What is inclusion?

Grade: 4

During my educational experiences as both a

student and teacher, my love for inclusive
education has continued to grow and develop.
Each and every day I learned something new,
much like my students. Meeting the needs of each student is not an easy
task, but it is a necessary task. When I began to conceptualize a question that my curriculum
would center around, I knew that I wanted to focus on the broad statement of inclusion. I
wanted a question where students were able to grapple with ideas of diversity and difference.
That is why my essential question is, what is inclusion?

Week 1 focus: Laying the foundation - week one's focus is more about what makes us, us!
The different aspects of our identity, therefore week one is centered around intersectionality.
This week students will explore that everyone has their own unique identity that intersect to
make us who we are. As a class we will explore all the different facets of identity - race,
gender, culture, and ability to get us ready to deep dive into more specifics within week 2.

Week 2: This week’s focus will center around difference. Throughout the week students will
engage with a multitude of texts, activities, media, songs, etc to guide them on the path of
understanding difference to celebrating it. This week in particular we will look more closely
with ideas of diversity and difference. I will frame my contexts
through a differentiated and multi model
approach. Introducing the topic of diversity
and disability through multiple formats will
also show students how “one size” does not fit
all, and catering to your individual needs is
necessary - this will really allow students to see what inclusion is
really all about.

Week 3: To wrap up with this inquiry, week 3 will be for students to

openly share, accept, and ask questions about each other’s differences
and differences within the world. This week’s focus is on the broader
scale of inclusion - and what inclusion can look like outside of school
and a classroom.