Education
I thought inclusion was about where students sat. I had no idea it was about how they felt every single minute of every single day.
My first truly inclusive classroom had twenty-six students, four of whom had documented learning differences, and one ESW who split her time between my room and two others. I had done the training. I had read the policy. I had a seating plan I was quite proud of.
By week three, the seating plan was in the bin and I was learning the real curriculum, the one nobody writes down.
“Inclusion is not a physical arrangement. It is an emotional climate. And climate is built in the thousands of micro-interactions that happen every day.”
What I thought it was
I thought inclusion meant making sure certain students were in the room. That they had access to the same content, the same teacher, the same experiences. I thought my job was to adapt the work so everyone could do it, and then manage the class so everyone could learn.
What I missed entirely was belonging. You can be in a room and not belong to it. You can have access to a lesson and still feel like you are watching it from behind glass.
What I wish someone had told me
- Relationships come first, everything else depends on them
- Your room's physical environment sends constant messages about who it is for
- Differentiation built into the task from the start is always better than adaptation after the fact
- Your own discomfort with difference is information worth paying attention to
- The ESW in your room is a colleague, not an extra pair of hands, treat them accordingly
- You will get things wrong. The willingness to repair matters more than never breaking things
The thing that changed everything for me was the moment I stopped thinking about inclusion as something I did for certain students and started thinking about it as the design principle for the whole room. When I designed for the students who found it hardest, the room worked better for everyone.
That is the thing I wish someone had told me before I walked in. Not more strategies. Not more frameworks. Just that: design for your most vulnerable student, and the rest will follow.
Education
A note on accuracy:While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this article is accurate at the time of writing, facts, policies and research can change. We're human, and sometimes we get things wrong. If you spot something that needs updating, we'd genuinely love to hear from you.
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Dave Harrison
ESW · Neurodiversity Advocate · Podcast Host
Dave Harrison is currently working in Australian schools as an Education Support Worker. He's the founder of THRVHUB, host of the Different Is Normal podcast, and a parent of a neurodivergent teenager, writing from both sides of the classroom.
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