Inclusion in education is the meaningful incorporation of people of all abilities, and social status, in an environment that is beneficial to develop a persons education in social skills, theoretical knowledge, and a sense of responsibility (and being)(Moore, 2018). This sense of inclusion was mildly acknowledged during my co-op terms in various health authorities around BC. Co-op students often evaluated their strengths, and have the opportunity to switch around teams, and department to find the right fit that plays towards their strengths and preferences. I know full time employees are also given educational opportunities to learn extra skills (sometimes supplemented by the workplace). However, it is still a standardized workplace where people with certain skills, will do certain jobs. Some will be engaged more than others. There is a long way to go to work toward this kind of inclusion to its full potential. It is important to embrace diversity to make sure everyone is included, and validated.
Although I don’t active participate in my PLN as much as I would like to, I do see how other leaders, and public figures post, and interact with their networks. I do follow a variety of small, medium sized, and large companies and public figures with differing opinions and stances on topics and policies. I often look at the content of the posts, some of which is controversial, and look at the comments for conflicting/combatting words of peers. For example, I saw an LinkedIn Influencer, Gagan Deep, make a post a few days ago to shed light on a student who didn’t make the threshold of a civil service exam because he was born in a certain caste, even though he is the breadwinner for in his family (2021). He got barraged with comments supporting his message, and criticizing his position on the reservation aspect of the caste system. Some users argued using stories like this as propaganda can help fuel more discrimination against minorities or against a certain group. Regardless of who is wrong or right, I think it is necessary to have debates like this, as many people can express their opinions and unique experiences, which may make some people feel uncomfortable with their previous opinions, but sometimes this is okay. Reading these opinions will allow me to traverse through different outlooks on certain topics, some of which are personal, and learn more about situations. I have attached the link to the post below the references.
References
Deep, G. (2021, June 1). Gagan Deep on LinkedIn: #BAN_CASTERESERVATION #people #like: 16902 comments. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gagan-deep-4933a666_banabrcastereservation-people-like-activity-6805524858571636737-qbqz.
Moore, S. (2018, October 1). The Evolution of Inclusion: The past and future of education. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo.
Hi Neil,
Thank you for the very insightful post on inclusion through your experiences. I do appreciate the detail you provided in discussing inclusion at health authorities across BC during your Co-op’s. I also completely agree with you point on there being a long way until inclusion is fully accepted in certain workplaces. I do feel that as a society, we are moving in the right direction with inclusion becoming fully embraced.
Next, thank you for providing the example of the individual on Linkedin creating discourse based on a post. I agree, it’s not about who is right in the situation, it’s the idea of allowing people to disagree and understand the other side. By having conversations like this, we are able to find common ground and possibly agree with people we usually disagree with.
Thanks again Neil!