Our final day at the conference! What an experience this has been. Being able to listen to other educators around the world speak on so many aspects of education and inclusion. It's crazy that it's all coming to an end.
On the final day we arrived for the first speaker of the day and the last keynote speaker of the conference. Speaking this morning was Dr. Alfredo Artiles from Arizona State University. He spoke on Inclusive Education in Developing Countries. Artiles (2018) discussed how inclusive education is not a place, but a system and in order to create change anywhere we have to change the entire system that it sprouted from. He discussed many challenges within inclusive education: the system itself, the fact that there are so many minorities in Special Education, and that the idea of some nations is that inclusive schools exclude those who need more support, by way of separate classes. Artiles then went on to discuss what it really means to implement inclusion in locations where the government is unjust. Artiles (2018) said that with inclusion, everyone has to feel that sense of belonging, but for many families in unjust locations, they fight with the idea of sending their children to school when they need their help at home. If they spend money on getting them to school or having them walk to school and face the possibility of sexual violence and then continue doing that until high school, what happens after? Do students with special needs even have this option? The reality in these locations is that even if they were to get an education their family would be pushed to the limit, there is no job security and then there is no hope (Artiles, 2018). Artiles (2018) also talked about the fact that general education teachers have trouble making the curriculum accessible because it's not just the curriculum that needs to be changed, it's the entire system. His talk was definitely one of my favorites of the weekend, especially because following his talk my cohort and Dr. Jez all had a follow up conversation of how exactly we can change the curriculum in order to make it more inclusive for students with special needs. It was nice to hear real tactile pieces of advice that we could incorporate in our future classrooms. Also the fact that we were all able to start that conversation with each other and that we are all so eager to learn more was the perfect way to wrap up this amazing conference and overall opportunity.
1 Comment
Rebekka
7/29/2018 05:27:48 am
Dr. Artiles' talk was the perfect keynote- I am so glad we were able to debrief afterwards as well. One sign that you all will be fantastic educators is your dedication to learning more strategies and skills.
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Study AbroadThis June I have gotten the opportunity to travel to South Africa to observe policies and practices of the education systems. I will be working with students and educators from the U.S. and South Africa on a Changemaker Project. Our hope is to bring awareness to the different types of diverse learners in the U.S., South Africa and all over. Archives
August 2018
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