The definition of inclusion is ‘the act of including or the state of being included’. So, if we are looking at inclusive practice, we have to be considering how everyone can be and feel part of whatever it is we are creating. I get frustrated when people talk about inclusion as if it’s something that they need to just add on to what they are already doing. A token gesture or a slight tweak. I captured this in a meeting the other week with the rather eloquent phrase ‘it’s more than just adding a ramp’. A recent podcast also made me consider what ‘Black History Month’ says about how much we value black history if we are suggesting that it is all covered in one month a year. 

Sometimes the need for inclusion is obvious; whilst the ramp reference was me being facetious, there may be occasions where inclusion is needed for accessibility, literally. It may be that an event is not inclusive because a person with a physical disability cannot enter the building, and that providing alternative ways to address that issue solves the problem. However, the point I was making, is that it is often and generally about more than that. It’s also interesting to think about this from the other perspective. A recent episode of ‘Grand Designs’ featured a man in a wheelchair who was on a mission to build a house that properly met his needs. He explained that his current house ‘disabled him’. This is so true as - spoiler alert – once his new house was complete, and he could get around and access everything he needed with ease, he was no longer disabled once in this environment. So, thinking about this in the broader context, the more inclusive our environments are the less we should notice the things that make us feel different. 

The previous roles I have had, often involved working with or on behalf of children where the need to be inclusive may be less obvious, and this is where I have found that the true definition of inclusion can get lost. Take for example a child who is looked after. They thankfully don’t have a label stuck to their forehead and physically there will be nothing to distinguish them from anyone else in their class. The things that make them different may be known about or not and may make their needs very different or not. However, the importance of them feeling part of their school or class, having that sense of belonging is paramount. 

So, what does inclusion mean for children like this. Does it mean that every teacher needs to know that they are looked after? Does it mean that every adult in the school needs to know about their past? Does it mean that everyone needs to know who they are? I really hope not. I believe that if inclusion is genuine then the need for labels should become less not more. If our systems are set up to ensure that everyone can feel like they belong, then we shouldn’t need to know what it is that may otherwise make them feel different. If we sat down to watch television and each channel was showing programmes specific to the age range we were in, it would mean that everyone had something to watch. So that would seem pretty inclusive. Now imagine if everyone in your household was in a different age range to you. You could watch the television, but only on your own, or maybe in a different room and you would have to tell everyone how old you are. Maybe not quite so welcoming. What if also all the channels were free except the one for your age range, or your channel is only on at very specific times. All of a sudden, it’s all feeling a little less like you belong. We could argue that the television is still catering for everyone’s different needs and there is a recognition of diversity, however I think we would struggle to claim inclusion. 

The other barrier to true inclusion in my opinion, is when people get caught up in everything being fair. Now don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting we should aim for things being unfair, however it again comes down to what we mean by this. It is fundamentally summed up by the Equality vs Equity debate. Although both can be said to promote fairness, equality achieves this through treating everyone the same regardless of need, whereas equity achieves this through treating people differently depending on need. A respected colleague and friend of mine explained this to me really well when she described thinking about it in terms of going to see your Doctor. Equality would mean that we all went to see the Doctor and they gave us all the same treatment; however, what if I went with a broken arm, the lady next to me had pneumonia and the man across from me had an ear infection? Equity would be that we all went to see the Doctor, and they gave us all treatment, however the treatment was different depending on what our health need was. Inclusion needs to have real regard for equity; however policies and procedures often get us caught up in equality. We think that for something to be consistent and robust, it also has to be exactly the same for everyone. Is this actually true?

Coming back to thinking about those children who are looked after. If we know that a child really struggles to manage their emotions (see my previous blog about the biology behind the behaviours), is it ‘fair’ that we apply exactly the same behaviour policy or system to them as we do the child stood next to them? We are comparing a child who has suffered abuse and neglect to one who has always lived with a nurturing parent, developed secure attachments from pre-birth and has had appropriate ways of managing emotions modelled to them throughout their life. Their needs we could argue are entirely different, yet we are attempting to deliver the same treatments. What we then get is a clash within the school, because we have those that understand this difficulty and try and make exceptions, going against those trying to instil consistency and rigour to the policies, and the problem is that neither are wrong. 

I had a conversation with a senior leader within a school, where they were very proud to show me their revised Behaviour Policy, along with their exceptions book. It was an incredibly comprehensive policy and they had genuinely considered all the circumstances and the children who may need to have the policy adapted for them. It was all written with the best intent however it makes you think about how we write policies – if we know that there are going to be exceptions before we even start, how effective is the policy? Maybe we should start by writing the policy for the exceptions and work backwards – perhaps that would be more inclusive?

“It is not inclusion if you invite people into a space you are unwilling to change.”

Muna Abdi

Inclusion also has to be real. It is okay to have a policy that refers to homophobic language and behaviour not being tolerated, however if the LGBT+ teacher feels unable to be open about his or her sexuality for fear of recrimination from fellow staff, teachers or parents, then once again we are making a gesture that does not bear out in the actual ethos and culture of the environment. For true inclusion we have to start from the point that we are all different, the ways we group people together are just to make things easier for ourselves and are somewhat arbitrary. If tomorrow someone told you that you could only spend time with people who had the same colour eyes as you, you would think that they were being ridiculous. If you walked into a restaurant that said it only served people who could play a musical instrument, you would think it was absurd. Yet we accept other divisions that are just as bizarre, and instead of just getting rid of them, we emphasise them in our efforts to make places more diverse or more inclusive.

“Don’t tolerate me as different, Accept me as part of the spectrum of normalcy.”

Ann Northrop

I believe that inclusion is creating a space where everyone is valued, respected and made to feel like they belong. If we know that we are an exception, or that something has been tweaked or adapted for us then this might make us feel even more different. We need to understand that there is no such thing as normal, and if there was, normal would be boring! I appreciate that I am posing lots of questions here rather than solutions, but I feel strongly that we don’t just make tokenistic gestures for all the wrong reasons, as that really doesn’t feel like progress. I guess in an ideal world, we can go anywhere and what we are, what we look like, or any labels we might have wouldn’t define us or dictate how we can access what is going on. 

Maybe we should just all try a little harder to be more accepting of everyone and enjoy the fact that difference is interesting. Instead of avoiding conversations because we are afraid of saying ‘the wrong thing’, we should ask more questions and be more curious. Talking about our individualities will help us all understand, grow and learn. We will then be closer to real inclusion and will treat everyone with more empathy and kindness.

#justbekind #becurious #spectrumofnormalcy #normalisboring