Broadreach Training & Resources

DVD: Inclusive Education: Rediscovering our Right to Belong
Norman Kunc

Harvard Summer Principals' Leadership Institute
(Keynote Address) 120 minutes

Research and experience shows us that the largest factor determining whether disabled students are segregated or included is not the severity of the disability, but which school the student happens to attend.

When I began speaking on inclusive education, I used to ask educators, "How do we help disabled kids to feel like they belong in a regular school?" Then it slowly dawned on me that a lot of non-disabled kids don't feel like they belong at their own school. In fact, a lot of teachers don't feel like they belong to their own school. In fact, very few principals feel like they belong to their own school.

Mainstreaming is about supporting disabled students in regular classes. Inclusion is about creating a school where ALL students feel like they belong.

What Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs shows us is something everyone knows at a deep level.....Self-Esteem comes about naturally, completely, and easily when we are among others where we feel valued and where we feel we belong.

Educational recommendations usually stem from assumptions about disability rather than the actual needs of the students.

The insidious "Catch 22" of special education is that children with disabilities in segregated classrooms are not allowed to belong until they achieve, but they are prevented from learning because we don't allow them to belong. Then we blame that lack of progress on the disability and use that as justification for further segregation.

Fundamentally, educators face a choice. Do we do what's easiest for us or do we do what's best for kids?

A more thorough discussion of the issues addressed in this video
can be found in the article: The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Available in DVD - $50.00
Order DVD

DVDs, & Posters are distributed by the
Special Needs Project Bookstore

Website by Norman Kunc | December 2008

	Research and experience shows us that the largest factor determining whether disabled students are segregated or included is not the severity of the disability, but which school the student happens to attend.
	When I began speaking on inclusive education, I used to ask educators, "How do we help disabled kids to feel like they belong in a regular school?" Then it slowly dawned on me that a lot of non-disabled kids don't feel like they belong at their own school. In fact, a lot of teachers don't feel like they belong to their own school. In fact, very few principals feel like they belong to their own school.
	Mainstreaming is about supporting disabled students in regular classes. Inclusion is about creating a school where ALL students feel like they belong.
	What Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs shows us is something everyone knows at a deep level.....Self-Esteem comes about naturally, completely, and easily when we are among others where we feel valued and where we feel we belong.
	Educational recommendations usually stem from assumptions about disability rather than the actual needs of the students.
	The insidious "Catch 22" of special education is that children with disabilities in segregated classrooms are not allowed to belong until they achieve, but they are prevented from learning because we don't allow them to belong. Then we blame that lack of progress on the disability and use that as justification for further segregation.
	Fundamentally, educators face a choice. Do we do what's easiest for us or do we do what's best for kids?
A more thorough discussion of the issues addressed in this video can be found in the article: The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Available in DVD - $50.00 Order DVD	DVDs, & Posters are distributed by the Special Needs Project Bookstore