Building Inclusive Schools Through Community and Universal Design with Andratesha Fritzgerald ~ 1324

Andratesha Fritzgerald
We can never unlearn what we’ve learned. We can never unknow what has been highlighted, and so there is a responsibility. Even for those who are trying to push the pendulum in an entirely different direction, there’s a responsibility with what we know. And each individual has the power and the influence to move us closer to an inclusive environment.

Each of us takes steps to make sure that with my actions, with my word, with my resistance, with the work that I do, with the ways that I partner, that I am lifting as I climb.

As Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, I won’t just make it a better society for me, but as I climbed, will I reach back and lift others and maybe allow myself to be lifted by those who are going ahead of me?

Teaching is a communal sport, and if the moves of advocacy are just on your own, in your own strength, and there are some of us who may be in places where we think that we’re the only one who thinks this way or who can advocate.

I would invite you to think about how you can expand your community.

Tim Villegas
Hi friends. Welcome back to Think Inclusive, real conversations about building schools where every learner belongs. I’m your host, Tim Villegas. Today’s episode is about what it means to keep choosing inclusion when the landscape feels complicated and the pressure is real. We’re talking about how educators can hold onto hope, agency, and purpose even as equity work is questioned, rebranded, and pushed aside.

And why the smallest everyday choices in classrooms and systems still matter more than we think. Our guest today is Andratesha Fritzgerald, author, international speaker, and longtime educator whose work centers dignity, humanity, and bold design for learning. Andratesha is the author of Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success and the co-founder of Building Blocks of Brilliance Educational Consulting.

She partners with schools, districts, and organizations across the country to help them remove barriers and build learning spaces where people can actually thrive. In our conversation today, we talk about building inclusive schools by shifting power, not just practices.

We explore what it looks like when professional learning feels the way we want classrooms to feel, how community—not individual heroics—protects educators from burnout, and why storytelling is such a powerful tool for connection and change.

We also dig into universal design for learning beyond instruction, how it shows up in communication, leadership, and relationships, and how technology, including generative AI, can open doors instead of closing them.

And we wrap up with our mystery question. Andratesha shares a surprisingly relatable travel habit.

Before we meet our guest, I want to tell you about our sponsor. This episode is brought to you by IXL. IXL is an all-in-one platform for K–12 that helps boost student achievement and empowers teachers and tracks progress in one place.

As students practice, IXL adapts to their individual needs so that every learner gets just-right support and challenge. And each student gets a personalized learning plan to close gaps. Check it out at ixl.com/inclusive. Again, that’s ixl.com/inclusive.

All right, after a quick break, it’s time to think inclusive with Andratesha Fritzgerald. Catch you on the other side.

Tim Villegas
Andratesha Fritzgerald, welcome back to the Think Inclusive Podcast.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Thank you so much for having me.

Tim Villegas
It’s been a minute. How are you? How are you doing? How are you holding up?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Well, it’s a dance from day to day, but I’m a person who always turns her dial toward hope. And so even in daunting times, or even when times seem unhopeful, I find ways to reenergize myself with the truth that we will always move toward liberation and that the work continues.

Tim Villegas
Thank you. I needed to hear that. I needed to hear that there are people that are finding hope right now. I’m wondering, is anything right now about the educational landscape surprising you?

And maybe we can view that with the lens of hope. So what is giving you hope when you look out at education right now?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
I think what is surprising me is that there has been this political and legislative pressure around commitments to equity and inclusion. But at the same time, there has been this pressure to really embrace technology.

And I find that that is a very interesting tension because many of the technological advances like AI or tools that utilize generative AI help to create more inclusive environments. And so I am surprised by the pushback against DEI when four to five short years ago there was such an acceleration.

But what I love is that we can never unlearn what we’ve learned. We can never unknow what has been highlighted, and so there is a responsibility. Even for those who are trying to push the pendulum in an entirely different direction, there’s a responsibility with what we know. And each individual has the power and the influence to move us closer to an inclusive environment.

And so those two tensions exist between technology and then this institutional pushback on equity and inclusion. But it’s the day-to-day decisions that push equity forward. So I still have hope that there are so many educators, so many people who are interested in seeing every person, every human thrive.

Tim Villegas
I like what you said about how you can’t unlearn what you’ve learned, and I’d like to unpack that a little bit. You’re right. There was so much attention put on educational equity, and even people who didn’t want there to be attention on it. And I think we’ve all learned a lot of things.

And so I hope that once you see the inequity, that there is inequity, that you can’t unsee it. Is that what I’m hearing? Is that what you’re noticing?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
What I’m noticing is that to put an intentional focus on removing diversity, equity, and inclusion measures—

Tim Villegas
Mm-hmm.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
—means that you have to acknowledge that they are there for a reason.

And so simply saying it doesn’t exist, to me, cannot remove what has already been magnified, that there are systems in place that have been harmful to humans on the margins or on the borders, and that there are measures that are put in place as an attempt to bring about equity.

And so when I think about simply the United States government’s Office of Civil Rights that collected data in an attempt to find out where are we falling short, even if in some cases they already knew the answer, the data that’s been collected over—I know that in 1964 was when that measure was started and the data collection started in the early two thousands—that data highlighted that there are disparities in disciplinary practices and outcomes, that there are disparities in achievement.

And when we have that data, that causes us to drill down into what are some of the historical implications, what are some of the economic implications, what are the social determinants of health that are in place for some and that remain not in place for others.

Now, as a society, as human beings, we cannot turn our back based on legislation to the facts that remain, that there are humans outside of that pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And what that says as a society is how far are we willing to go to honor the humanity of every human being? And so this is far beyond—and while the order of the day has to shift our attention politically, there is a moral and philosophical question that is begged of each human being: with what I know and what I have, how can I shift to what others need and what I can do?

And also there is this echoing ring of empowerment and agency, which is always woven throughout my work, that each person has an internal meter of knowing what I need is present or what I want is not. And each of us takes steps to make sure that with my actions, with my word, with my resistance, with the work that I do, with the ways that I partner, that I am lifting as I climb.

As Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, I won’t just make it a better society for me, but as I climbed, will I reach back and lift others and maybe allow myself to be lifted by those who are going ahead of me?

So there is a communal responsibility in education and societally to make sure that the world exists in a better condition tomorrow than it does today, not just for me, but for all those I have the influence and ability to touch.

Tim Villegas
I’m receiving that word right now. That’s great. Thank you. Thank you.

I’m wondering what kind of examples can you give us about the impact that the work that you do and that you’ve observed on schools and districts?

I’m wondering if maybe you have some stories that you can tell us about what’s going on in schools right now and what kind of impact do you see?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
The schools that I get the wonderful, beautiful opportunity to work with are schools that are committed to creating inclusive environments for all.

And so one district that comes to mind is one that I’ve worked with for, I think this is year four. Our work started with book studies. I wrote a book called Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning. It was published in 2020. Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, a young man who was killed by police here in Cleveland, Ohio, she wrote the foreword to that book.

Her words still come to me. I go back and I read her words that call us into question, every educator. She says, why are you in this field? Why are you doing this work? And how will you make sure that families and students and teachers and leaders are on the same page for moving every child forward?

Of course, I’m paraphrasing just a bit, but her words echo to me.

There’s a district that I started with four years ago, and we started with book studies. They read through my book. I was able to lead the book study. And then we started to ask questions about, okay, let’s talk about systems that are in place or instructional decision-making. What about programs that may not align with this idea that every student has something to offer and every student comes in with something to receive?

And so when we think about each student as a human, that means that we begin to humanize the way that we interact with them on every level.

And so what I saw in this district is that our work went from book studies to book studies that included both teachers and principals together, to professional learning that really focused in on what are the shifts in design, how does it feel when we universally design, what happens when we move from individualistic procedures and processes to more of a communal approach.

And the last time that I was in that district, I worked with the human resources department, transportation, teachers, leaders to think about how do we humanize communication?

And so whereas universal design for learning in some aspects, or maybe from some companies, is viewed as instructional only, when I get to work with districts like the one that I was talking about, that can see it as systemic, a shift in change that revolutionizes how we send home information to parents and families, and how we open the door for that two-way dialogue to come around.

That we’re not just sending words on the page that will alienate or exclude some, but maybe it’s videos. Maybe it’s using software that allows families to choose the language that they want to see, and for every student to have a chance to share their story or what’s important to them in a way that speaks to their heart and their mind.

And so in districts that are willing to remove the barrier of just the teacher as audience, or remove the barrier of the family as someone to give instruction to, and we find every instructional task as a two-way dialogue, it certainly grows the way that we approach the work.

But it also shifts the way that each heart and mind comes to the focus, that yes, we want to see student achievement. What is the human factor of that? And yes, we want to see disciplinary occurrences decrease, but what does that say to us about how we shaped, what information can we learn from what is there?

So how do we view data? How do we make change? And who do we trust with the solution?

And if it’s just the school district, then we know that there’s a disconnect. But as humans, we have to value what’s given.

There’s another district that comes to mind that was rolling out a framework about humanizing pedagogy, and they had these five instructional pillars. And I was able to partner with them to think about how we can bring those five instructional pillars from five separate ones into one cohesive approach that we bring to everything that we do.

So if I’m going to the payroll office to ask a question, yes, I’m a professional in the district, but it’s universally designed in the same way because I am a human having a human experience.

And so are there many ways for me to support myself? Is there agency in how we can communicate?

And then I love districts that have spaces for principals to learn right alongside their teachers, for families to give information and train the instructional staff, and find ways to partner in ways that may be a little more time-constraining because it takes time to create a shared language and to come together.

But when we think about what the barriers are to truly shifting, changing, and growing as districts, as departments of education, then we’ll take the time on the front end to revolutionize the ways that we communicate and that we collaborate so that on the back end, the universal part of universal design is actualized and not just theorized.

Tim Villegas
What I heard you say that is a different take on the relationship between school districts and the community. And maybe I’m hearing it a new way as you’re talking about it. The relationship—it’s like when you provide a universal design framework, you are co-creating the community, not only with your students, but with the community that you serve.

And so often—

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Absolutely.

Tim Villegas
—you have a teacher who has all of the knowledge and the curriculum, and they bestow the information to the students. But we know, and the listeners and viewers of this podcast know, that UDL is about providing a different lens and a framework to that. And there’s a lot of co-creation, different ways of experiencing that curriculum.

But what is different about what I just heard you say is that it also applies to the school community, which is just absolutely brilliant, and I think that that is something that we need to explore more. I don’t think I hear enough about how are we providing this framework so that we’re not just having inclusive classrooms, we’re having an inclusive school and community and inviting families in and experiencing the fullness of that school community. So I just love that.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
I would love to share an example, and I want to shout out Yolo County in California.

The County Office of Education invited me in to facilitate a day of learning. And I just want to tell you who was around each table. There were elected officials, school administrators, teachers, students, parents. And so each table had a mix of different folks—some school board members, some council folks.

The mayor even stopped in at a certain point in time from one of the cities. And I think the students, when they came, had this preconceived notion that they were there to listen to adults kind of pontificate. And what a wonderful surprise when all eyes were on them for the answers to questions that they were just wrestling with as a community.

So they were looking at their improvement plan or some other documents that were just being released. And I think the students thought, someone’s going to tell us what we need to do differently, but what a beautiful dynamic shift when they spoke. There were people taking notes at the table.

And then we had a time after the listening period where the people at the table told each member what they heard them say, and they shared their learning publicly.

They then created a roadmap to next steps or ideas that they wanted to explore more. And it was a beautiful, diverse group that came together to listen to one another, to hear each other’s heart, to lay down hierarchy in favor of collaboration.

What a beautiful equity-centered practice that really gave insight. And it was so beautiful to hear teachers say, I would have never thought of that. I had no idea that that’s how my students were experiencing that. Thank you for sharing that with me.

And each voice carried the weight. There were questions, there were answers, but then there was this co-creation of what do we consider valuable, what do we consider next steps. And that is where truly community is born.

Tim Villegas
After the break, Andratesha and I dig into what it really looks like to build inclusive schools as a shared effort, where community storytelling and universal design for learning shape not just classrooms, but how adults work together. We also talk about how to sustain yourself in this work, finding your people, and why designing for humanity matters just as much as designing for outcomes.

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There is a power shift when you set up an environment that way, right?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Mm-hmm.

Tim Villegas
And what a difference. I’m thinking about that.

I don’t know if you know this, Andratesha, but outside of my work here, I teach some classes for educators who are getting a special education credential in the state of Georgia through alternate certification.

And so I teach a behavior management class, or a classroom—however you call it. I changed the name, actually. It’s supporting learners with challenging behavior and then supporting learners on the autism spectrum.

And so I’m just thinking about how we, even as teacher educators, can change the dynamic when we’re interacting with educators because it’s the same sort of thing. You go into a class and you, as the instructor, hold all the knowledge, or you’re perceived as holding all the knowledge.

And so I’m wondering, even in those situations, how we can level that environment so that it’s like I’m not the one who knows everything. You know what I mean?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Absolutely. Something that I always lean toward is the Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Network has norms that they use. And their norms don’t sound like regular norms for educator training.

Some of the norms are, no one knows everything; together, we know a lot. And so then I ask people to think about what would that norm look like in this session today.

And then if there’s someone who’s violating that norm—because educators can sometimes have on their superhero cape and they feel responsible to have all the right answers and know all of the things—and if someone is violating that norm, or if you hear your voice more than everyone else’s, take a moment.

Think about what could it look like in a community that holds each other accountable to a norm like that.

And then one of the other norms is that we will embrace an abundance mindset. And so it’s so easy to go to deficit, to what we don’t have, to how it should have been. But what would it look like in our session to embrace abundance?

Simply giving educators a few moments to imagine what that environment looks like and to practice what it would look like if it doesn’t look that way is a key to saying, here’s how we make change.

The best way for us to create inclusive learning environments is to have professional learning where teachers can feel the difference. They can feel what it’s like to be able to share their knowledge or expertise. They can feel what it’s like to be able to share their story.

Even if they don’t want to share it verbally, they can feel what it’s like to utilize different methods to take the learning in or to share or show what they know.

They can feel what it looks like to be able to collaborate in ways that have thought ahead about what it takes for humans to share, even when they’re uncertain with one another, and not have them feel uncomfortable or unsafe, and then still expect them to produce.

Even though we ask students to do the same thing in environments that don’t take into account their variability or their strengths or their fears as barriers.

And so when we think about what the barrier is, it’s not that the students are afraid. The barrier truly is that we haven’t created an environment that takes into account their fears and designed to make sure that their fears are eliminated or reduced by creating safety together.

And so when teachers get to feel that, and when we pause to peel back the layers of why these decisions or why this was an element of the instructional design, often when that little light bulb goes off, I see teachers going right to the way that they give directions and adding pictures, or going to a text that is all words on the page and putting space or adding hyperlinks, or making sure that each video has captions, or giving students a chance to respond in multiple ways, not just raise your hand and I’ll call on you.

When teachers have the experience of feeling what an inclusive environment feels like, the more we learn about them as facilitators, the more they show up in how we design.

They take that feeling and that experience and those stories, and they translate those into what haven’t I asked my students, or what don’t I know about them, or how have I used what I do know about them to build?

And what ways have I been making decisions for them that they are capable of making for themselves? And how can I transition myself to more of a guide and a coach than a tyrannical dictator who is making all of the decisions for everyone and forcing them to like it.

Tim Villegas
Right. Yeah. And there’s so much pressure. You do it that way too. It’s like whether or not your students quote unquote perform on an assessment and how well they do, it’s like solely determined on how well you did in bestowing this information as opposed to, you know, when you have a more inclusive environment and there is ownership. There’s ownership from the educator, but also ownership from the students.

And we know, and listeners know, that high engagement means there’s more learning going on. So I’m wondering about educators who are passionate about advocating for their students and if you have any ideas or advice about how to manage burnout because professionals, there’s a lot that is expected of them.

And so very excellent and passionate educators are burning out. So do you have any advice for them?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Yes. Teaching is a communal sport, and if the moves of advocacy are just on your own, in your own strength, all by yourself, and there are some of us who may be in places where we think that we’re the only one who thinks this way or who can advocate.

I would invite you to think about how you can expand your community. Jay Luke Wood, who is now the president of Sacramento State—he was at San Diego State for a long time—says that refusers and resistors take up a lot of energy and they make a lot of noise. And to avoid burnout, teachers who are marching toward inclusion, who are making a difference, who really want to see equity actualized, have to lock arms with those who are ready and willing.

So I believe that effective advocacy and educator wellbeing are not in conflict, but they strengthen each other. And so the first step is to see advocacy as embedded in daily practice. And so while you are teaching, not an extra task, not somewhere along the side, it is important for students to find ways to build maybe a mindful practice into their own learning.

And then for your own teaching, that you can advocate for those brain breaks, those resets, those sensory-free moments. Build them into your classroom, not just for the students, but model: I’m taking a moment to breathe and count.

Use the language of regulation. So there are moments—I remember I was leading a session. I was co-leading a session, and we were soliciting feedback after each chunk of the session, so to speak.

And a person used the anonymous platform to share venomous thoughts about my race while I was leading the session. I still had half a day to go, but I utilized the time not to address the comment, but to say there are moments in teaching that will dysregulate us.

And honestly, I’m dysregulated right now, so I’m going to invite you to take 30 seconds of your own to either breathe or journal or reflect, and maybe we’ll adjust that to a minute and 30 seconds, to just bring ourselves back.

It’s important for us to release the human side to our students, to our administrators, to say, here’s how I’m experiencing maybe what you thought would be uplifting to me. We have to find the language to advocate for ourselves.

And it’s important to model for students what it looks like to advocate for yourself, to take a few moments to breathe instead of pretending to be well.

We, as a community, work together. At the same time, I think educators need sustainable systems that are mindful of burnout and protect or prevent students and leaders from such.

So that means that we think about what it looks like to prioritize communal planning, collaborative models, and that when there are boundaries in place, that we don’t ask teachers to push past those as a community.

Same thing for students, knowing and understanding as they’re learning how to balance different loads and responsibilities, that we remain on the forefront of advocacy for themselves and for ourselves because it benefits us when we are present, healthy, and energized. So we have to create systems that push toward that, not against it.

And last but not least, I know that I keep coming back to this idea of community, but collective advocacy means that it’s not just one individual educator’s advocacy. But if there are causes that any individual educator is championing to move the system toward health, then we join our voices together, that we amplify those teachers or their students, their concerns, that we think about equity teams or affinity groups or structured feedback loops with leadership.

So we don’t wait until there’s a problem, but there is an ongoing conversation on how can we build for better together. This eliminates this brewing quiet burnout by always being loud about the things that are draining our energy and the things that are filling up our tank as well.

Tim Villegas
We need other people to do the work with us.

And I’m wondering how have you observed educators find community, especially with districts who aren’t as inclusive, maybe educators who are searching for belonging within a group of like-minded people. Anything that you’ve seen that is working?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
One place that I find community is to attend conferences, when possible, that are around topics that energize me. And so that’s always a good place to connect and to stay connected.

Additionally, I think that social media, in a way—which I know that social media can be draining and it can be divisive—but when we design it to light our fire, when we curate an experience that gives us information as well as strategy, I found that on Bluesky.

And I know that’s one of the newer ones or where educators are kind of regathering.

Tim Villegas
Mm-hmm.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
And I will go there, put in a couple of hashtags or look to see what communities already exist and then see if these are communities that give me information or that I can poll for strategies or resources.

Additionally, think about joining professional organizations that either focus on research or focus on advocacy or focus on a topic that is of interest to you. And there you’ll always find communities that are willing to listen and also eager to give.

So those are three ways that I would say you build community.

Also, don’t be afraid to put an offer out in your own community to say if educators would like to come together or if there are partnering community organizations that will be interested in focusing on educational issues, reach out.

Widen the circle. The more we widen the circle and all hands on deck around education, the more we have folks who have varying interests, varying strengths, varying capabilities willing to partner with us to make sure the schools are places that are safe for students and for teachers and leaders as well.

Tim Villegas
Yeah. I’d like to echo what you say. Definitely about the conferences and building your own communities.

But the social media—I feel like especially when I was in the classroom, I found that on Twitter.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Me too.

Tim Villegas
I remember. Yeah. I mean, this was early 2010s, I guess.

But I found that on Twitter. And we are on Bluesky. I’m on Bluesky. It’s harder these days. Mm-hmm. But I still think the idea of curating your experience on social media and making sure that you are connecting with people who are life-giving to you as opposed to people that are bringing you down.

I think there’s a danger sometimes of being too insulated and too inside of a bubble. But there’s also the consideration of your mental health and just feeling safe.

So if you are constantly in your feed and going like, oh my gosh, this does not give me life, then it’s okay to block and say, I don’t want to see this.

And I think that’s fine. Obviously there’s a balance, but I’m glad you brought that up.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
I do mourn my Twitter family. It was a great place to connect and to grow with folks though. Bluesky’s given me a little bit of those vibes. It is harder. I do agree. I’m glad you brought that up, Tim.

Tim Villegas
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Back in the day, man. Twitter was good. Oh man.

I wanted to—I’ve heard you talk about storytelling and incorporating narratives to support equity.

And so if there’s any stories that come to mind or even strategies for educators on how we can cultivate and farm these stories to share with people, because stories are so powerful.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Stories are powerful. I often share stories about my kindergarten teacher who became the principal of my elementary school.

And fun fact about her: she was also my mom’s kindergarten teacher.

Tim Villegas
Oh!

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Wow. And I often tell those stories so that people can get a little bit of a sense of who I am, and it always opens up the door for people to share experiences that are similar or different, or connections that they’ve thought of.

So sharing a little bit of who I am, without fail as a strategy, opens up the door for people to share who they are.

Many times in education, we keep who we are compartmentalized for a variety of reasons. When we’re building community with our students, with our families, with our administrators, even stories are a way of communicating what is deeply important to us or what is on our mind in the moment.

One aspect of storytelling that always sticks out to me is that storytelling makes ideas stick. And so educators who wrap concepts in narratives improve student comprehension and long-term recall.

Many times when I will revisit a place where I’ve spoken or given a keynote, people come up to me and they will remind me of the stories that they remember from that keynote.

They’ll remind me of either how it resonated deeply with them or how they wish they maybe had an experience like mine or maybe different from mine.

But stories also trigger empathy and perspective-taking, which builds inclusive cultures and leadership.

And even in DEI work, storytelling shifts mindsets and behaviors, not just transfers information.

The thing about stories is that they chemically, emotionally, neurologically connect us, and it’s one of the most powerful learning tools and inclusion tools as well because it activates the whole brain.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
And so when I think about how do we incorporate that in a classroom that is moving toward inclusion and equity, it invites every member of that classroom to be the expert on them, to think about how to share their story or shape their story. Maybe it’s pictures, maybe it’s words, maybe it’s videos.

And that’s what I love about generative AI, that even when people can’t verbally share, they can find ways to see an image that matches a story or makes them think of a story. And it lets us into some aspects that otherwise wouldn’t be unlocked.

And so that inclusive classroom has to have stories because it invites each member to both contribute and receive and be held in the same weight.

Tim Villegas
I love that you’re so positive about generative AI. I’m really curious about that because people are all over the map as far as that goes. Maybe they see the potential of AI, but they haven’t fully bought in. It sounds like you were all in. Is that right?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
I think that I was skeptical in the beginning, but I’m one of those kind of people that I’m going to give it a try before I form an opinion.

I saw a cartoon that made me rethink my skepticism, and the innovation in the cartoon was fire. And one person said, it will kill you. And then the other person said, but it could help us too.

And then the next innovation—so there were a number of frames—the second innovation was the internet, and it said that stuff will kill you. And then it said, oh, it could also help us.

And so this skepticism that we feel around generative AI, oh my gosh, AI is not new. It’s not a new concept. It is human, and both things can be true at the same time.

And it is how we design toward purpose or in service of our goals that will get us to where we need to be.

Tim Villegas
Oh my goodness.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Generative AI can have a place in bringing about equity. I was working on a chapter with Alison Posey, and if you don’t know her, check her out. She wrote the book Engage the Brain.

And as we were writing this chapter, and it was about how digital media can be used to hear the voices of disabled youth, we were saying, okay, let’s find stories—stories that speak to us, stories that kind of help us to understand, not for us to retell the story necessarily, but for us to understand the power of digital media in action.

And there was one article that she came across, and I’ll have to get the article so that you can share it with your listeners. And it was about individuals with cerebral palsy who were creating art for the first time utilizing generative AI.

I had never thought about it being used that way. But here are people with disabilities crafting solutions, engineering solutions, to allow us to know more of who they are.

I thought that was a beautiful way to go about it, to think about it, to receive it as a gift, even though there is a lot of potential for negative things to happen as well.

And so it started to really shift the way that I thought about how can this be used to unlock opportunity, even if there is danger therein.

So thinking about what we can do to build structures that allow the freedom. And then if solutions have been engineered by folks with disabilities, by people who may be on the margins or on the borders of seeing themselves or being seen as successful in an educational space, if generative AI can build their confidence, can break the barrier of an empty page, can unlock their creativity, then I have no choice to lean into the solutions that they’ve engineered for themselves.

Tim Villegas
That’s so powerful. And I love the example that you gave of the cartoon, especially the fire.

It’s like, yeah, it will kill you, but think about how powerful it can be in creation. And I definitely feel that way about AI, just my perspective.

Oh my goodness. That’s great.

I want to make sure that we highlight a new resource that you have that you are putting out into the world, and it’s published by Brookes Publishing Company, Disrupting and Preventing Racial Trauma Using UDL.

I’m wondering if you could tell our listeners a little bit about that and who it is for.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
So Disrupting and Preventing Racial Trauma Using UDL is a pamphlet. It’s like an eight-page foldout for trauma-sensitive educators who want to disrupt and prevent racial trauma in schools.

So we want to make schools both safe—the perceived and felt safety—but we also know that there is strategy that we can use to counteract the harms of racism, whether it is institutional or systemic, whether it is in the community.

We want to really equip teachers with strategies that you can utilize to make sure that every human feels seen, valued, and heard, and that they have some say and autonomy in the learning space.

But we also take into account that trauma is real and the prevalence is high. And so when we are designing our curriculum, our instruction, our assessment, there are some strategies that we can lean toward to ensure that for our Black students, our Brown students, that racial harm and racial trauma is not a part of our design.

And so we have to be deliberate and intentional about disrupting and preventing it.

And so this is a guide that helps people to understand microaggressions. It’s a guide that helps us understand the power of universal design as a tool for anti-racism and a tool for trauma-sensitive educators.

And it gives teachers an opportunity to design with support, with a lot of tools that we’ve identified for you to download, to play with, to really jump in the sandbox and make sure that in our design, that we are empathetic, but that we’re serious about making sure that trauma is not something that we’re manufacturing and delivering to our students.

So I would say check it out. It’s a great resource. We know that teachers are busy and have a ton of things on their plate, so we made this with you in mind.

So there are sample lesson plans, lots of tools, lots of downloads, but at the end of the day, it is a roadmap to make sure that racial trauma is disrupted and prevented through what we do every single day.

Tim Villegas
Amazing. It sounds like a great resource, so make sure, if that sounds interesting to you, to check that out.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Shout out to my co-author, Jen Alexander. She’s amazing.

Tim Villegas
Yeah. And you can get it at Brookes Publishing and search up Disrupting and Preventing Racial Trauma Using UDL.

Excellent. Excellent.

I want to wrap up our time together with student—part of the framework of the UDL framework is co-creation, seeing our students as part of the learning.

It’s not just we’re bestowing the information to them and then they’re just the receptacle of it.

Do you have any stories or instances of student empowerment and what that might teach educators?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
A story that comes to mind when I think about student empowerment is a story that I share in my book, Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning. I had a student who admitted to me—and I taught English Language Arts for a number of years—and he told me that he had never read a book from cover to cover.

And so his goal was to make sure that he read a book from beginning to end. That’s something that was important to him, that he wanted to accomplish. Now, what’s important to remember here is that he was able to complete the assignments that were required of him, kindergarten through ninth grade, without ever reading the full book.

He was able to play a game to get the grades, to do the things that he needed to do, but he had a personal goal that he felt safe enough, open enough to share.

Now, the empowerment part comes in when he was selecting tools to capture his reading. He said, reading logs don’t do it for me. I put down page numbers because I do it for you.

And so I said, well, if it doesn’t work for you, then there are other methods. This led to a class-wide sharing of methods that students use to capture their learning while they were reading trade books or novels in the class.

And so he had an opportunity to interview other students in the classroom on what they did to capture their learning, to make sure they remembered things from the character or changing points in the story. And he found strategies not from me, but from other students that worked well for him.

He chose the book that he read from beginning to end. He started an interactive bulletin board in the classroom where he could recommend books. That meant he planned to read more of them from beginning to end, but he also wanted to hear recommendations from other students.

But he found a way to capture what he was learning about characters, and he used storyboarding throughout to figure out, okay, here’s how they changed, or here’s something they said, or here’s something I want to hold onto.

What I learned in that moment is that it’s not about the assignment itself if the assignment is not in service of their learning.

Tim Villegas
And—

Andratesha Fritzgerald
—so when students are communicating to us that I don’t get this, I don’t want this, and I don’t need this, we have to respond, not with defensiveness, but with a shift in the design that says, I hear you. I see you. And I value you enough to change.

That is the lesson that it offers to educators. By allowing us to be teachable in the way that we are asking and requiring students to be teachable as well, it is a communal response to say, we are here together. All of us have something to learn from one another. All of us have something to give, and together we know more than we do individually.

Tim Villegas
Wow. But just what if every teacher went into a lesson and was like, okay, how—and asked the students, right—how is this going to benefit you? I’m like, what?

Oh my gosh. That’s a strategy to try.

How would schools be different? Just imagine. So yeah, if you’re listening or if you’re watching, let’s just dream a little bit. Let’s just dream. Mm-hmm.

What kind of schools we could create if every single educator went into their lessons asking the students, and asking for input, and changing that dynamic. What kind of schools could we have, and what kind of world could we have?

So, amazing. Amazing.

Thank you so much for your time and your wisdom and your thoughts. And if anyone’s interested, your book—which I have on my shelf—Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning is fantastic. Please go ahead and check that out.

Check out the pamphlet from Brookes, and you have a website, right? Could you share that with us? So we know where to find you.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Absolutely. www.buildingblocksofbrilliance.com.

Tim Villegas
Okay, fantastic. And make sure to check that out.

We’ve covered a lot, from sustaining yourself in this work to building community, to designing learning spaces that center student voice and humanity.

To wrap things up, I’ve got a mystery question that takes us somewhere a little bit lighter and a little bit more personal. It starts with what you pack when you’re heading out the door.

All right, we have a few minutes, and I like to end with the mystery question.

So here’s the mystery question: What is the first thing that you pack when you go on a trip?

It’s an interesting question. What’s the first thing you pack? The first thing you pack?

Well, I don’t travel that often for work anyway. And so I’m trying to think of what I would pack first. I’m always concerned when I travel, I have to bring equipment, like recording equipment—microphones and stuff. And so I’m always concerned that I won’t have enough room to fit everything.

And then I don’t know if I’ve told this story on this podcast before or not, but the very first time I went on a trip to record—like, that was the whole purpose of me going somewhere, was to get audio and record it and stuff—I brought way too much equipment.

Like, I brought mic stands, I brought multiple microphones, I brought multiple cords, and once I got to where I was going, I was like, what did I do? I just had a mountain of equipment. I just didn’t need it because I just didn’t want to forget anything.

So I would have to say, especially for work, I like to make sure that my equipment is going to be the first thing I set aside when I pack. So what about you?

Andratesha Fritzgerald
I’m similar in that way. I think the first thing that I pack, especially when I’m traveling for work, is my laptop.

Dongles galore. Every school, every district has a different setup, and I just want to make sure that I can connect. And I think I make sure I check a number of times. I’ve never left my laptop, but for whatever reason, I always check several times to make sure that I have it because it’s an extension of, I guess, of me and my thoughts.

So I want to make sure that I have it with me. So always, always, always my laptop and dongles.

And then my husband makes fun of me for this, but I take a million pairs of socks. I don’t know if there—I think there’s a sock shortage or what’s going to happen if I don’t have socks. But you can guarantee that even if I’m only there for two days, I’m going to have at least 10 pairs of socks.

Tim Villegas
Oh man. That’s great. Yeah. I mean, hey, you want to make sure just in case it rains, you know? Like, what if you get— I totally get it. I totally get it. Oh my gosh, that’s so great.

All right. Andratesha Fritzgerald, thank you so much for being on the Think Inclusive Podcast. We love having you.

Andratesha Fritzgerald
Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Don’t give up. Hope. We need each other. Thank you.

Tim Villegas
That was Andratesha Fritzgerald.

One thing I keep sitting with after this conversation is how often we talk about inclusion as a set of strategies when it’s really about how we design our systems around real humans.

What stuck with me is Andratesha’s reminder that we can’t unknow what we know. And that puts responsibility on us—responsibility to break down silos, to stop designing for the imaginary average learner, and to build schools where students with disabilities aren’t simply guests in general education spaces, but full members who belong.

Inclusion isn’t really about doing more. It’s about designing differently together.

One practical step for educators: take one routine—maybe it’s how you give directions, how families hear from the school, how students show what they know—and ask them, how do they want to participate in creating this community with you?

Then redesign it so there’s more than one way to access the community and to belong. That small shift can remove a real barrier and send a powerful message about belonging.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a colleague who’s building inclusive schools. Rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow Think Inclusive wherever you get your podcasts.

Shout out to nature. All the plants and the flowers and the blooms that are happening around my neighborhood and around your environment, wherever that is, and what that looks like for you.

Spring is upon us, which means we’ve got some allergies going on. We have daylight savings time coming up, but also a really, really beautiful scenery, and it’s always nice to see everything that pops up in our yard.

So also shout out to all the gardeners out there. If you have something maybe that you’re excited about, that you’ve planted, or something that blooms every year, I’d love to know about it. You can always email me@tgaatmci.org.

Now let’s roll the credits.

Think Inclusive is brought to you by me, Tim Villegas. I write, edit, mix, master. I basically wear all the podcast hats and the baseball caps.

This show is a proud production of the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education, scheduling and extra production help from Jill Wagoner.

Our original music is by Miles Kredich, with extra vibes from Melod.ie.

Big thanks to our sponsors, IXL and Adaptiverse. Visit ixl.com/inclusive and adaptiverseapp.com.

Fun fact: daylight savings time didn’t start with modern work schedules. It actually traces back to the 1800s when a bug-loving scientist wanted more daylight after work, and even earlier to Benjamin Franklin, who joked that waking up earlier could save candle money.

It finally became official during World War I when Germany moved the clocks to conserve energy. So this weekend when we spring forward, you’re taking part in a century-old experiment that started with bugs, jokes, and wartime coal.

What do you think about daylight savings time? Do you love it, or could you leave it? I’d love to know about it. Email me at tvillegas@mcie.org. I read every single message.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re officially part of the Think Inclusive Inclusion Crew.

Want to help us keep moving the needle forward for inclusion? Head to mcie.org and click the donate button. Give $5, $10, $20. That helps us keep partnering with schools and districts to move inclusive practices forward and support educators doing the work.

Find us on the socials almost everywhere at Think Inclusive.

Thanks for hanging out, and remember: inclusion always works.