Reducing the Barriers: Planning for All

Introduction

• Host: Shelly Moore
• Focus: Shifting paradigms in education to support inclusion and equity

Existing Educational Model

• Special Education Lens:
  • Plan made for most students
  • Special support for students who don't succeed in the original plan
  • Adapts or modifies to fit students into the original plan
• Problems:
  • Classroom diversity increases, making inclusion seem like more work
  • Teachers struggle to manage multiple plans

Shift Needed: One Plan for All Learners

• Central Question: How to create one plan that addresses all learners' needs?
• Requires change in thinking and response to struggling students

Medical Model of Education

• Originated from a medical model (reactive approach)
• Focuses on what's wrong with the student
• Relies on processes that emphasize failure, expensive evaluations, and deficit-focused interventions

Learning from Disability Community

• Key Takeaway: Struggling does not mean broken; students do not need to be fixed

Alternative: Social Model

• Failure due to contextual barriers, not individual disabilities
• Changes in the environment can reduce barriers and improve success

Example: Hong Kong Experience

• Personal story illustrating how contextual changes can create barriers
• In Hong Kong, needed more support due to language and navigation barriers
• Despite being the same person, success was context-dependent

Implications for Education

• Assessment Focus: Identify and reduce barriers rather than fix students
• Anticipate barriers before students fail
• Shift resources from fixing individuals to improving context
• Supports the implementation of:
  • Universal Design for Learning
  • Response to Instruction
  • Collaborative Models of Support

Conclusion

• Key Idea: Students are not broken; contexts need fixing
• Challenge: Focus on reducing contextual barriers
• Encouragement to subscribe and listen to more in-depth discussions on the podcast

Closing

• Thank you and call to action: Subscribe to stay updated and tune in for more episodes