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It Takes a Village...Where All People Belong

Creating Inclusive School Cultures

It Takes A Village...Where All People Belong is an initiative that creates and nurtures more inclusive thinking, practices, environments and communities by improving the capacity to engage and include people with an intellectual disability.  As part of this work, Creating Inclusive School Cultures focuses on nurturing and developing a school culture where all stakeholders - administrators, educators, students, support staff, parents - feel valued and can fully participate.

Managed by Community Living Ontario, the purpose of the initiative was to conduct a research project that would identify the indicators of success required to be present in order for a school community to have an inclusive culture.  While the initial focus was in relation to those with an intellectual disability, it was evident early on that many others did not feel included in their school communities and so the project was broadened to look at various areas of inclusion.

The project was based on the evidence that schools, within themselves, have many characteristics of the broader community, with several stakeholders and broad diversity. As such, schools are a “window of community”.  The students within these schools are citizens, who in their adult lives will bring their attitudes and practices as it relates to inclusion to their communities.

Creating Inclusive School Cultures is seen as an opportunity to nurture and develop these inclusive attitudes and practices during their formative years and to assist other school stakeholders to recognize and respond to the value of an inclusive culture.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has been the introductory school-board for the project.  Over three years, most of the 103 elementary and secondary schools in the board have participated in the project.  Participation in the program is voluntary, and trained facilitators deliver the program in each school community. 

School communities first complete surveys to identify their “profile” in relation to inclusion, and as a result are then supported with a goal-setting and action-planning process.  The outcomes realized through this process include:

 • Pro-Active Approach
 • Identification Of Strengths
 • All Stakeholders Are Brought Together
 • Heightened Awareness
 • New Thinking Is Generated
 • Action Oriented
 • Catalyst For Change
 

Initial results have been presented in Ontario, out-of-province and even internationally.  Sixty of the pilot school communities will be “re-profiled” in the 2006-2007 school year which will allow to see how their action plans have been implemented since the program began in 2003.

A resource – An Inclusive School Culture - has been developed which describes a vision of what a truly inclusive school culture looks like in an elementary and secondary school.  The resource is designed to be a reflective tool that allows the key stakeholders in the school community to learn about the key indicators of success, examine the culture of inclusion and then to take the appropriate action. Every school typically finds areas of strength to celebrate, as well as areas that need improvement.  They can then implement the process outlined in the resource to develop a more inclusive school community.  

The resource enables the school to review how inclusive they are by filling out stakeholder questionnaires and having discussions. The results, from the questionnaires, give a picture of how inclusive the school is and provides the principal, students, educators, support staff and parents with the opportunity to discuss and plan how to make their school more inclusive or sustain what already exists.

The Key Indicators of Success that have consistently emerged in school communities include:

 • Committed Leadership
 • Supports Available and Properly Utilized
 • Innovative and Creative Environment
 • Collaborative Approach is Taken
 • Diversity is Embraced
 • Flexible Learning Experiences that Focus on the Individual Student
 • Shared Direction

These are not listed in any specific order of priority, as they are all interconnected and cannot stand alone in creating an inclusive school culture. In the tool, they are depicted in a wheel. It has, however, become very evident that leadership, committed to inclusion is “key” to ensuring that this process evolves. This includes leadership from all stakeholders but particularly from school Administration, who, in their role, can support or impede the progress.

A partial version of the resource can be found at:
http://www.communityinclusion.ca/site/Community_Inclusion_21/pdf/Inclusive%20School%20Cultures%20PARTIAL.pdf

The initiative has far exceeded expectations and can easily be introduced into any school board in Ontario.  Other Ontario Boards have expressed interest in the project, including the Public and Catholic Boards in York region, the St. Clair Catholic School Board and the Algoma Public School Board.  Community Living Ontario has plans to share results with Ministry of Education regarding province-wide opportunities.  Outside of Ontario, School Boards in New Brunswick, PEI, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland/Labrador have also expressed interest in implementing this model.

Creating Inclusive School Cultures, as part of It Takes A Village...Where All People Belong, is also part of a national Community Inclusion project that is funded through Human Resources Social Development Canada.  For more information contact Laurie Thompson – laurie@communitylivingontario.ca .

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