The definition of inclusion according to the Webster's New Dictionary is the "act of including". The definition of inclusive is "including everything". Asking a child with a physical handicap to stay home from a school-wide skating field trip is not inclusion nor is it being inclusive.
The definition of diverse, according to the same book is "different" and diversity is "the state of being diverse". When our school district states that they promote "acceptance and respect for diversity" then I would suggest that they can only do that if provisions are made to support disabled kids in the various field trips that occur at our school. That means SEA hours, resources, money.
There needs to be much more dialogue about incidents like these. In order for our schools to be inclusive and to truly accept and respect diversity, changes must be made. I hate to use this old cliche, but it needs to be said. We can't just talk the talk, we have to walk it too.
School is for learning. The way I learned to skate was by skating. If a disabled child can't begin to learn to skate, on a school field trip in Canada, then something is seriously wrong.
The definition of diverse, according to the same book is "different" and diversity is "the state of being diverse". When our school district states that they promote "acceptance and respect for diversity" then I would suggest that they can only do that if provisions are made to support disabled kids in the various field trips that occur at our school. That means SEA hours, resources, money.
There needs to be much more dialogue about incidents like these. In order for our schools to be inclusive and to truly accept and respect diversity, changes must be made. I hate to use this old cliche, but it needs to be said. We can't just talk the talk, we have to walk it too.
School is for learning. The way I learned to skate was by skating. If a disabled child can't begin to learn to skate, on a school field trip in Canada, then something is seriously wrong.
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