Reflections from the NFI Design Team | | |
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| | Covid-19 is changing the world and the impacts of the pandemic will be far reaching and transformative. Schools have had to adapt quickly to respond to the requirements of what is the most dramatic, most global and most unusual crisis in our lifetimes.
“We got the online learning up and running so children’s education wouldn’t be disrupted, and we felt good about that. The kids, in general, were OK and coping with the drastic changes in their experience of education. Teachers rose to the challenge, finding creative and new solutions to maintain student engagement in a virtual environment. And we were managing parental anxiety in the midst of all of this. In retrospect, though, what we recognized after the fact was we forgot to make sure our most vulnerable learners were also taken care of. We missed them.”
So said a head of school in a recent conversation on the effects of the global pandemic on his school community. As quickly as schools responded to the demands of the unfolding situation, in some cases, the needs of diverse learners were an afterthought. Stress causes us to respond in unusual ways.
As we continue to work through this period of disruption, what is clear is the need for our advocacy for diverse learners must continue. Many students who required adult interventions pre-Covid-19 continue to need our help. How we deliver it may look different. NFI has developed a range of products to support schools in continuing their inclusive journeys. Come and travel with us!
NFI has been working on updating our definition of inclusion. Reflecting on the concept of inclusion, and in line with the global movement on anti-racism, we have been more thoughtful about diversity representing society as a whole. "An international school is inclusive when it has made the intentional decision to develop diverse student and faculty populations that reflect society as a whole, including multilingual learners and students with diverse learning profiles. These schools take a systems approach to building capacity amongst stakeholders, offering universal design access to all aspects of school life." (NFI Design Team, 2020) With warm wishes, The NFI Design Team, Ochan Kusuma-Powell, Kristen Pelletier, Simon Gillespie | |
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| | NFI Collaborative Forum Series: These are facilitated conversations in response to requests from member schools. We are holding our first event on August 17th, 2020 on topics related to the inclusion of children with intensive needs. At this time our first conversation is full, and we will be communicating about future forum topics and dates.
Virtual Conversation Conference November 7 and 8, 2020: Beyond Hope and Fear: Supporting Diverse Learners in a VUCA World... The world as we knew it came to an end on December 31st, 2019 and the next chapter isn’t clear. What is clear, is that we are in a period of transition. And what is also clear is that support for diverse learners won’t wait until the world settles down again. How do we support students in an ever-changing, uncertain and ambiguous world? There are certain principles that we can take from past experience that can support us in this period of transition.
This conference focuses on the question: How do we support diverse learners and their parents in our complex reality? (This includes virtual/blended environments, transitions between them, and SEL issues.) Detailed information and registration will be distributed in August, 2020. Towards Inclusion Protocol Update: The Towards Inclusion Protocol was created to help schools understand their own context and build action plans to implement and enhance inclusion. Together with WIDA, we recently updated the document based on feedback and experience; and with a lens to include English Language Learners in the process. The new protocol will be distributed to member schools through download on our new website. We want to thank Jon Nordmeyer and WIDA for their collaboration and support in revising with us the ‘Towards Inclusion’ Protocol for auditing school programs. Thank you, Jon.
Leading The Way Research Projects: Another way that NFI supports schools is through its research arm. Entitled “Leading the Way”, we respond to needs on learning support-related issues put forward by member schools. Examples of previous LTWs include: “Why LS or EAL is the Wrong Question: Serving ELLs with Learning Issues in Inclusive Schools?’”, “Challenge Accepted! Reframing our Approaches to Behavior Management in Inclusive International Schools”, “Processes and Tools to Support Data-Driven Decision Making in Learning Support”, and “Serve the Need, Not the Label: Highly Able Learners in International Schools.”
The LTW process works in the following way: Typically, a school will nominate a topic they're interested in for deep study. NFI will pull together a team of no more than 10 individuals who are known for their interest and expertise in the topic, and all committee members read published material in the field for 6 months, assessing it against their own personal and professional experiences in the context of international schools. A face-to-face meeting is scheduled in advance, and the committee comes together for 48 hours to distill thinking and write a first draft of a monograph on the topic for distribution to member schools. A follow-up conference on the topic is scheduled at the school several months later.
This year, an LTW on Co-teaching for Diverse Populations will be hosted virtually with UNIS Hanoi in November, 2020, with a follow-up conference, dates to be determined, when we will present our findings. In addition, there will be an LTW on Policies for Inclusion hosted virtually with Qatar Foundation in December, 2020 with a follow-up conference planned for November 2021.
NFI continues to contribute to the growing literature on neurodiversity and inclusion in international schools. Please sign in with your school membership password on our website to download your copies. Hard copies can also be purchased on Amazon.
Learning Support Audits:
One of the ways that NFI supports schools is by conducting audits of their Learning Support programs. NFI takes a systems approach in reviewing what is in place at the school to support children who learn differently and examines four dimensions of inclusion: Developing Common Meaning and Community Commitment; Designing and Integrating the Program; Building Professional Capacity; and Evaluating and Improving the Program. This year, NFI conducted three learning support audits at large international schools.
The review process can be broken down into three parts: a) pre-visit preparation; b) on-site visit; and c) report writing. Typically, we send in a team of two individuals who prepare themselves by reading school documents on the support programs. Documentation might include any pertinent accreditation reports, board policies on admissions and on student support, any available program handbooks, and recording, reviewing and reporting protocols (IEP forms and processes, report cards, etc.). In advance of the visit, we also ask the school's help to send out surveys to different stakeholder groups, collate the results, and return these to the NFI team members. At this time we are also developing systems and tools to be able to conduct audits virtually.
New NFI Website to go Live this Summer:
We have been preparing to launch our new and updated website to provide our member schools better access to resources and updates about our planned conversations, leading the way research projects and different ways our schools can support each other with more current information, articles and ways to connect. An email will be sent once the website is ready to go live this summer! | | |
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Story of an Inclusion Journey | | |
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| | Here is the story of a school on a journey towards inclusion. This story starts with a program to support students with learning needs shifting to adopting principles of inclusion that are becoming embedded in all systems. Five years ago, at International School of Uganda there was a commitment to support students with mild learning needs. There were 3 designated learning support teachers – one full time in Junior School, one full time in Senior School, and one shared across both schools. There was a part-time counselor in Junior School and a full-time counselor in Senior School. There were 2 EAL teachers one in each division to support English Language Learners. Learning support was a resource room model where primarily students went to for support. The admissions policy at that time did not recommend accepting students who had moderate or intensive learning needs. Inclusion at that time was a program, it was not a part of the foundation and beliefs. Around this time there were two students admitted who had intensive learning needs and a structure was then developed to allow them to be accepted with the parent hiring a full-time learning support assistant who would be with the child throughout the day. In 2016 ISU leadership attended Next Frontier Inclusion professional learning workshops to gain a greater understanding about building the will to serve all students and becoming an inclusive school community. At the same time the school was engaging in a revision of the mission and vision along with the creation of a set of learning principles which would translate the mission and vision into action in the classroom. It was decided at this time that ISU would commit to being an inclusive school and would start implementing increased levels of support and creating systems and resources to support inclusion. ISU Learning Principles – Learning is inclusive: - providing meaningful, challenging and relevant learning for a diverse community
- empowering self-reliance, independence, confidence and grounded in a sense of belonging
- when students see themselves as part of the learning process
- taking into account different learning styles
- is culturally sensitive
Each year since 2016 support for inclusion and practices in place have increased. Admissions and board policies reflect an inclusive approach and students who in the past may not have been accepted are now enrolled at ISU. In November, 2019 we spent time as a leadership team and then together with the learning support team to identify where we considered inclusion now, and what our ideal for the future would be. We then had the opportunity to learn together with Kristen Pelletier a consultant and Design Team member with Next frontier Inclusion at ISU in January 2020. The structure of our time with Kristen centered around the NFI Towards Inclusion Protocol (a link to the full protocol can be found in the member section of the NFI website). We spent 2 days together as teachers, assistant teachers and leadership exploring the following outcomes: Effective inclusion stars with culture building, including building common beliefs and common language about inclusion. - We need to work from individual and collective strengths, and that it takes time to continually develop capacity.
- High impact goals and inclusive instructional design strategies are fundamental in planning for the teaching of neurodiverse (all) students.
- Recognize the features of a culture of inclusive practices and contribute towards building those features.
- Identify the most significant learning impacts and strategies for students; and set instructional goals accordingly.
- Embrace and grow an inclusive identity as individuals and as a community.
During the 2-day workshop we gathered data and evidence to support the domains of the Toward Inclusion protocol. This data was then used on day 3 when we worked together with leadership team and learning support teachers to harvest the data and to process it into meaningful representation of where we are, and next steps using a protocol which resulted in support and approval from the board and school leadership. Based on this our next steps include: - Developing wider common understanding and capacity for inclusion across all stakeholders.
- Create essential agreements and common definitions/understanding of service delivery models that we provide.
- Further define the role of the Learning Support Assistant (LSA) and Assistant Teachers and systems for when and how they are used to enhance student learning and support.
- Identification and Programming for highly able students
- Develop a program for students with intensive (Tier 4) learning needs.
- Consider developing alternate pathways for graduation, including programming options, and graduation requirements to qualify for an ISU diploma or a modified ISU diploma.
As a community we are excited about these next steps and what the future holds for our students with a more defined approach and an embedded culture of inclusion. Knowing how our students feel about themselves as learners and individuals along with their ability to self-advocate and help us better prepare to support their passions and futures is a necessary and important challenge. | |
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Practical Tips and Support | | |
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| | There is nothing more practical than self-care. During this unprecedented, uncertain, and emotionally challenging time teachers and school leaders have worked harder than ever. It is especially important to remember to take care of oneself now. Teachers have engaged in an intense period of professional learning during a time when leaders, teachers, students and families have all felt under strain and have stepped up and bravely led while self-managing and coping at the same time. It is time for a much-deserved, and much-needed break. If you don’t give your brain a break, you run the risk of it taking one without you, which could happen at a very inopportune time. Hold on to what you have learned and as summer approaches take every opportunity to take care of yourselves and your families. Relaxation, fun and extra sleep will serve you, your family and friends and your students well when school starts up in the fall. | |
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The Common Ground Collaborative - The Common Ground Collaborative (CGC) is a non-profit, global community of sense-makers, innovators, educators and partners who share a common goal. We’ve had it with decades of disconnected curriculum, disconnected schools and disconnected conversations, so we are co-creating smart, systemic, sustainable solutions. The CGC is committed to creating inclusive schools which has been at the core from its foundation. For more information visit their website at: https://commongroundcollaborative.org | |
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WIDA International School Consortium - This year NFI and WIDA have collaborated to publish a new edition of the Towards Inclusion Audit Protocol to be more inclusive of English Language Learners. Audits are not available for both ELL and learning support concurrently. From Silos to Systems: Working Collaboratively for Learning Access, an NFI/WIDA Conversation at ISKL in April 8-10, 2021. Optimizing learning for all students: To serve all students well, Learning Support, EAL and classroom teachers need to collaborate to plan, teach, assess and reflect together. School leaders and educators should communicate in clear and consistent ways with each other - and with students and parents. In fact, we all know that this aspirational state is hard to achieve and sustain. https://wida.wisc.edu/memberships/isc | |
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International Schools Consultancy - In collaboration with the International Schools Consultancy, there will be a third global survey on the status of inclusion in international schools distributed in September. NFI and ISC value your responses and input as we shift the conversation worldwide. | |
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Special Education Network and Inclusion Association - SENIA is an association of educators, professionals, and parents, whose mission is to advocate for and provide resources and supports for differently-abled individuals. SENIA has an annual conference held in the Asia region and have local chapters in Europe, South America, Africa and beyond. If you are interested in joining this dynamic network, please learn more about SENIA on their website at the following link: http://seniainternational.org. This years annual conference will be held virtually December 4-6, 2020. | |
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