New Brunswick a world leader in creating inclusive classrooms for all learners
Over the past few months New Brunswick has been attracting attention and praise for its world-leading teaching practices in the area of inclusion.
In April, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities cited New Brunswick’s teaching practises as among the best in the world following her visit to Canada.
It was one of the only positive mentions in her summary, which critiqued Canada’s uneven application of policies and practices across all public services, including health, transit, housing and education.
At the heart of her commentary was a push to encourage Canadians to change our perspective on people living with disabilities. Currently most of our public services and responses are framed through a social assistance lens. She is on a global mission to re-centre policy development around the issue of human rights and the full inclusion of people living with disabilities in our communities.
“I was extremely pleased to learn about the fully inclusive education system implemented in New Brunswick, which is one of the best in the world and a role model, where all children with disabilities attend regular schools and receive individualized support, irrespective of the level of their support needs, under a framework of universal design for learning,” she wrote. “The New Brunswick government has also implemented a child and youth-centered Integrated Services Delivery framework, which involves a multidisciplinary and coordinated response across agencies to support children and youth with disabilities.”
While in New Brunswick, Devandas-Aguilar visited Nashwaaksis Middle School in Fredericton and met principal Kendra Frizzell, a world expert in how to create and maintain inclusive classrooms.
In February 2019, Frizzell travelled to Ireland with former education minister Jody Carr and Kim Korotkov, EECD’s Director of Education Support Services (Anglophone Sector) to present to the National Council for Special Education in Dublin. Ireland’s policy makers are researching how to improve its inclusive education system and they have turned to New Brunswick for advice because of its successful model.
The invitation came after representatives from the National Council for Special Education visited New Brunswick in November 2018. As Frizzell said at the time, “[w]e have a world class inclusive education policy recognized around the world and we have excellent school leaders and educators who make it work.”
Irish researchers Mary Byrne and Teresa Griffin also visited George Street Middle School where they saw a few different examples of inclusive learning, including peer-to-peer learning about Indigenous culture led by First Nations students and the cultural diversity and learning supported by the Global Minds club where students learn from each other about different global cultures.
Finally, in April 2019 the Canadian Association for Community Living presented eight New Brunswick teachers with National Inclusive Education Awards.
They are: Anna Buckley, School Intervention Worker at Fairvale Elementary school in Rothesay; Denise Carroll, instructor at NBCC Miramichi; Brigitte LaPointe, executive director at L’Agence Familial et Petite Enfance for the North West; Linda LeBlanc and her past group of grade one and two students at École Abbey-Landry in Memramcook; Melissa LeBlanc, owner of Mon École/My School; Kelly Loukes, Education Support Teacher — Resource at George Street Middle School in Fredericton; Jenny Shea, music teacher at Rothesay High School in Rothesay; and, David Taylor, high school math and physical education teacher at St. Stephen High School in St. Stephen.
As I wrote in my initial column, it is sometimes hard for New Brunswickers to believe that anyone from this province could be a leader on the national or international stage. The evidence suggests it’s not only possible, it’s happening.
The story of New Brunswick’s rise in global rankings on inclusive education is important for two reasons. First, at a time in our history when the world is struggling with the growing diversity of our communities, it should be a point of pride that we have a made-in-New Brunswick solution that is a model for others to follow.
Second, New Brunswick’s success at working through the complexities and entrenched structures, workflows and beliefs surrounding the issue of inclusion offers a model for how innovation and change may come to other areas of our public education system and beyond to other parts of government.
Lisa Hrabluk is a writer and owner of Wicked Ideas Media. Find me on Wicked Ideas’ Facebook page or on my personal LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
School Works is a solutions journalism project and partnership between Wicked Ideas and the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD).
