Welcome to our podcast learning pathway, designed for educators and stakeholders interested in fostering an inclusive mindset; here, you’ll find thought-provoking clips to help create a shared understanding of inclusive practices with your school team.
These clips are part of a series of blog posts that align with our Mindset & Beliefs Podcast Learning Pathway.
See, Think, Wonder
See: When observing school systems that promote inclusive practices, we notice that all learners are educated alongside their age-appropriate peers.
Think: Reflecting on this, we understand that changing the mindsets of stakeholders—educators, parents, leaders, and staff—is crucial for the success of these inclusive practices.
Wonder: How we can foster a shared understanding of these mindsets and practices. What questions can we pose to school teams or any group to encourage deeper exploration and authentic inclusion of all learners?
Prior to viewing each video clip, preview the discussion questions for each video. Each video is intended to develop a shared understanding of the mindsets and beliefs needed for inclusion.
Unlocking Inclusive Education: Master Scheduling with Natural Proportions with Brittni Sammons
Brittni Sammons has championed the work of inclusion as a teacher, administrator and Professional Learning Lead Coordinator for MCIE. In this podcast episode she discusses the method used to schedule students in natural proportions. This method of scheduling places students first, while also creating natural environments that reflect the demographics of a school.
What do we mean by natural proportions?
Understanding the history of scheduling with natural proportions and how it evolved from the dismantling of institutions will help stakeholders to see “why” inclusion is important.
Read Transcript:
Tim Villegas: Let’s start with natural proportions.
Brittni Sammons: Okay.
Tim Villegas: What does it mean? And then what does it mean to schedule using that principle.
Brittni Sammons: Yeah, you know one of the most important things for us to understand is like what we mean by natural proportions.
Tim Villegas: Right. Yeah.
Brittni Sammons: I first learned about the origin, like the term natural proportions because I watched a video clip that was produced in like 1987 with Lou Brown and he was talking about natural proportions. Have you seen that clip?
Tim Villegas: No, I have not seen that. Yeah.
Brittni Sammons: I will share it with you. It’s like, just a couple of seconds over two minutes and it’s just really amazing to hear him give his explanation. And he was talking about learners with disabilities being segregated from non-disabled peers and how that environment for learning led to learners with disabilities, like not being prepared to live in their world.
And so Lou also shared the, as they continue to further discuss, okay, so if this isn’t working, then what is this going to look like for our children with disabilities to be included? And so they started really investigating what it means to be included and, um started talking about like, well, within your community about how many people have disabilities.
And then they even transferred that conversation beyond humans and was like, how about animals?
Tim Villegas: That’s interesting.
Brittni Sammons: It is interesting because it led them to the term of natural proportions, right? So what is natural within your surroundings or community? In the educational terms it means that we’re talking about the inclusion of children with disabilities in proportion to the presence of those without disabilities in the general population of the school.
So, for example, if the entire school population had 10 percent of their learners with disabilities, then you could translate or generalize that each class should have 10 percent of learners with disabilities. So the technical principle around natural proportions is that it is proportionate to your community.
So, 10 percent of the humans in your community have a disability, then about 10 percent should be in the schools, which means about 10 percent should be in each class.
Tim Villegas: Right. Yeah.
Brittni Sammons: It’s one thing, we know a high volume of children with disabilities in one place really doesn’t foster the learning conditions, which replicate real living conditions.
And so it’s this whole notion of, if that’s what living is, then shouldn’t our learning and schools reflect the same conditions?
Discussion Question
- Discuss the rationale for scheduling with natural proportions and how this may affect the mindset of people.
The Flaws of Special Education Classrooms
Brittni reflects on her past support for segregated classes, now advocating for inclusive education grounded in research and experience, while offering practical advice and resources through mcie.org.
Read transcript:
Brittni Sammons: As a special educator, I was a teacher of a regional program.
I taught in segregated, self-contained classes. I did co-teach also, and I did teach an inclusive class. But a lot of my experience as a special educator started there. And I was a fierce advocate for my students with disabilities t forever. But what I was advocating for was wrong and I did not understand it.
I literally, in my past, thought that I was doing what was best for kids by suggesting segregation. I literally thought it was the right thing to do. I was so ignorant of the research that actually proves that segregation is not appropriate and what’s best for kids. And was more concerned about my students being included because they wouldn’t have what they need and that that wasn’t the right thing.
And I couldn’t have been more wrong. And I think sometimes that’s the hardest thing when you are shifting mindsets is that It goes back to what you say, you know, and Maya Angelou, “Once you know better, you do better.” but that is literally the foundation of this work. If we cannot say, now that I know better, I need to do differently to be better, then that’s really the sad story associated with it.
So the big “ahas” that you really asked for in the actual question you asked for about the success stories is when you have the educators and leaders who say that this is better for our students and for our staff, and they’re able to see the connections associated with it. I mean, we have the research that proves it, but for people to have their own experiences is probably one of the best rewards we could ask.
Discussion Questions
- Discuss how your beliefs have shifted since your first day in the classroom.
- Identify a question that would help someone to shift their beliefs about inclusion vs. segregation.
Reflection: What, So What, Now What?
What? Inclusive education practices focus on valuing learner variability and adopting strengths-based approaches.
So What? Addressing barriers to inclusion is crucial for creating supportive environments where all students can thrive.
Now What? Schools can promote changes in mindsets by implementing inclusive practices to transform education for all learners.
What is your biggest takeaway from these video clips? How can the insights you’ve gained move inclusive practices forward in your context?