Watching words: The exclusion in Inclusion
September 1, 2019
in·clu·sion /in kloo ZH?n/
noun: inclusion
the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure."federal legislation now mandates the inclusion of students who are English language learners"
synonyms:incorporation, addition, insertion, introduction; More
antonyms:exclusion, omission
a person or thing that is included within a larger group or structure.
plural noun: inclusions
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Words Matter. Words also can just be signals without depth or significance--buzzwords.
As the school year ramps up, my district's key word seems to be Inclusion.
Sometimes the wording is different, "closing achievement gaps for underserved populations within the school district". A sigh of relief, they didn't say that Word, *inclusion*.
Parents sometimes admonish their children to *include* their cousins. Teachers remind students to *include* everyone on the playground. The word inclusion aims too low when it comes to the ultimate goals in our schools.
Intrinsic in the definition of inclusion is exclusion. Inclusion sounds like "before there was Exclusion, but now we are changing" because inclusion in some ways cannot be defined without exclusion. Inclusion sounds like one group is now going to Include another group. It has to be a focused effort for the district, to make sure they are not excluding children. I don't think this is something any district wants to say (despite what the data says).
Inclusion by its meaning creates a majority and minority, and while this is a truthful statement, equity is left behind in this scenario.
The word inclusion is intended to mean "closing achievement gaps for underserved populations in schools", but it easily slips into the status of buzzword--one that might have many different meanings for many different teachers. and has unfortunate unspoken shades of meaning. It falls so short of goals of equity, it continues the "us and them" narrative, we must include them, furthering (unconsciously) a kind of "othering".
Do districts mean to say this when using the word inclusion? I wonder if maybe our new buzzword might be better off referencing educational equity?
Heather Brooks Denton works in a dual language immersion magnet school in Oregon. She believes that dual language immersion education has the potential to change the face of the United States and is a key component in 21st century education.