Episode 7: Inclusive Education, a Former General Ed Teacher's Perspective

On this episode of the Inclusion Think Tank Podcast we welcome my guest Alyssa Rush. Alyssa and I discuss her perspective of inclusion through the eyes of a former general education teacher, and ways schools can improve their inclusive education settings. 

Episode Transcript

Arthur: Welcome to the Inclusion Think Tank Podcast, brought to buy New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education, NJCIE. As the name suggests, this podcast will discuss inclusive education, and most importantly why it works.

On this episode, I welcome my guest Alyssa Rush. Alyssa is an inclusion facilitator with NJCIE. She shares her experience of inclusive education, being a former teacher and her suggestions on how schools can im lori get their inclusive education settings

Arthur: I would like to welcome everyone back to another episode of the Inclusion Think Tank Podcast presented by New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education. On today's show, I welcome my guest, Alyssa.

Alyssa is an inclusion facilitator at NJCIE. So welcome to the show today. I'm happy to have you on as a guest.

Alyssa: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

Arthur: Yes. So to get started, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself? Tell us who you are and now what you do, and something you like to do for fun in your free time.

Alyssa: Free time? Okay. I am currently an inclusion facilitator with the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education. I've worked mostly on the technical assistance side of our NJIETA grant, so I've had the pleasure of meeting school staff from all around the state, and working around their goals for enhancing inclusive opportunities for students in schools. I’m now shifting over to the systemic change side, which I'm really excited about. So, I'm just continuing to learn and grow with this organization.

And, my background primarily is that of I was a general educator. I taught high school history for eight years. I have my own experience with inclusion in that context. And, I also work as an executive functions coach with an outside organization, which is something that I really love and do that.

For fun, I would say, it's crazy, but I cook as a way of stress relief, and I noticed when I'm anxious, I bake, so everyone around me benefits from all those things because, you know, there's always something in the kitchen or something I'm trying out, which doesn't always work out perfect, but it's a fun opportunity to experiment and really have a little stress.

Arthur: That’s great. Cooking and baking is always a really good thing for sure. I can relate. I also find it very relieving, stress relieving, to cook or to bake, and it hits all of the senses, I think, the visual, any of the senses. So it really is relaxing. I find it relaxing as well, so I can relate to that.

So how did you become interested in inclusive education? Is there a specific event in your life that led you to this world of inclusive education? Or, how did you become interested?

Alyssa: So as I mentioned, I taught as a high school social studies teacher for eight years, and I co-taught that class with a special educator. And so in that experience, we worked with students with a diverse range of abilities.

And, I will say there was the first year, I had a student with more complex needs. I remember feeling that like I wasn't prepared or I wasn't qualified to really support that particular student. And luckily, at the time, I had such incredible colleagues who really made me feel safe, being uncomfortable, and gave me the opportunity to learn all about that student, about their devices, the needs that they had, where it built my confidence in terms of how I was going to support that student in my classroom, and then it also opened me up to thinking about ways I could use some of those accommodations for all of my students.

And so just seeing how important it was to really create that environment that was welcoming of all of my students and then seeing how some of the adaptations I was making, how they could really serve everyone.

And so I think in doing that, I saw my students build their self-regulation skills, it built their sense of ownership and using different materials in the class. And so seeing that, building that welcoming environment even through the challenges and seeing myself grow where I was like, Wow, I can do this.

And I'm supported by like incredible people where we're doing it as this village of sorts. It just, I just saw how impactful it was for everyone in the room. So that's like my hook, and from there it was just, it became a more normal part of my practice.

Arthur: Yeah, I love the two parts that you mentioned where you are ok to say, like, ‘Hey, I'm uncomfortable with this, like, I'm not familiar with this.’ And then also having, like you said, having the support around you to help you through it and help you learn, help you learn what it is and what is actually going on and the needs of the student. And then on the other side of it, seeing how it can all be beneficial for everybody in the room that it's a great progression through, like, ‘Hey, like, I'm not too sure about this.’

But then, having the help and the support to get you through the steps and then, the final realization that it’s beneficial to everybody, which is such an important thing to mention.

Arthur: What does inclusive education mean to you? How would you define inclusive education?

Alyssa: So I think and this is something that just sticks with me, I think as a social studies educator is like, the belief in the fundamental right of access to quality education for all students, that really is a strong foundation of what I taught. It's what I believe in. And what that looks like in a school is, children learning in their neighborhood schools with their friends in age appropriate classrooms, with their peers.

And, in that least restrictive environment where there's that access to high quality instruction. But students also, you know, are receiving interventions and supports that they may individually need. And I really think there's an element of school culture that builds into that where you're not only like celebrating differences, but it's normalizing it where it's common and you know, we're also emphasizing student strengths and everything that we do. So it's kind of like a few parts to that.

Arthur: Yeah, I think that is. I love the highlighting the strength that's always so important to me. As someone myself who lives with the disability and focusing on my strengths, which you know, sometimes aren't always so strong, but, just recognizing them and focusing on those rather than the things that I can't do is something that has helped me through my life personally.

Having other people believe and focus on my strength is especially my former teachers and educators throughout, from elementary school all the way through college is, you know, something definitely that I reflect on quite often.

And really, I'm grateful for it to have had great support through my educational years. The teachers in and out of the classroom. I'll say because I know we learned in multiple and multiple settings in and outside of the classroom.

Arthur: So you mentioned that you were a co-teacher for a while there and that is, you know, part of inclusive education, but can you describe what an inclusive education classroom looks like to you? How is it set up, and all of those kinds of things?

Alyssa: It's interesting you ask that because I think when I started, I had this vision of like, you know what your classroom is supposed to look like, the groups for this activity that groups for this activity. And I think in practice, it's just really letting go of what you think it should be to making the room meet the needs of your students.

And so, I mean, I think in terms of setting up those expectations, it's really empowering student voice through that process. Having them co-author classroom norms and expectations, really clearly explicitly sharing routines, expectations, criteria, but finding ways to build student voice into that where they have agency over those decisions.

Because for me, it was something that in order to get the buy-in, I needed their participation. And, just thinking about the flexibility in everything that I ever designed because what I thought was going to work, oftentimes, there were three other ways to do it.

And oftentimes, the best way was asking the students what they wanted to do or how they were going to easily, or more easily navigate something. So I mean, that came in years of my experience where it was like, Oh, right, I have the design set up this way, but why don't I ask them to design it in a way that would just make everything more accessible for them?

So, yeah, I guess the whole point of that is really including student voice and agency into the decisions in order for it to fit the needs of that specific room and every room looks different because you have different students.

Arthur: Yes, that is great. I love the bringing in, like, full collaboration along with the students like including them in the conversation of what it is that will work best for them.

As you know, it's always great to have that input when you’re designing anything or creating something for someone else to see what works, what actually works for them.

It's very different, but for myself, having a physical disability, not all the accommodations and things that are made and approved by the Americans with Disabilities Act are the greatest, and they aren’t quite accessible for people who actually use wheelchairs.

Alyssa: Mm-Hmm.

Arthur: I often wonder it's like, did they have someone in a wheelchair test this ramp out? Because, I don't think they did. Because, this is really difficult to get up.

So, yeah, when you said having the students input and actually talking with them and having their voice heard and included in that conversation, it made me think of that. And I'm like, Yeah, like, that's really, really true. It helps out so much when you know what their needs are and what they’re looking for, and how you can implement that and include that into the classroom setting. It has to be very beneficial for everybody.

Alyssa: I will say, though, I mean, it definitely wasn't something I had figured out at first, either. It came oftentimes out of the necessity where a classroom was changed or I had to move to a different location where then I was scrambling to figure things out.

And I'm like, ‘I have all these other people I have to think about, like, why don't I ask their opinion, instead of me trying to manage it all alone?’ And then, when I did let go, you saw the success of the things that were, you know, that they put in place.

Arthur: Yeah. So in your introduction, you did mention that you are an executive functions coach. Can you explain what you do in that role and how the work you do can be beneficial in an inclusive classroom setting?

Alyssa: Absolutely. In thinking about this, it's like the first thing that really comes to me is I build relationships with my clients and the students that I work with, because I think in order for us to even start talking strategy or introduce a tool or something, you have to build that foundation of trust and hear concerns, and really think about ways that you're going to navigate that route as a team.

And so, more logistically, we look to identify some of their challenges with executive functioning at that time. And then we, you know, prioritize areas of concerns with the client. And another huge aspect is considering their mindset because, there is definitely an aspect of readiness for change that goes into it where people come in at different levels of feeling like they're ready to do something different or try something new. And so that really in thinking about that, that helps us to identify and prioritize the goals that we're going to work on.

And so in the actual day to day, I work to support the clients with those goals through introducing tools and strategies to really increase independence in all aspects of their lives, whether it's academic, whether it's managing a schedule and getting to practice on time, whether it's an adult trying to coordinate when they're going to go grocery shopping or it's, just social-emotional like how they connect with themselves. And so I mean, I think all of that really builds into what could benefit an inclusive setting.

And so, I remember as a teacher when I started this work, it really helped me to reflect on what I was doing with my students in my classroom. And I think sometimes there's this expectation that students should have a specific level of functioning or a set of skills that they should have by a certain age and, in my experience, I just didn't see that that was the case, especially with like how diverse classrooms really are. And so I think it really becomes the responsibility of, you know, every person to think about how we're going to support our students in different educational settings.

I mean, teaching a high school student who has six different teachers or five different teachers. And so, it's all of our responsibilities to teach and model those kind of pieces in what that looks like in our individual setting and then really sharing those ideas with each other around what works for that particular student in order to help them be successful in a future grade or a different class.

And when I was able to reframe that and really build that sense of student agency in the skills or the tools that they were using, I think it helped. You saw the benefit like you. You saw the increase in engagement. You saw that they were able to participate, in different ways or it just like, you saw them grow. So I think finding ways to kind of capture that and share it with their future teachers was something that really became important to me.

Arthur: Yeah, It's so interesting. And I majored in psychology and in college, so it's always interesting to me. And as you said, with mentioning the milestones that you know they're supposed to reach or they say, you're supposed to reach my certain age or a certain grade level, and just how that is not necessarily true for everybody, and it's just everybody's an individual and you just have to, you know, go with it and figure out ways to help each student. And then, as you said, like in the high school years where you have all the different teachers, that can be overwhelming for any and every student, I think, and you have the different styles of teaching by each person, and it can be very, very challenging for sure. So, the work that you're doing as the executive functions coach, I think can be very beneficial for the inclusive education setting, for sure.

Arthur: So the next question I have is what are some of the challenges that you find that can be associated with inclusive education?

Alyssa: I think something that I said earlier makes me really kind of connect with this is that willingness as a staff member or person, whoever you are, to be able to share your vulnerability and honesty in maybe fears that exist around some of the changes or around any concern that you have with it. Because. I think in when I was a teacher, when I was able to vocalize that, it helped me to not only receive the help that I needed and the support that I needed from parents, and the school psychologist, everyone around me in this building.

But I also saw how important it was to have that structure that said, ‘Hey, we get this is new. If it doesn't work out perfectly at the beginning, that's OK.’

So I felt safe to almost like, try something new and fail, where I wasn't going to be in trouble for it, or I knew I wasn’t damaging the student and that it was safe, if there was a safe space for me to and structures in place where I was supported in that process.

So I will say in my work in the Technical Assistance Project, I have heard some of those concerns where teachers want to make sure that they're delivering rigorous lessons or they have these extra curricular expectations.

And so just finding ways that they can be flexible in delivering those pieces while also being open when they need support and then hopefully those structures exist for the teachers to have the support. Because, as a co-teacher, if I didn't have common planning time with my special educator, I wouldn't have learned nearly half of the things I did that I would have needed to do as a general educator to support the students with disabilities in my class.

And so just seeing how those organizational structures and the time is so necessary for teachers to be able to learn and reflect and grow through changes as a team.

Arthur: That’s such a great answer, and it reminded me of it being OK to say that you don't know something, and just reaching out for help and saying, OK, I need some assistance with this. And because things constantly change in every field and the technology and the style that you use one school year might be outdated by the end of that school year. By the new school year, they're using something else. So it can be challenging that in itself to just keep up with everything and all of the changes that occur. But, to be vulnerable, like you said and to say, ‘Hey, I need some help with this. This part here is definitely important.’

And on the flip side of that, can you share with us some of the benefits you have seen for inclusive education?

Alyssa: I think as a high school educator, the benefits really are just immense in terms of how it benefits everyone.

I mean, it's something that's benefited me, as an individual who doesn't have a disability, but it's just you see the shift in the culture and you see all your students collaborating and growing and learning from each other and everyone's being challenged and really held to high expectations where students rise to those occasions.

And so I mean, when I mentioned the high school piece like really setting up students for success when they leave, whether that’s moving on to higher education or setting them up for success with a job or independent living like just really preparing students to be successful when they graduate.

And that success looks different for all of our students. But, our society, doesn't. We want to make sure that they're prepared for what they're going to experience when they leave school, and that was always a huge part of my mindset around it.

So, and looking at how you can as early on, remove those limitations where students are going to be as successful in those independent settings as possible.

Arthur: Yeah, that is preparing for after the high school life and, whatever that looks like for that individual is such a great thing to mention because it’s not, everybody doesn't take the same path after high school and that is OK. So it’s really great that you actually mentioned that.

Arthur: And the last question I have for you is, can you give us one thing that can be done in every school to better improve inclusive education?

Alyssa: It’s such a big question. So I think for me, the first thing that really comes to mind is thinking about how it's not one person's job or one department's responsibility and really breaking down existing silos to make this a whole community's responsibility because it impacts everyone.

It impacts the students, the parents, the community, the scheduling, down to, custodial staff, organization of everything. So I think, when one group is doing all this heavy lifting, it takes a lot more time to see change.

And so although, it's like a wide school or wide district changes, takes definite time. I think just really considering how you can start by opening up that conversation or including everyone in the goals that they have for the process and understanding that everyone may have a different role in the way that they participate but, the end goal is essentially the same because it's your community; these are your people. This is you. So thinking about how we can just begin to open up that conversation more widely.

Arthur: Yes, and I again, a lot of the conversation we've talked about collaborating and getting others involved and you just said it again with not just, it's not one person or one department's responsibility for this. You have to get multiple people involved, multiple teachers in different departments involved, and everybody to work together to make this a great success because it is possible.

And it can't just be on one or a few people. It has to be a group, a group project, a group effort. Everybody, all-hands-on-deck kind of situation where everybody is sharing their piece of information and knowledge and how it can all work together to benefit again, to benefit all the students and help every individual student reach their full potential.

And that's a great way to wrap up this episode.

So, Alyssa, I thank you for your time today. I thank you for all the great information that you've shared and the knowledge and awareness that you bring to the subject of inclusive education.

I really enjoyed this conversation with you, and I hope you have a great day.

Alyssa: Thank you, and thanks for taking the time to chat. It's been great.

Arthur: Yes, it has been. So enjoy your day, and I will be in touch soon.

Alyssa: Alright, thanks.

Arthur: Thank you.