In the province of Québec, interest in inclusive education has emerged in the craze for “universal design for learning” (UDL), a model born in the 1990s and evolving according to scientific findings and societal realities (CAPRES, 2015; Centre de recherche pour l’inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap – CRISPESH, 2021). The term “inclusive education,” preferred here to “inclusive pedagogy,” emphasizes both what happens inside and outside the classroom, whether in terms of learning support measures or the educational pathway itself.
In the province of Québec, several approaches and currents linked to inclusive education have developed over the last twenty years (Potvin, 2014). These approaches were designed initially to meet the needs of students with disabilities, and subsequently to take into account the diverse profiles of the student population attending colleges and universities.
Beyond their differences, these approaches and currents share an inclusive view of education to ensure that everyone realizes their own potential, while taking into account their experiences and realities (Potvin, 2014).
The United Nations (UN) defines inclusive education broadly as:
“a process of systemic reform embodying changes and modifications in content, teaching methods, approaches, structures and strategies in education to overcome barriers [to success].”
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2016, p.4
Inclusive education can be seen as a response to the discriminatory treatment prohibited in both the Canadian and Québec Charters of Rights and Freedoms (ibid.).
Therefore, adopting an inclusive approach to education means valuing diversity and helping remove barriers to learning in order to support success for all (Fortier & Bergeron, 2016).
Inclusive Education or DEI in the Classroom
Traditional teaching methods were designed for a “typical student” with a linear pathway. An inclusive approach to education makes it possible to adapt teaching methods to the entire student population, without lowering the level of the skills that need to be developed (Centre de recherche pour l’inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap – CRISPESH, 2021). Consequently, adopting inclusive practices in the classroom aims to provide every student with the same chances of success (Pechard, in Caza, 2019), without compromising on the level of requirements needed.
Inclusive practices are said to be universal, meaning that they are not solutions adapted to each particular case. They are rather a redefinition of the norm to meet the diversity of student profiles (Lorite Escorihuelaz, in Caza, 2019).
The following goals are associated with inclusive education:
- Implementing equitable practices – rather than equal or identical practices for everyone – to promote success for all;
- Recognizing the existence of differences, particularly in educational content, with a view to effecting institutional transformations aimed at justice and fighting discrimination (Magnan & al., 2021).
Here are a few examples of initiatives to help teachers and professors develop their skills in inclusive education:
- At the college level, the Profil de compétences enseignantes developed at Cégep de l’Outaouais includes a competency entitled “Recognizing” (Reconnaître) (Doutreloux & al., 2020). This competency was created to develop professional actions that put forward DEI principles and the adoption of inclusive practices that shape our ability to live together and that take into account the experiences as well as the ethnocultural, religious, linguistic or migratory realities of the various student populations, particularly those who are marginalized.
- At the university level, the Groupe d’intervention et d’innovation pédagogique (GRIIP) working group from the Université du Québec network has produced a module on inclusive education as part of the Enseigner à l’université self-study tool. Among other things, it includes a checklist for adopting inclusive teaching practices in university classrooms.
- The Centre de recherche pour l’inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap (CRISPESH) is currently conducting a project aimed at fostering the autonomy of teachers in a context of diversity through the appropriation of a reflexive and metacognitive perspective on inclusion at college level (Russbach & Morin, 2022).
- The Centres collégiaux de soutien à l’intégration (CCSI) offer, among other things, a consulting service to support the development of autonomy and the alignment of the practices of public and subsidized private college network institutions in the reception, organization and delivery of services [to the student population] with disabilities (Centres collégiaux de soutien à l’intégration – CCSI, n.d.).
Promoting Diversified Models
Students from marginalized groups tend to be more successful at university in the presence of diversity in professors and other sources of representative models (Universities Canada, 2019). The presence of diversified models, ideally including models who resemble them, will allow the student to:
- meet their need for security and develop self-esteem (Potvin, 2018);
- have access to models other than those in their family, in the case of students from low-educated backgrounds (Aubin-Horth, 2021);
- navigate the education system with greater confidence without the weight of a social determinant (ibid.);
- strengthen their ability to cope with a possible “culture shock” and thus integrate more successfully into the higher education system (ibid.);
- increase their autonomy and confidence in their ability to plan and carry out a study project that matches their aspirations and talents (ibid.).
The presence of diverse models is particularly important in the classroom, where most of the student experience takes place. A teacher can play a role in a number of ways, which can in turn be leveraged to ensure that the entire student population feels included, represented and recognized in the classroom:
- By becoming a “representative model” (Aubin-Horth, 2021) for marginalized student populations, in particular by recounting their own story and the obstacles they encountered along the way;
- By increasing the visibility of diversified models in the educational content used;
- By prioritizing inclusive communication (Université du Québec, 2021);
- By selecting sources produced by people from underrepresented groups;
- By inviting people from minority groups into the classroom to promote exchanges and various points of view;
- By working in interdisciplinary communities of practice to share best practices, etc.
Video. The importance of
representative models
In this respect, the program-based approach — i.e., an overall view of the program with coherence between learning and skills — can provide an anchor point from which a DEI culture can be developed. Indeed, the program-based approach enables teachers in the same program to work together to adapt to the different needs of the student population (Centre de pédagogie universitaire de l’Université de Montréal, n. d.). Known mainly in the college community, the program-based approach was also the subject of the MAPES project (Modélisation de l’approche-programme en enseignement supérieur), conducted by research and pedagogical intervention teams from the Université du Québec network (MAPES Project, 2014).
From Integration to Inclusion: the Response to Intervention (RTI) Model
Inclusive education also embraces what happens “around the classroom,” such as learning support measures and services. To support student success, these services have long relied on an integrative perspective, derived from the medical model, which is gradually being replaced by an inclusive perspective, derived from the social model (Centre de recherche pour l’inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap – CRISPESH, n.d.).
The integrative view focuses on the individual’s deficiencies, their inabilities and their need for rehabilitation through integration. On the other hand, the inclusive view focuses on the role the environment plays in the construction of differences, namely disability (ibid.). It sees diversity as a social fact that must be taken into account as a prerequisite for any practice aimed at equity. Moreover, this shift from an integrative to an inclusive perspective is linked to the introduction of the concept of “neurodiversity,” which implies taking a different look at the norm by presenting different modes of cognitive or neurological functioning (ibid.).
This shift from an integrative view to an inclusive view implies a reorganization of learning support services so that they take into account the diversity of individuals and student backgrounds in a holistic way. To do this, the RTI model can be used as it is suitable for all levels of education (Bissonnette, 2020).
The main advantage of this model is that it enables targeted interventions and swift referrals to services based on specific identified needs (Lapointe, 2022), especially for students facing barriers to education. The challenge of this model lies in the collaboration and concerted action required of all those involved in the institution: teachers, professors and students.
Courses of Action to Promote Inclusive Education
Regarding teaching and learning support services
- Raise teachers’ and professionals’ awareness, especially those from minority groups, about their power to make an impact as representative models (Aubin-Horth, 2021). There are many ways to do this: share your story and your educational pathway, identify the obstacles you have encountered and the challenges you have overcome, etc.
- Promote the representation of diversity in educational content (Lafortune, 2020), for example by offering resources produced by people from marginalized groups or by presenting conferences in which guest speakers come from non-traditional backgrounds.
- Support mentoring initiatives for and by minority student populations to provide spaces for the development of social ties as well as sources of non-hierarchical models.
- Give priority to different types of evaluations and accept the submission of work in several forms (Doutreloux & Auclair, 2021a), for the whole class and not just for those with special needs.
- Offer the student population a space to share (virtually or otherwise) their thoughts on integrating DEI into the classroom (Hartwell & al., 2017).
- Offer students opportunities to reflect on their experiences as a member of a marginalized group, especially when the learning process is introspective and requires a certain degree of vulnerability (ibid.).
- Set up work teams to bring together people with different opinions, while establishing rules of civility for these virtual or face-to-face exchanges.
- Organize learning support services from an inclusive perspective, based in particular on the RTI model, founded on the collaboration and concerted action of all stakeholders (teachers, professors and students) (Bissonnette, 2020; Lapointe, 2022).
Regarding governance
- Continue training teachers in the fundamental concepts of inclusive education (Russbach & Morin, 2022).
- Recognize and value the efforts of staff already involved in developing a culture of inclusion (committee work, mentoring, etc.) and avoid over-soliciting members of minority groups.
- Include the application of inclusive practices in teacher competency profiles (Doutreloux & al., 2020).
- Develop guidelines for inclusive communication and provide training in best practices (Université du Québec, 2021).
References
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