Finding the Trail to Inclusive Education

By Elizabeth Barrera Rush

I raised my children to love and appreciate state and national parks. When they were able to walk steadily, they were given the responsibility of carrying diapers in their backpacks and instructions to "pack it out" of the park. Dad and I carried everything else: map, compass, water, snacks, first aid kit, flashlights, utility knife, emergency blankets. A whistle was distributed to each member of the party, with a warning that everyone must stay close, "but if something happens, the whistles will help us find each other." We learned to never be without essentials. And as the kids grew older and stronger, they were able to carry their own supplies and, if they were willing, luxury items such as binoculars, star charts, or books. For overnight trips, Dad continued to carry the tent, as we relied on his being the biggest and strongest.

There are specific rules, designated paths, and etiquette that allow people to enjoy natural areas preserved for public enjoyment. The "don't feed the bears," "no ground fires," "stay on designated trails," signs remind us of the measures necessary to preserve wildlife, artifacts, and landforms. Our hearts and minds are free to wander, which provides a unique experience that satisfies curiosities, interests, skills, and abilities. Park rules don't change what we know or our perspective. They also don't prevent us from being moved to love, appreciate, and coexist with nature as it was meant to be.

In the midst of some legislators' working tirelessly to limit how they think we are teaching in schools, I offer the rules of national parks to explain why anti-bias education is more necessary than ever. Anti-bias education prevents exactly what these legislators fear is happening in classrooms and libraries. Like following a designated trail, the curriculum is the designated path. By sticking to the rules, we can trek through, or teach, the content without personal bias. As teacher librarians, we provide all the necessary tools to navigate the standards, and if we are successful, eventually, students will know how to independently use the tools to "identify problems, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution and relate to information to reach an informed opinion" (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, USG.22). There is not, nor ever has there been, a need to interject political beliefs, inflict guilt, or encourage racial superiority in a K–12 curriculum. Res ipsa loquitur: the thing—in this case, the curriculum—speaks for itself.

Gearing your library practice to include social emotional learning lessons and techniques indisputably reassures the community that your goal is to provide instruction and lessons that teach all children to be empathetic to one another and to make responsible decisions that will not harm others. CASEL is a collaborative community that provides guidance and resources to help make social emotional learning (SEL) a part of learning communities everywhere. You can learn the fundamentals of SEL on their website in order to create a library atmosphere that is welcoming and inviting to all students (https://casel.org/what-is-sel/).

While establishing an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere, you may seek to understand what "critical race theory" actually is, and whether it would be taught in a K–12 environment. Lawmakers are passing bills to combat critical race theory in schools, and your intentions for inclusivity may be subject to scrutiny if you do not prepare with objective evidence that what and how you are teaching, the programming that you are providing, and the materials that you make available to your community are sound for the development and instruction for all. For this purpose, it is essential to understand the laws that have been passed in your state. Rashawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons of the Brookings Institute have been writing about the concept of critical race theory and related legislation, including keeping track of states that have passed or are actively working to pass laws that denounce the teaching of "critical race theory" in schools (Ray and Gibbons, 2021).

After reading the actual legislation in your state, you might conclude that teaching the social studies curriculum is not as constrained as you initially feared, given the letter of the law. As a librarian, you will most likely want to do your best to facilitate dialogue and provide resources that promote kindness and sensitivity to all of your students' cultural and racial backgrounds, economic conditions, abilities, and orientation.

Using inclusive instructional practices can help us ensure that the content we teach is delivered in ways that practice and promote equity. It means speaking to children, at any age, about getting along and is essential to creating an atmosphere of inclusion. Whether you teach early childhood students or high school, the book, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is a foundational text that provides language, objectives, and procedures for children and adults so that they can address differences. It also helps to provide reassurance to concerned parents and gives you the ability to prepare yourself for the issues that may come up when working with people of all family groups.

Creating an atmosphere that allows older students to freely discuss topics that are of concern to them, relating the standards in school to real life is essential for students to understand history, civics, or current events in context. Jori Krulder's article for Edutopia, "Bringing All Students Into Discussions," provides tips and strategies to help all students participate in a discussion. These are sound techniques to help shy or reluctant participants feel welcomed and their opinions valued.

Demonstrating to your students that they are valued for their unique qualities as well as their culture and background is essential for inclusivity. To bring this practice to life, I strongly recommend that you implement a passion project program in your library. Not only does it give students the opportunity to draw on their personal interests, skills, and abilities, but it also strongly reinforces history, science, technology, and language arts standards while providing purposeful opportunities to teach library standards and develop students' soft skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, and especially empathy. Teague Tubach's article, "How Project-Based Learning Can Teach Empathy" states that "understanding and implementing the histories, cultures, worldviews, and experiences of our students, can be the impetus for powerful [project-based learning or] PBL." Read the article to see how this educator was able to begin a group project-based learning assignment and how it helped his students relate in a very positive manner to one another. You can learn to assist a classroom teacher with either group PBL or individual projects, or lead it on your campus with my book Bringing Genius Hour to Your Library: Implementing a Schoolwide Passion Project Program. This book outlines, step by step, what you can do to get administrator and teacher support, to introduce the project concept to students, and to manage the projects every step of the way.

In the ordinary course of instruction, or in a PBL environment, undoubtedly, questions of race, orientation, and ability could come up in any honest discussion of a social studies project, a historical fiction book, or an exploration of digital resources. To guide an open discussion, you can provide an array of materials that are as objective as possible, especially primary source documents. The Library of Congress at https://www.loc.gov/ gives inquiring minds the opportunity to view a digital document, photo, or other historic item and infer what was actually happening. Objects lend themselves to a reconciliation of the students' own experience or family history and invite an introspective look into people's lives in the past, as well as a dialogue about what is happening in contemporary times. In the "Teaching Inquiry with Primary Sources," Barbara Stripling states that,"the conflicting nature of primary sources helps students see the complexity of issues and recognize the importance of context for credible interpretation. This multiple-perspective approach is particularly important for historical inquiry."

Read alouds are essential in any library program. Get help with selecting materials and learning how to effectively lead discussion about their content in JoEllen McCarthy's book, Layers of Learning: Using Read-Alouds to Connect Literacy and Caring Conversations. McCarthy states, "Books can make a difference in dispelling prejudice and building community, not with role models and recipes, not with noble messages, but with stories that make us imagine the lives of others" (p. 67). A carefully curated list of titles comes with strategies for discussion as well as the social-emotional learning and interpersonal skills that the picture book being used addresses.

For materials that are not in McCarthy's book, or resources that are already in your collection, you may want to utilize Reading Diversity: A Tool for Selecting Diverse Texts created by Learning for Justice. Four elements or "dimensions of text" are explored to help you "prioritize text complexity, critical literacy, and cultural responsiveness" when it comes to diverse texts. You may not wish to use this level of scrutiny for each book purchase that you make, but when you are faced with the dilemma over purchasing something that you feel is needed by your students but are not certain if it would be well received by all members of your community, you may wish to go through this evaluation process so you are able to prove that you have given the book more than adequate consideration before you placing it on your shelves. It will demonstrate a full and conscious selection process and will provide you with justification for your decision.

If you are able to explore topics with your students in more depth than the current curriculum provides, if your community is receptive, and you are comfortable with the task, I strongly recommend the following:

The Facing History & Ourselves website at https://www.facinghistory.org/ is replete with resources and "fosters empathy and reflection, improves students' academic performance, reinvigorates teachers, and builds safe and inclusive schools." You will want to explore this site and study the Educator Resources page, where you'll find teaching strategies that help gauge student understanding, guide students through the process of analyzing images and text, note taking and most importantly, how to discuss a controversial topic.

Have students expand their understanding of American history from the perspective of Indigenous peoples with Native Land Digital at https://native-land.ca/. This is a "platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms. Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together." Students who have a cursory knowledge of their Native roots may be able to fill gaps in their understanding of history from a personal and ancestral point of view, and potentially gain a deeper understanding of their current life experience and its connection to American history, as I was able to do for myself. Other students will enjoy learning about the people who once inhabited the land they currently live on. It could potentially help them to appreciate and understand the culture of the people who reside in their hometown.

If you are ready and able to challenge the status quo, then it is worth the time to explore #DisruptTexts on Twitter or https://disrupttexts.org/. This is a "crowdsourced, grassroots effort by teachers for teachers to challenge the traditional canon in order to create a more inclusive, representative, and equitable language arts curriculum." The #DisruptTexts conversations will help you (and your students) reconsider traditional literature that is being assigned as part of your curriculum to analyze and explore the underlying meaning and reasons for that literature being written, and challenge its relevance. I strongly recommend, if you are uncertain whether you should address materials in this manner, that you notify your administration in advance, and obtain parental permission for exploring the materials using this framework. The #DisruptsTexts approach would yield some fiery discussion in an afterschool book club, and would be sure to ignite critical thinking. A bold group would be enticed to come back!

So, yes, I did fail to mention in my introduction that within the national and state parks, there are varying degrees of difficulty of trails, climate, landforms, wildlife. Beginning with SEL, your local legislation, and standards are the lessons in the day hikes category. The read aloud resources, PBL projects, and additional resources are the time and experience that will help you be better able to negotiate a more challenging hike or an overnight camp. And of course, you wouldn't want to tackle an overnight hike up a mountain or down a canyon without prior experience or training and a strong companion to help you carry the tent. But remember, it is up to you to take up the challenge, all the while being aware of the park rules. Without the parks, there would be no experiences, no opportunities for growth, and no chance for understanding. It's up to you now to pack your gear, lace up your boots, and venture out.

Works Cited and Further Reading

Derman-Sparks, Louise, Julie Olsen Edwards and Catherine M. Goins. Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Second Edition. National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2020.

Krulder, Jori. "Bringing All students into Discussions." Edutopia (May 1, 2018). https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-all-students-discussions.

McCarthy, JoEllen. Layers of Learning: Using Read-Alouds to Connect Literacy and Caring Conversations. Stenhouse, 2020.

Ray, Rashawn, and Alexandra Gibbons, "Why Are States Banning Critical Race Theory?" Fixgov blog, Brookings.edu (November 2021). https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/

Reading Diversity: A Tool for Selecting Diverse Texts. Teaching Tolerance, 2016. https://www.learningforjustice.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Reading-Diversity-v2-Redesign-WEB-Nov2017_0.pdf

Rush, Elizabeth Barrera. Bringing Genius Hour to Your Library: Implementing a Schoolwide Passion Project Program. Libraries Unlimited, 2017.

Stripling, Barbara. "Teaching Inquiry with Primary Sources." Teaching with Primary Sources Quarterly 2, no. 3 (Summer 2009): 2-4. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/documents/inquiry-learning.pdf.

Tubach, Teaghe. "How Project-Based Learning Can Teach Empathy." Edutopia (July 2, 2021). https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-project-based-learning-can-teach-empathy