We had the pleasure of having Chantelle Morvay-Adams from the BCEd Access Society speak to our cohort today on inclusion and equitable access to education for all students. BCEdAccess is a volunteer run organization that supports families of students with disabilities and complex learning challenges through sharing information, providing education to families, allies, and students, and providing community engagement. To read more about the society and their resources visit the website here. Chantelle was a wealth of knowledge and spoke very candidly about her own experiences with her children in the education system.   

I think… 

For the average person who has little to no learning difficulties, it’s easy to forget that many people don’t experience school and learning in the same way they day do. If I’m being honest, I would have been one of those people if it weren’t for my youngest brother. For my entire student career, learning and schoolwork has come fairly easy to me with a little effort. However, that was not the case for my brother. He was born with a genetic abnormality so minor that from the outside you can’t see that there is anything different, however, he had a hard time keeping up with his peers and school was a struggle. Against all odds, he managed to graduate high school on time, we as a family owe a huge debt of gratitude to the excellent Learning Assistance teachers he had supporting him along the way. Unfortunately, this is not always the case for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. 

I know…  

Last semester I had the opportunity to listen to Shelley Moore give a talk on inclusion in education and it opened my eyes to how exclusive the public school system can be. Shelley has done incredible research on inclusion in education and has put out a ton of resources. You can visit her blog blogsomemoore and I would highly recommend any of the videos she has up on YouTube if you are looking to learn more about this topic. One could argue that the current public school education system is designed for a small minority of its students to achieve success.  

I wonder…  

When I consider what I learned from Chantelle and what I saw my own brother experience in school, as a future educator I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to be aware of inclusivity and bring equitable access to education into my future classrooms where I can. As I continue on in my pre-service teacher education path, I wonder are some of the things that I can do to create a more inclusive education environment for my future students?