Learning from The Difference

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Giddy with excitement and with the storm nipping at my heels, I rushed into the school to friendly faces, bright smiles and a cute little goody bag. By the end of the day, walking out into the fresh breezeless air, I realised how perfect it was to mull over all the things that I’d like to share with you.

 

#1 – Donning the Inclusion lens

Gone are the days when inclusion was a room at the far corner of the school, segregating children from each other for fear that that one group might rip the other to shreds. Instead, Inclusion is about recognising that all students and even staff may have needs at some point and being proactive in recognising and meeting these needs. So, how can we be proactive? By donning the inclusion lens. Mohamed Abdallah suggests that all policies and systems should be viewed through these lens. Therefore, every CPD program, meetings, assemblies and so on, must have Inclusion at its heart. And when we do this, we create respectful and supportive cultures where all learners can thrive.

#2 – The beauty in an old church song 

For the first time today, I heard about trauma informed practice. I learnt about the way in which trauma may present as confrontational and avoidant behaviour but perhaps, more haunting and beautiful was the video on validation theory. It highlighted to me how cultural connections such as shared music or experiences can connect people. It emphasised how simple strategies like mirroring / NLP can help to make people feel valued and encourage them to communicate meaningfully. The unconditional positive regard of one human for another was so poignant that it brought home to us, the importance of treating each child with the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings even when they are not displaying these behaviours. And finally, the truth that we won’t get a positive result every time but it is incumbent upon us to keep trying because when the results are favourable, they positively shine. 

#3 – The power of a shared story

At the start of the conference today, Alison Kriel spoke about going into a prison where all the men had experienced school exclusions and how this made them feel that they didn’t really belong in society. This made her decide never to exclude a pupil. Her anecdote was important because it highlighted the power of a shared story. It made me consider how we can use these stories in a safe and constructive way to help our learners to choose another path for themselves. 

 

So many useful strategies came out of today’s conference but even more powerful is the answer from Hussein Hussein that there’s no one answer for working with our challenging kids. They’re human and what might work for one might not work for another. So, give a strategy a try. It might fail but you can try again and fail better. 

 

Goodnight, my friend!