An Important Reminder: Inclusion and Co-Teaching are not Synonymous

After over 30 years working to include students labeled with disabilities in general education, I’ve observed that there is still a lack of awareness and understanding about the definitions of inclusion and co-teaching. Teachers often tell my staff and me that a child with a disability doesn’t belong in their co-taught classroom while they say they believe in inclusion. To say that any child “doesn’t belong” in any teaching environment is counterintuitive to the fundamental ideology of inclusion.

Both teachers and administrators tend to overlook the fact that inclusion is a perspective, or a belief system.  Rather, they perceive “inclusion” as a federal or state-mandated law. But inclusion is not a mandate or a teaching methodology. It is a construct and a belief system that everyone belongs and that the community is at its best when all members – without exception - are welcomed and embraced. Not one of the definitions I’ve seen of the word “inclusion” allows for any exceptions. To state that a student doesn’t belong in the classroom, regardless of the teaching methodology being employed, is a statement of exclusion, not inclusion.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires each state in the US to provide a continuum of services that demonstrates placements for educating students with disabilities in the least to most restrictive environment. And not surprisingly, the word inclusion does not appear in the law. The entire notion of a continuum in education is counter to the idea of inclusion.  It encourages placing some kids in a separate environment removed from their peers and sometimes even the community in which they live. At least half of the options presented to schools involve removing students with disabilities from students without disabilities.  This practice is not inclusive.

Inclusion is not mentioned in New York State law because it is not a tangible entity.  It’s  not a place.  It’s not a classroom.  It’s not a title of a teacher or a school administrator and it’s not a label to be placed on a student. 

Co-teaching, however, is an actual defined service delivery model in the literature and a placement on the continuum of services here in NY.  Some states list it specifically in their continuum (with various names).  Others don’t. Co-teaching means that two licensed professionals work together to teach a diverse group of students with equal responsibility and ownership of all of those students.  In NY, we have this service delivery model written into the regulations for both students with disabilities and ELL’s (English Language Learners).  For students with disabilities, there is no definition of what student “belongs” in co-teaching. 

There is no regulation that states students in co-teaching must be at a certain place in relation to grade level curriculum and skills. Therefore, districts are left to their own devices to decide who they think belongs in a co-teaching classroom.  Educators are often shocked when we tell them that.  Having had no guidance in this area, they have been misinformed or rely on their own belief system.  I have seen the same student be deemed “appropriate” for co-teaching in one school and “inappropriate” for co-teaching in another. Administrators and teachers decide who belongs in co-taught classrooms, and that becomes the school culture, norm, and practice that people perceive to be law. Unless they are challenged by a parent or a company like ours, this norm prevails and unfortunately works against forming a truly inclusive classroom. I no longer take for granted that teachers have an understanding of the relationship between co-teaching and inclusion, and this is an essential part of our training.  And make no mistake, a non-inclusive mentality in a school regarding kids with disabilities will spread and highlight other areas of bias.

My staff and I teach schools that with a belief system that everyone belongs, coupled with obtaining the essential tools, strategies and support systems, any kid can be included. It is deep, creative and soul-searching work. I’ve implemented it, and I’ve seen how well it works. But if a school’s overarching belief system isn’t inclusive, they will find ways to utilize the tools, strategies and supports we provide to support the exclusive nature of the school.  Alternatively, if the belief system exists, but the school does not receive proper education of the tools available, it will be almost impossible to put inclusion into practice, and chaos may ensue.

Inclusion is a belief that everyone belongs.  There are a wide range of inclusive practices, and co-teaching is one.  As soon as it is implied that someone doesn’t belong within that practice, it becomes exclusive.  We are living in a time when white people in this country are being awakened to how our practices have not been inclusive of BIPOC, LGBTQ and other marginalized peoples.  Along with the larger conversations we are having in this country around diversity, equity and inclusion, this notion of whether or not a student with a disability belongs in a classroom must be “included” in that conversation.

So I invite you to do some soul-searching and ask yourself these questions: Who do you believe belongs?  How do you really feel about inclusion? And if you are connected to co-teaching as an administrator, educator or parent, is your practice inclusive? It is only by being truthful with ourselves and our inherent biases that we can work towards an environment of true inclusion.