We Are Not Inclusive...Yet

Day 5 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge is all about helping our students be themselves and 'come out of their shells.' It is inspired by this blog post from Vanessa White which has really struck a chord with me.  Sadly, Vanessa's story is all too common.

Coming Out of His Shell - One Gifted Kid's Success Story

As teachers, we try very hard to respond to individual differences but sometimes this can, unfortunately, be in the form of trying to get students to comply and act in the same way.  With the pressures placed on today's teachers, this is understandable but it is not right.  We can't do this.  Not if we want all of our students to have a safe and nurturing learning and teaching environment.  We have to really embrace and celebrate those differences otherwise our students lose their identity and self-esteem as an individual.  See the person first - not the student.  

We say that we have an inclusive education system in Aotearoa New Zealand...but do we really?  Can we honestly say this - hand on heart - when so many of our children feel that they don't fit in?  Student voice is a powerful tool and over the past few weeks, I've read too many comments (around 120 from a student voice survey) from a wide range of students at different ages and stages who are saying that they don't fit in - they don't feel included.  

All children need a voice and need to know - and feel - that they fit in and are included as a valuable - and valued - member of the community, that they are equally as important as anyone else.  As teachers, we can make sure that happens by increasing our knowledge and understanding of what it means to be gifted and/or multi-exceptional.  So much confusion and misunderstanding exist around giftedness.  If we deny that giftedness exists just as much as ADHD, Aspergers, Dyslexia, etc then we're denying that a group of individuals exist.  This is not inclusive and can we really afford to be doing this?

So what can we do about this...

• We can begin with empathy - all learning and teaching must start with this in my opinion.
• We can challenge our beliefs about giftedness and multi-exceptionalities.
• We can accept that giftedness is not just a name - it is a genuine category of people who have unique social, emotional and learning needs that are different to others - just as it is with ADHD, Aspergers, etc.  We can accept this and work to meet the needs of these students - so why not our gifted students as well? We need to stop denying the wealth of research that is out there.
• Discussion - be open to different ideas and thinking.
• Celebrate, encourage - and EXPECT - our gifted children to be themselves.  This needs to be done actively in all learning environments if we are going to see any change in our gifted children's self-esteem and development of strong identities. 
• Continue to push back on the amount of unnecessary administration so that we can place the emphasis firmly back on what we signed up to do - learning and teaching with inspirational and incredible individuals who need us to see them as people - not as data. Be very clear on the 'why' - if it doesn't impact learning, teaching and the well-being of our students then we need to question why we're doing it.  This isn't easy, but the more of us who question is, the greater the chance we have of creating change - our students and their whānau need and deserve this.

Empathy in the Classroom: Why Should I Care?

We have a chance to change the environment and outcomes for our gifted children with the Draft Disability and Learning Support Action Plan currently open for discussion until the end of October 2018.  We can't let this opportunity go by.  It's time to challenge beliefs, understandings and misunderstandings around gifted education and gifted children, (particularly our own through reflection and reflective practice). If we don't, then we're not going to be meeting the learning, social and emotional needs of all of our students - and that's not who we are as teachers.  It's not why we became teachers.