Author’s note: I am honored to collaborate on this post with my good friend and #EdTech hero Mia Laudato. Mia Laudato received her MSEd in Exceptional Student Education specializing in Learning Disabilities and Emotional Behavioral Disorders from the University of Miami. She continued her learning at the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida receiving an Autism Endorsement and Pre-K ESE certificate. She has taught students from Pre-K through college in inclusive and separate classroom settings. Her love of teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and passion for using assistive technologies to create successful learners contributed to her being recognized by Orange County as a district top five finalist for Teacher of the Year 2016. She has been a guest lecturer at UCF and has presented at multiple local, state and national conferences. In her role as a technology resource specialist at FDLRS Action Resource Center, she provides professional development and coaching on instructional and assistive technologies, Universal Design for Learning, and AEM for teachers, therapists, and support staff in 7 Florida School Districts.
So much is shifting in this world. COVID 19 has knocked us off our feet. Its relentlessness is unlike anything we’ve experienced. The events of the past 6 months have required a fundamental shift in everything- including education. This shift requires us to examine our systems, our isms of the world. The things that dehumanize us. Perhaps, in this moment, we finally acknowledge and recognize the humanity in all of us.
But before we explore this, let’s flashback to springtime 2018. Florida. An innovative educational conference-UDL-IRN. Two people connected via Twitter meet in real life. A conversation began around the lack of truly meaningful inclusive opportunities for learners with significant disabilities. The talking around supporting learners with significant disabilities with UDL. It felt like UDL’s promise of teaching to the margins was missing the mark.
In this conversation, an idea was born. One that married all of the things “out there” in the world of inclusion and UDL. It’s here that the S.H.I.F.T. framework was born.
What is S.H.I.F.T?
- Supports in place
- Have a plan
- Include
- Framework that truly centers all learners- UDL.
- Teams Approach
The goal of the S.H.I.F.T framework is to, in the words of disability rights advocate Alice Wong is “to center the wisdom of disabled people and welcome others in rather than asking for permission or acknowledgement.” Spaces in education should create a sense of belonging for ALL learners- not just those that fit in a particular band or percentage. Leveraging the S.H.I.F.T. framework serves to meet the needs of learners with significant disabilities while honoring those learners.
Supports in Place
Having supports in place is an integral part of S.H.I.F.T.
- Intentional design of physical AND virtual spaces (includes materials, methods, accommodations and assessments) that center the needs of learners with significant disabilities.
- Resources include (but not limited to) access to AEM (Accessible Educational Materials) for curriculum and assessments*.
- Tools include access to Assistive Technology/AAC and instructional tech for multiple means of representation, action and expression*.
- Skilled Personnel includes access to high quality training for all.
To think of this another way, Browder, Spooner, and Courtabde (2020) have connected elements to a culturally responsive framework. This is a form of having supports in place, access to technology, systematic and explicit instruction, integrating culturally relevant information, provide multiple opportunities and primary language support. The authors also specifically note UDL as a vehicle for this framework (which will be covered later on).
Have a Plan
Having a plan MUST be student centered that includes considerations of access and advocacy, which contributes to a sense of belonging. This is academic (I can), Psychological (I want to), and social (I belong)*. Plans should be fluid and include both face to face, hybrid, and online environments. Co-planning with a learner centered focus that includes the learner, stakeholders, parents/guardians, administration, teachers and therapists. Furthermore, plans must include time for training and collaboration for all members of the team.
Include
This one should be an obvious one, but it’s not. As our school system was originally designed for the “factory model”, it’s time for educators and institutions to go beyond more than just creating a separate space for learners with significant disabilities, but to include them in ALL spaces. How many times have you heard an educator say “so and so does not belong in my classroom, or in this program”? Does it make you cringe? Have you said it? Imagine how it must feel to have someone say “you don’t belong here” (whether it’s directly or indirectly). What if this were your child? Wouldn’t you want them to be included with ALL of their peers?
In simple terms diversity is the mix and inclusion is getting the mix to work well together. – Global Diversity Practice.
Framework that truly centers all learners- with UDL
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that is rooted in neuroscience. The UDL Guidelines provide options, choices and flexibility in curriculum, materials, methods, and assessments. The promise of UDL is to design around disability first- but what about those with significant disabilities? Elizabeth Hartmann, (2015) states:
“The UDL framework states that learners with severe disabilities, like all learners, should not be defined by their perceived impairments because they require access to certain supports to learn. When teachers embrace the conceptual shift of the UDL framework and learner variability, they understand that severe disabilities are part of the natural diversity that is to be expected and embraced in classrooms.”
Key questions when leveraging the UDL guidelines to meet the needs of learners with significant disabilities should be:
- Where am I using the Guidelines to design for the needs of students with significant disabilities?
- Where can I improve? Choose one area and build on that.
Remember, UDL is a framework that helps educators proactively plan for learner variability. Use the guidelines intentionally.
Teams Approach
“A successful team does not operate in isolation but recognizes the strengths and skills of each individual towards the successful collaboration for inclusion.” – Hillary Goldthwait-Fowles and Mia Laudato
We know that some special educators are STILL working as islands onto themselves. The SHIFT needs to support a future where the days of working in isolation are long gone. Educators must do what they can within their power to work collaboratively towards the common goal of creating and sustaining more inclusive spaces for all learners. How to go about it? Teams know their purpose. They create spaces for professional learning. There is healthy conflict and protocols for problem solving. There is trust. There is a facilitator, leader, or shared leaders (Agular, 2015). There is a LOT of truth to teamwork making the dream work. Hattie (2010) stresses the importance of teamwork as a high effect of collective teacher efficacy. He states throughout his work that “Collective Teacher Efficacy is teachers’ shared belief that through collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes, including impacting those who are disengaged/disadvantaged.” Therefore, it is through the collective action of teachers they can make a positive impact on all learners, including those who are disengaged/disadvantaged/disenfranchised. The collaborative effort of a team has the potential to create powerful systems of belonging which can positively impact learners with significant disabilities.
Stay the Course
The S.H.I.F.T. framework requires more than a shift in practice- it requires a shift in mindset. We ask all educators to actively explore their judgements, attitudes, and beliefs around education, around learners, and around the ways they’ve been prepared to meet the needs of learners with significant disabilities. One way to help stay the course is to look at the Kostner Model for Managing Change (2000). In this model, there are 5 elements required for effective change management. They are:
- Having a vision
- Skills
- Incentives
- Resources
- Action Plan
When all of these elements are functioning, change will be a success because it will be sustainable. As part of this, educators must seek collaborations and co-conspirators. They should know what strategies and supports are readily available. While we all know change is hard, we can do hard things, and by using the S.H.I.F.T. framework it will be attainable.
Conclusion
We acknowledge that this is a start. But we must do better. We must look at the intersectionality of ALL of the -isms and the harm they cause. It’s in centering the student while making SHIFT happen that we get closer to the true meaning of inclusion and belonging that true belonging will happen.
References and Resources
UDL Resources for the Online World (Padlet)
Chromebook apps and extensions that promote accessibility (Padlet)
Tools to support learners with significant disabilities (Padlet)
Aguilar, E. (2015, June 22). 5 Characteristics of an Effective School Team. Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-characteristics-effective-school-team-elena-aguilar
Browder, D. M., Spooner, F., & Courtade, G. R. (2020). Teaching students with moderate and severe disabilities. New York ; London: The Guilford Press.
TLC/MTSS AT in the Classroom project 2015
Hattie, J. (2010). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement ;. London: Routledge.
Hartmann, E. (2014, November 30). Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Learners with Severe Support Needs. Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1061020
“Our School Doesn’t Offer Inclusion” and Other Legal Blunders. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://www.kidstogether.org/noinclusion.htm
