Inclusive Practices Platform

Jacob Tucker

I am a white male who grew up in an upper middle class family. My dad has worked for

the same company since I was born and has moved up the corporate ladder. My mom was able

to stay home with me and my siblings and then go back to work once we were older. The

schools I have attended have been predominately white and have always existed in upper

middle class neighborhoods. I was utterly unaware of other cultures than my own. I

experienced privilege, and was oblivious to it, simply because of conditions I was born into,

while other kids experienced poverty, racism, violence, self-degradation, and a slew of other

things. My experience helps shape my understanding of inclusive practices, which is to provide

all students access to an education, a relevant education, and an education that values each

individual.

The first step towards inclusive practices is access. All students should be able to access

the same levels of academic instruction, but unfortunately that’s not the case. According to

Murphy (2017), disadvantaged populations “score worse on academic measures of

performance because they have not been exposed to the curriculum that would best prepare

them to be successful, or have been taught a less demanding curriculum” (pg. 48). In order to

truly be inclusive, students should all be exposed to the same curriculum and the same

opportunities to be engaged in higher level thinking. As an administrator, I will strive to ensure

that all students have equal access to their education by providing teachers with strategies that

promote higher level thinking, rather than solely skill and drill teaching.

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 Secondly, not only should the curriculum be accessible to everyone but it should also be

culturally relevant. “Authentic school work is work that honors students’ cultures, that

reinforces cultural identity in a matter compatible with academic pursuit” (Murphy 2017, pg.

52). In order to effectively create academic content relevant, it must be preceded by

relationship. To include students’ passions, cultures, and interests into academic content, you

first have to know what those are. With this in mind, the school’s culture needs to be one

centered on relationships. Relationships lead to trust and understanding, which then allows

teachers to cater the curriculum to students’ passions, interests, and cultures.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, inclusive practice should lead to each student

feeling heard and valued. Emdin (2016) describes this as “providing students with an

opportunity to have their thoughts, words, and ideas about the classroom and the world

beyond it heard and incorporated into the approach to instruction” (pg. 59). This idea should

extend beyond just the classroom and be engrained into the school culture as well. Students

should feel that their voice is heard. In order to achieve this, I plan to be as visible and as

available to the students as possible. By doing so, students will feel more able to approach

administration with ideas and suggestions. I would also propose that the students have the

ability to give suggestions and ideas in written form, through a suggestion box or technological

option.

Inclusive practices aims to provide all students access to an education that is relevant to

and values each individual. Currently though, our educational institutions often operate from a

place of cultural hegemony where we expect students and families to comply with what

educators have defined as normal (Gay 2010). This is why a student like myself, who is white

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upper middle class, may have a completely different experience than a student from a minority

group. Our goal is to reverse this idea, and to instead allow students and families to shape our

educational institution into one that is relevant and values each individual.

References

Emdin, C. (2016). For white folks who teach in the hood… and the rest of y’all too. Beacon Press.

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers

College Press.

Murphy, J. (2017). Professional standards for educational leaders. Corwin Publishing Company.

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