Episode 23: A Disability-Inclusive Curriculum Benefits All Students

On this episode, I welcome back for part two of our conversation, Dr. Jessica McQueston, assistant professor at Sam Houston State University. Our discussion continues with how implementing a disability-inclusive curriculum can be beneficial to all students.

Transcript

Arthur: This is the inclusion Think Tank podcast brought you by New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education, NJCIE, where we talk about inclusive education, why it works, and how to make it happen.

On this episode, I welcome back for part two of our conversation, Dr. Jessica McQueston, assistant professor at Sam Houston State University. Our discussion continues with how implementing a disability-inclusive curriculum can be beneficial to all students. Let’s get into the conversation.

Arthur: So you've recently presented a workshop at the TASH conference called How to Include Disability Inclusive Curriculum in the K to 12 Classroom. Can you tell us what a disability-inclusive curriculum is and what that looks like?

Jessica: Yeah. So, I think I've kind of hit on this already, but really, we talk about disability, we have to think about intersectionality and, the way that people with disabilities have made huge contributions to society, and some of these, like famous people from the past, all had disabilities, but they weren't seen as others, or maybe they weren't diagnosed at the time.

And so we've been able to kind of look back and diagnose them, but, there’s if you look in the media right now, there are tons of portrayals of, negative portrayals of people with disabilities. And so I think when we try to eliminate these stereotypes, we have to examine these assumptions and beliefs and everything else that they're based on and I think part of that starts with what is taught in schools.

And right now, disability is missing from the curriculum, and, people with disabilities are one of the largest minority groups in the U.S., and yet we're not part of the curriculum. We're ignored.

And so I have a few steps that you can take to kind of think about developing and looking at your curriculum and making it more disability inclusive. And so when I say that, I really think about like, how are we recognizing people with disabilities throughout the curriculum?

And so one thing that I like to recommend first is to really think about evaluating what curriculum you're using and really checking it for ableism. I'm sure most of us can think about like, Oh, we've read a book and the person with a disability is like this hero, right?

They are a hero, because they did a normal everyday tasks. Right? And so, and then also like there's some like attitudes and beliefs and other ablest remarks in the curriculum.

Jessica: And so I think when we think about doing that, we have to not only be open to changing what we've done in the past, like breaking out of the status quo. And I feel like over the last three years, especially, I've said that I don't know, probably 9 million times that we have to kind of break out of the status quo and be open to change.

But I think really start with looking at it, looking at whatever curriculum you're using and it might not even be the whole year. So maybe even just pick one unit or one topic that you're doing and say like, is there any mention of disability present?

Is it superficial? Is it actually deep? Is it just a brief mention of one line? And then also think about how are people with disabilities portrayed. Does it further perpetuate stereotypes about people with disabilities?

So I think that the first step is really taking a hard and honest look at what you're using and kind of evaluating it for ableism, embedded throughout.

Jessica: And then I think the next part is really this like design and design component.

Really think about what are the units that allow students to learn, I like to say about and from and with people with disabilities. And so again, recognizing that people with disabilities are the experts and they should be leading this conversation.

And so it's moved beyond just like a Disability Awareness Day, which is great. And that means you still have ten miles to go on this journey, but what you might do is include some outside materials.

So maybe you're doing a unit on, I don't know, the Civil War or something. And so not only do you take the textbook that you have, but also that needs to be, I'm sure, some added materials, but also like bring in some other materials and you might look at like some curriculums, have these like supplemental texts or resources maybe on their website or like might be sitting in your storage closet at a school.

Jessica: I worked with the students at NDSU, my previous institution, and she was doing she was a student teaching in seventh grade. I think a seventh-grade classroom might have been eighth-grade, but, a middle school classroom in history. They were talking about the civil rights movement, and she looked and this curriculum had these like extra kind of like short little like 20, 30-page readers on different topics that had just been sitting in a closet. She pulled one out and it was on the disability rights movement. And so she was able, which is like fascinating. Right? And so she was able to bring it into the classroom and like have this rich conversation and like a whole week-long unit on it.

And it was like, wow, this is something that would have never happened if she would have gone looking for it. Right. So it was purposely excluded from the main curriculum. And so that's another thing to kind of take in.

I know that a student was really incredible and she ended up taking like an extra class just to learn more about people with disabilities and special ed with me. And she took a grad class and it was fascinating, talk about a change-maker in the field.

Jessica: So you might also, if you’re talking about activism, for example, like have you brought in the Capital Crawl of 1990? There are tons of ways to do this.

I also think about, we have the Internet now, which is a fantastic resource. Over the past year, I've just started Googling random things. People with disabilities in ancient Egypt, people with disabilities in or that are biologists just to say like what are some people that we could highlight? What experiences could we highlight? Because again, one in four people throughout their lifetime are going to have a disability. So we need to address this.

Jessica: There’s also and I have a list, I'm going to read it, but the Museum of Disability History has tons of lesson plans out there across different grade bands and then some other things to think about of like there's different like councils and museums that are great opportunity to look at. Most are virtual. The Minnesota Council on Developmental Disabilities has some. The Museum of DisAbility History and ‘Ability’ is like capitalized on that.

The Disability History Museum, which again is different from the Museum of Disability History. And then Every Body it's an Artifact History of Disability in America by this Smithsonian Institute, which is it is a little bit older, but you can also incorporate some of that.

Jessica: So like even just looking at What was happening at this time and how can we bring in these artifacts? But really, I think. Really starting with like just a simple Google search. You can learn so much like there are a ton of other resources.

I could talk on this for another 10 minutes. It's like, what resources are out there? There are whole units on ableism that are out there. There are tons out there. I think you just have to look for it and really think about including that in your curriculum.

Jessica: And then also, be open to connecting with your local disability resource center or community resource center or other self-advocates. So I taught two to three, multi-age classrooms one year, and I connected with the Disability Resource Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

And they actually came and did like a presentation for not only my class but the whole school on disability. Yeah, it was really cool.

To have like self-advocates really like talking about, what does it mean to have a disability. What is it? it's not something to be scared of. Right. And it's just natural and doesn't mean that you can't do anything. And so really connecting with them, too. I mean, most communities will have this.

Jessica: After the pandemic started, we’ve really embraced this idea of virtual. So if you don't have a local resource community center, connecting with one maybe in your state or locally or not local, but like a little bit broader of a local circle.

Arthur: The resources are out there like you said. It's really just to find it. I know for me personally, we're recording this in February and it's Black History Month. So going back to something you mentioned earlier about intersectionality. So, I Googled being black and disabled and the list of people that show up and the different things, the different fields that they're in and just learning about different people. So that's something that I've been highlighting on my personal social media accounts this month.

So it's really like Google is there and it's very helpful when used correctly, to find out such great information and the resources that you mentioned. Some of which I haven't even heard of. So I will definitely be looking into this as well.

It’s so, so useful and so helpful like you said, to identify the ablest language in the curriculum that you may be using, the books that the students may be reading. And to open up that conversation, to start having a conversation about why this is ableist, why is this an outdated way of thinking or how can we possibly change this story a little bit to make the person with a disability a little bit, like you said, to not look as scary because that's a lot of things.

A lot of times that happens in movies and books and, they're thought of as the scary person, so it's like, how can we get away from that and, going back to, improving the language that we use when we talk about those who have who are disabled and have disabilities.

Arthur: It's really interesting. When you think about it. I think about the books that I read, coming up in school that had the disability represented in the stories.

And it's like, oh, wow, that was supposed to be the scary character and the person everybody stayed away from. And they didn’t look in their direction and it's like, Oh, wow,

Jessica: that’s really good. And I think like, that's also like a great point is like, not all materials are created equal, right?

And so, like, what, what are actually in the books like let's say you're bringing in books to your classroom. What are the characters doing? Are they just there to say, like, we have this representation? Or are they like the scary character?

Is it a true thing? Or are they just seen as a hero? Is it…why are they included? Is it for the right reasons, or are the books kind of perpetuating this idea of ableism?

And so I think that's also important. I'm glad you mention that. Because we all deserve to have, to see ourselves in books and in the curriculum. And so, if not, like we as a student, as K-through-12 student, as parents, as families, like we might have to step in and like call the staff and faculty and whoever in versus out and just say like, hey, here's this great resource. I know you're doing something for Black History Month and you also feature, someone who's black and has a disability. I love that idea. That’s just something quick and easy to do and it's not a huge change.

Jessica: I think when we think about disability inclusive a curriculum, we think like, oh gosh, I have to redo everything. I have to do that. It can be minor tweaks to make sure that people are represented and, you know, not only the students themselves, but, also their family members, their parents, or anyone else like anyone in their kind of group, or circle is represented and part of the curriculum that they're seeing and receiving.

Arthur: Yes. And that leads to like my last question, which we are already talking about almost.

And that is, how can using a disability-inclusive curriculum, support all learners? Again, I think we have already…

Jessica: Transitioned to that.

Arthur: Yeah, we already talked about that already. So that's a good thing.

Jessica: I do think like,, I work with a lot of general educators, current teachers that are in the field, and also like pre-service educators or, people that basically are going to school to be special educators or aren't special educators.

And some of them think like, oh, this doesn't really apply to me. Like, I'm not going to be a special ed teacher. Oh, I won't have those students, right. “Those students” in my classroom.

And so I always like to remind people, 14% of the school-age population has a disability and receives special education services. And so this statistic comes from NCeS, the National Center for Educational Statistics. I probably butchered that, but NCES just last year. So we're talking about 7.3 million students in K through 12 schools.

Jessica: So when you think about it like that, this is a huge group of students. It's a huge population that are not currently in most schools being represented in their curriculum. And so we really have to kind of push back and say, how can we include students not only in our schools but also in our curriculum?

Because this is going to not only help with representation, but it will also help kind of normalize the idea of a disability, that it's not this other-ing thing, it's not this thing to be scared of. And, again, that statistically, people will, experience disability throughout their lifetime at some point.

I will also say, like, it can also help with this idea of inspiration porn of like, oh, just oh, they are so special. There's this and like, wow, we're going to change the whole football game. And yes, they're included. And it's like, that's not really inclusion. We just put a fake time and a fake score on the on the field so that they could be in the game one time.

And, like, that's not inclusion. Um, it's nice, but. Exactly. Yeah, it's great. And I'm sure that kid really enjoyed it. Yeah, but it's not inclusive. And so, we don't need to, I always think of like prom season, like how many videos are we going to see of this person asks someone with a disability to prom. They’re such a great person. I'm like to stop! So ableist. it’s so bad.

Arthur: Yeah. And I and I think again, it goes back to the way that disability is talked about and portrayed in the world at large, in the media, and as a bad thing. And, as you said, that that, you know, people with disabilities are in this other group. And, rather than thinking of,, people, disabled people, as being just part of human diversity and, they are just diverse and another aspect of diversity.

And so it's not a big,, wouldn't be such a big thing that, a person without a disability is asking someone who is disabled to the prom. It's just like, yeah, as a disabled person, I, yeah I went to my prom and,, and I like to do things and go to parties and participate in events that, my classmates are participating in. It's not right now. It's nothing special about that. And yeah, I just want to do what my classmates are doing.

Arthur: So I think again, when like you said, that things have come a long way and there's a long way to go and a lot of these areas. But as we continue to have these conversations like this about the importance of language and the way that we discuss disabilities with the children in our lives.

And just as you're doing with the future educators that are coming through your courses at the college level. We can hope to start seeing a bigger change in the way that disability is discussed and portrayed in movies, books, in the media, in the news, and wherever we, have these interactions with people who have disabilities because we are everywhere, and like we said, we are not going anywhere. We're here to stay.

Jessica: Exactly. Exactly. And again, like, it not only is like 14% of the school population, not only did they receive special education services or, you know, 504 plans, but I also think, if we think about mental health and the amount of disability that has happened in the last few years from like long COVID and the effects of it on the body like. This is only becoming a bigger and bigger issue.

And so we just have to address it. The CDC has said that one in five students has, you know, is diagnosed with a mental illness and struggles with their mental health, but yet only 10% receive support.

So again, we kind of have to normalize this conversation around disability, around mental health, around intersectionality to really move this conversation forward. And yes, we can do that at the college level, but also with our K-through-12 students like they are the ones that are going to take the next generation and make this change.

So we have to kind of guide them and let them know that this exists and it can be in small ways. It doesn't have to be this huge thing. Although would be great if you had a whole unit on ableism. I’m not stopping you if you want to do that, but like go for it, please do it!

Jessica, even just having a book for read-aloud, that features someone with a disability is a great starting point. So starting small, I think, can really make this huge impact going forward if we all do our little small part.

Arthur: Yes. And with that, I will say thank you, Jessica. This was a great conversation. I really enjoyed this.

Jessica: Thanks for having me.

Arthur: you’re welcome. This was a good conversation to have and it brought up a lot of memories and things for me.

And it's really great to talk and to share these things out loud and just recognize,, where things need to be improved and how that's not always a difficult thing to do. I think that's the important thing to mention that,, changes can be made and they won't cost a lot of money and they won't disrupt your, you know, your lesson plan too much. If you're a teacher, it can easily be brought in as part of what you're already teaching and just adding a few things.

And, you know, to talk about disabilities a little bit more and to talk about them in the right and correct ways. And yeah. So thank you so much for joining me today. And I'm very happy that we were able to have this conversation.

Jessica: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Arthur: You’re welcome. Thanks.

Arthur: We thank you for listening to this episode of the Inclusion Think Tank Podcast. This podcast is brought to you by New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education, NJCIE. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. And don’t forget to follow us on social media, @NJCIE. Until next time.