Initial Beliefs and Understanding

Personal Beliefs Over time, my own beliefs about students with exceptionalities has changed drastically.    When I was in High School, there was definitely stigma attached to being Spec Ed or needing and IEP.  Most students were integrated, however streaming was more strictly enforced.  Most exceptional students were placed in General or Basic programming.  Many did regular classes with resource support as well.    I am embarrassed to say that I used to believe in the stigma and did my best to stay away from students who were different than me.   I also feel like I had great experiences with many excellent teachers, but some were not as inclusive and supportive of individual student needs.  I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 14 and was offered no support from many of my teachers.  Late marks were regularly applied to me and I did not feel that some of my teachers understood me. My current views have changed quite a bit.  I have realized the importance of supporting exceptional students.   I also have been integrating these supports as best practice for all students.  My school is very inclusive.  We offer a variety of programming and supports for many students.  We also integrate our Community Pathways Programs and transition students with our other streams whenever possible (physical education and field trips, etc).   We also support our students’ individual education plans in any pathway and focus our teaching efforts on individual student success.  We also have a school team to discuss some of our struggling students.  We also offer Differentiated Instruction throughout our courses to give students the opportunity to show what they know and use their strengths.  I think that Ontario has changed quite a bit and so have teachers.  We have significant ethical and legal obligations  which need to be followed.  Over time, the culture of inclusion has changed quite a bit.