Reframing learning environments and mindsets to ensure education equity and inclusion

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) considers education as an important priority as it is a basic human right where peace-building efforts and the constant drive for sustainable development is founded upon. UNESCO’s Global Education 2030 Agenda includes a worldwide movement to eliminate poverty through 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” (https://www.unesco.org/en/education/action)  While it aims to ensure that each student is provided with equal and personalized opportunity for educational progress, challenges still abound in almost all countries. Notwithstanding the organization’s admirable efforts towards achieving this goal over the last 20 years, more efforts are required to curtail the barriers to learning and to guarantee that all learners in schools and other learning settings experience a genuine inclusive environment. 

In a recently concluded webinar billed as “Restructuring schools and learning environments for inclusion” (the second of a series), Inquirer Interactive, together with the Nisai Education Trust and UNESCO IITE gathered key opinion education leaders to exhaustibly discuss the issue of equity and inclusive practices by reforming schools and mindset to champion the quality of education for all.  Speakers included Indonesia’s Takim Andriono, and Emma Longley and Tristan Williams from the United Kingdom. Together, they urged all school leaders and educators to take a closer look at how schools and learning environments can be restructured, reconfigured, and realigned towards inclusive education.

Expounding equity and inclusion

Defining inclusion and equity and what it might look like in schools and colleges is the first step to understanding these goals and the value it brings to the environment that children are learning in.  Longley, a senior fellow at Greenwich University, believes that inclusion means thinking about the values, listening to the child, and listening to the parent, and even the community they are living in, getting their point of view, and fully understanding what their experiences are like.  “Equity is not necessarily that everybody gets the same. Every child has their specific needs, and we have specific things that we need to put in place for them, which might be different to what we put in place for other children.  That’s where our education and healthcare plans come in, based on their experience, and building on that,” she said. 

Longley said that thinking about the needs of the child, their experiences, and building on that is more important than thinking about examinations or the end result where teachers and school leaders think about what they know or need to be able to do to achieve that particular level.  “It’s about having high expectations, removing labels from children, and enabling them to have access to teachers and quality teaching, to thinking about their learning opportunities and also thinking about the wider community that they live in,” she emphasized.

It is imperative for educators, teaching staff, trainee teachers to look closely at the progress that children are making because their progress might not necessarily be measurable in terms of their academic advances. Basic interaction such as confidence, participation, engagement, behavior for learning, mental health, are important gauges in providing support so that these children could achieve the concept of how to be a good citizen and how success will look like for them in the future. 

 “We acknowledge that there are certain barriers and challenges.  It could also be in the mindset of what people think about inclusion, could be historical norm, resources and money, or frustrations with the system,” she said. But she also agrees that intervention and support are really important to bridge the gap, considering everyone just came out from Covid, which has brought more social and emotional developmental needs.  Therefore, it is crucial to consider the learners, their families, and what evidence and research are available to support a good progress. Given these, Longley questioned: “Are we focused on doing what is right? Are we looking at the child’s ability or are we looking at potential?” 

Every student’s grasp of the world is different. Neurodiversity proves that our brain is unique and is shifting people’s mindset about what’s normal and not normal. A student’s impediment or deficit should be considered as a child’s different way of and behavior to learning thus.  Teaching, then, should be adapted to these differences to make sure that all children have opportunities to learn, albeit differently from one another. “Fair isn’t everybody getting the same thing. Fair is everybody getting what they specifically need in order to be successful,” Longley underscored.

It is also essential to think about how the world is viewed by the person viewing it, and because pupils could possibly be disabled by societal barriers and not their differences.  School leaders and educators should provide an environment that will enable easy access to the learning that is happening.  To achieve this, the environment should be assessed and questioned. Are school buildings equipped with facilities for children in wheelchairs? Does it have systems to support children with hearing or visual impairment?  

Longley cited that the UK Teacher Standards (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665522/Teachers_standard_information.pdf) encourage adapting teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils by knowing when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which enable them to be taught effectively.  Teachers should have a secure understanding of how a rage of factors can inhibit the pupil’s ability to learn and how best to overcome these. They also need to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special education needs (SEN), those with high ability, or students with disabilities, and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them. 

Teaching all pupils, including those with SEN is not just merely staying in the confines of convenience, because personal and professional qualities are always growing, and we need to lead that need and provision including people’s mindsets.  “Just thinking about what we are trying to achieve, there is also something about how we reframe, how we think about everybody.  We need to ensure that everybody realizes their own absolute potential. We need to champion all of our children.  We need to put them at the center of everything that we do,” she said.

How school leaders and policy makers could help ensure an effective and safe learning environment

Andriono, Chairman of TRAMPIL Indonesia Foundation and Visi & Misi Education Foundation, cited a new educational bill that promotes and encourages the implementation of inclusive education in formal early childhood education, primary, and secondary education, and special education.  However, in Indonesia alone, education faces significant challenges relating inclusive education with over 50 million students, 3 million teachers, and only 300,000 schools. Apart from the socio-economic disparity, schools in Indonesia are geographically apart from one another, being an archipelagic country. These gaps make it even more difficult for school leaders to navigate their schools towards implementation of inclusive practices.

UNESCO supports government education policymakers, practitioners, and key stakeholders in their efforts to develop and implement inclusive policies, programs, and practices that meet the needs of all learners.   Indonesia has adapted crucial aspects in promoting inclusive education such as legal framework and policies, government initiatives, curriculum adaptation, teacher training and development, accessible infrastructure, technology, community engagement and cultural sensitivity, among others. In fact, Indonesia’s national education system encourages accommodation for students with disabilities, students with special needs, intellectual disability, autism, visual/hearing impairment, physical motoric impediment, and even the gifted. (https://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/2007/act-republic-indonesia-number-20-year-2003-national-education-system-4216). Even Nadiem Anwar Makarim, Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Culture encouraged differentiation in the classroom through Freedom to Learn (2019) and Freedom Curriculum (2022), roadmaps towards a better education system in the country.

Being at the helm of TRAMPIL Indonesia Foundation, Andriono shared the Foundation’s Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a teaching approach that works to accommodate the needs and abilities of all learners and eliminates unnecessary hurdles in the process.  UDL, delves into the ‘why’ of learning (which is engagement for purposeful and motivated learners, stimulating interest and motivation for learning), the ‘what’ of learning (through the representation of materials for resourceful knowledgeable learners, and presenting information and content in different ways), and the ‘how’ of learning (through action and expression for strategic goal-directed learners, and differentiates the way that students can express what they know).

“This approach improves the learning experience for all. This means developing a flexible learning environment in which information is presented in multiple ways, so students engage in learning in a variety of ways as they are provided with options when demonstrating their learning,” he explained. If this initiative could be combined with Indonesia’s 2019 Freedom to Learn and 2022 Freedom Curriculum differentiation in the classroom, there will be promising opportunities to serve students with special needs.  “Of course, there is still so much to learn and accomplish.  We need to network with other countries and learn from each other.  We have a scale to it but how do we push our vision for all our children in every single classroom to every single interaction?  Having a sense of policy, practice, and consistency at national regional level is really critical to achieve the goal,” he said.

Ensuring a safe and equitable learning environment

Williams was a special school head teacher and a national leader of education in the UK and the Deputy CEO Venturers Trust.  His Venturers’ Academy Trust, a special school that caters to children with primary diagnosis of autism, supports and educates 4,000 children and 850 staff members. According to him, children with autism spectrum condition have the highest SEN as 80% of them have mental health difficulties.  In 2017, one in every 10 children had a mental health need; however, in 2023, four in 10 children have mental health needs.  Self-harm has increased 161% pre- and post- lockdown and eating disorders have increased 161% 600% pre- post- lockdown. Bullying and loneliness top two concerns of children and persistent absence is 2.5 times higher than pre-pandemic. 

“All profiles have changed and are changing so how do we ensure that children are happy and safe in school? Educators are guardians of their childhood, are we delivering to meet the needs of this cohort that is changing and will change?” he asked. “We want all our children, our staff members, and the whole community to be brave.  School communities are courageous and are able to transform the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable children, so that they feel happy and safe. We want them to come to school to learn and know that they are central to everything that we do. We want the local community to work together to improve life chances for all, one student at a time,” Williams added.

There is a need for a deep understanding of local needs and a clear focus on building strong family relationships and groups, so families could turn to each other and look for help at the point of need.  This will allow school leaders and educators to identify opportunities for shared learning between schools, where opportunities can emerge to create greater coherence for children as they move from nursery into the primary phase to secondary phase. There is also an escalated demand to identify opportunities and share those learning practices that facilitate smoother transition between phases for all children. 

It’s crucial for children to experience the world and he believes that building real life experiences helps them develop a better understanding of the world they live in thus, camping and field trips, and other interactive outdoor activities should be encouraged.  Curriculum also plays a major role, and it should be designed around researching, through listening to staff members and students, and to consider into the context their interests and concerns. Educators should make sure that their curriculum is meeting the needs of all learners at every level. Each phase of the curriculum should prepare students for adulthood and be independent as possible from adult support.  Teachers should know how to prepare the personalized curriculum, one that is based on experience, active communication, independence, individuality, and responsibility.

“We need to make sure that the curriculum is highly personalized, so we have a deep understanding of the children, and we are courageous enough to change the curriculum to meet the needs of those complex learners. It needs to be broad and balanced, making learners understand all subjects, creating equity of opportunity.  It should be a curriculum that engages pupils with the world and their community and reflects their experiences and enhances these using cultural capital. It should be focused on children from the day they were born until the day they leave the institution at 19 years old.  Given this curriculum, teachers should also leave the door open for them to move smoothly into the next step of their lives,” Williams explained.

Teaching as a relationship-based profession

Today’s society should be able to develop great teachers that really understand the needs of the communities, teachers who are courageous to stand bravely and be able to transform the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable children Coaching, mentoring, speech language therapy by clinical experts should be encouraged.  Therapists should work with teachers for professional development, and training about positive relationships, trauma informed approaches, making sure school staff are dynamic in meeting the needs of our children.  

“Sometimes, as educators we don’t have the answer, but we must be curious in our thinking.  If we can’t find the answer, who can I work with to hopefully find the answer so I can support the needs of the most complex children?” Williams posed a challenge to teachers.  

Resources and the proper learning environment are important but it’s the culture that exudes in schools and the relationships between the adults and the children, the interaction, and the understanding that teaching is a relationship-based profession is important clearly is the key thing that engages these children. “When these children come to school, it’s the eye contact that’s important, the hand that reaches out, the warmth that you show towards these children—these are the key elements for transforming the lives of these children and getting their education back on track,” Williams reminded.

Indeed, teaching is a relationship-based profession and reaching out to the most deprived and underprivileged, or those with impairment, deficit, and disability has become even more important now than ever before.  This clearly demonstrates how kindness and empathetic listening are key things that will ignite the passion of the children to learn.  By understanding, one becomes an active listener and gets a deeper understanding of what the student, family, and community is telling you thus active listening, empathetic listening, and also acting on those concerns provides the powerful benefits of equity and inclusion.