and definitions are all necessary, they don't exactly paint a clear picture of practical application. This next section will ​shed light on what an empowered learning experience actually looks like and sounds like in action, including resources and tips that you can try out as early as tomorrow (well...except that it's July... anyway, you know what I mean!).
​
What does an empowering education sound like in real life?

SEE IT IN ACTION:

​First off, The Teaching Channel is such an awesome resource! They have hundreds of videos showing techniques and best practices put to use in real classrooms so teachers can learn from each other. I used it all the time when I was an academic coach, and it was super helpful! 

Here are 3 Teaching Channel videos that show what some of the key components of an empowered education look like.

​*DOABLE* 1ST STEPS YOU COULD TAKE TODAY:
​

• Ownership.   As you launch your next unit, have students set a learning goal for themselves. Use a simple format like, “I want to get better at ____” or “I want to learn more about ____.” Keep the goal somewhere students will see it (in sight, in mind!).  Students can check in with a partner weekly to monitor their progress.
  
  
• Brain-based.   Connect a concept to a movement. For example, draw the operation sign (+ - x ÷) in the air when you hear a key word in a math word problem (“Wow, you ran 50 meters? I ran 30 meters less than you.” → draw minus sign in air).
  ​
• Partnership.   Brainstorm a list of “ways we can show our learning” as a class. Students can choose from the list to demonstrate their learning of a new concept. You can suggest a shortlist that matches the task at hand.
  
  
• Critical pedagogy.   Think: “Is there a way I can teach this concept within a real-world context? Is there an issue going on in the world that students would be interested to act on?” Pick a standard you need to teach. Browse Teaching Tolerance, Zinn Ed Project, or Humane Ed Institute. Match them up to make critical pedagogy magic!
  ​