Kliewer and Shor- quotes- Blog 9

It is very important for every student to feel welcome in a classroom, no matter their ability. That does not always happen and it is very unfortunate.

Christopher Kilewer wrote the book titled, “Schooling Children with Down Syndrome”. The chapter I read has a quote from a woman named Mia Peterson. Peterson has down syndrome but can do just as much as other people without down syndrome. “I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education! had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry” (Peterson, 1994, p. 6). No student should ever be segregated from their peers solely based on a diagnosis. This can affect which college people go to, what jobs they get, and their entire future.

Kilewer also mentions a woman named Judith Snow who is a self-advocate in the disability rights movement. She says, “How absurd to be judged by others at all, especially by those who have never experienced a disability or who are unwillingly providing us with support or who don't listen to the voices we have (Snow 12). She’s right. No one should be judging people with disabilities, especially when others do not know what they go through. I have been diagnosed with ADHD and people have said insensitive things to me before like, “WHy can’t you just focus?” or “You don’t actually need those meds” in reference to my medicine I take to be able to focus in school. Words can really hurt and no one should ever judge someone when they have no idea what it is like to be in their shoes.

“Empowering Education” written by Ira Shor discusses many different things about education, from politics in classrooms to empowerment in classrooms. He discusses how many different ways children learn in classrooms because it is not just from their teacher. “People begin life as motivated learners, not as passive beings. Children naturally join the world around them. They learn by interacting, by experimenting, and by using play to internalize the meaning of words and experience (Shor 17). People learn by being around different things and different types of people. Children of all abilities should be in classrooms together so they can learn more about each other and the world around them.  

This article entitled, “5 Benefits of Classroom Inclusion” discusses different ways in how positive it is for a classroom to be filled with students of all abilities and I think it is very important for future educators to see this.

Classrooms should have all these things and all students should be included. https://www.proxlearn.com/inclusion-of-special-education-students-with-general-education-curriculum