A | Creating inclusive CULTURES
The following indicators and questions enable a detailed review of all aspects of a school and help to identify and implement priorities for change.
A.1 | Building community
Indicator A.1.1 | Everyone is made to feel welcome
- Is the first contact that people have with the school friendly and welcoming?
- Is the school welcoming to all students, including students with impairments, travellers, refugees and asylum seekers?
- Is the school welcoming to all parents/carers and other members of its local communities?
- Is information about the school made accessible to all, irrespective of home language or impairment, for example, translated, Brailled, taped, or in large print when necessary?
- Are sign language and other first language interpreters available when necessary?
- Is it clear from the school brochure and information given to job applicants that responding to the full diversity of students and their backgrounds is part of school routine?
- Does the entrance hall reflect all members of the school’s communities?
- Does the school celebrate local cultures and communities in signs and displays?
- Are there positive rituals for welcoming new students and new staff and marking their leaving?
- Do students feel ownership of their classrooms or tutor room?
- Do students, parents/carers, staff, governors and community members all feel ownership of the school?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.2 | Students help each other
- Do students seek help from and offer help to each other when it is needed?
- Do displays celebrate collaborative work by students as well as individual achievements?
- Do students report to a member of staff when they or someone else needs assistance?
- Are supportive friendships actively encouraged?
- Do students share rather than compete for friends?
- Do students avoid racist, sexist, homophobic, disablist and other forms of discriminatory namecalling?
- Do students understand that different degrees of conformity to school rules may be expected from different students?
- Do students appreciate the achievements of others whose starting points may be different from their own?
- Do students feel that disputes between them are dealt with fairly and effectively?
- Can students act as advocates for others who they feel have been treated unfairly?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.3 | Staff collaborate with each other
- Do staff treat each other with respect irrespective of their roles in the school?
- Do staff treat each other with respect irrespective of their gender?
- Do staff treat each other with respect irrespective of their class or ethnic background?
- Are all staff invited to staff meetings?
- Do all staff attend meetings?
- Is there wide participation in meetings?
- Are all teachers and classroom assistants involved in curriculum planning and review?
- Is teamwork between staff a model for the collaboration of students?
- Do staff know who to turn to with a problem?
- Do staff feel comfortable about discussing problems in their work?
- Are regular supply staff encouraged to be actively involved in the life of the school?
- Are all staff involved in drawing up priorities for school development?
- Do all staff feel ownership of the school development plan?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.4 | Staff and students treat one another with respect
- Do staff address all students respectfully, by the name they wish to be called, with the correct pronunciation?
- Do students treat all staff with respect irrespective of their status?
- Are the opinions of students sought about how the school might be improved?
- Do the views of students make a difference to what happens in school?
- Do students have particular opportunities to discuss school matters?
- Do students help staff when asked?
- Do students offer help when they see it is needed?
- Do staff and students look after the physical environment of the school?
- Do students know who to see when they have a problem?
- Are students confident that their difficulties will be dealt with effectively?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.5 | There is a partnership between staff and parents/carers
- Do parents/carers and staff respect each other?
- Do parents/carers feel that there is good communication with staff?
- Are all parents/carers well informed about school policies and practices?
- Are parents/carers aware of the priorities in the school development plan?
- Are all parents/carers given an opportunity to be involved in decisions made about the school?
- Are the fears that some parents/carers have about coming into school and meeting teachers, recognised and steps taken to overcome them?
- Are there a variety of opportunities for parents/carers to become involved in the school?
- Are there a variety of occasions when parents/carers can discuss the progress of, and concerns about, their children?
- Are the different contributions that parents/carers can make to the school equally appreciated?
- Do staff value the knowledge that parents/carers have about their children?
- Do staff encourage the involvement of all parents/carers in their children’s learning?
- Are parents/carers clear about what they can do to support their children’s learning at home?
- Do all parents/carers feel that their children are valued by the school?
- Do all parents/carers feel that their concerns are taken seriously by the school?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.6 | Staff and governors work well together
- Do staff understand the roles and responsibilities of the governors?
- Do governors understand the organisational structure of the school and the responsibilities of staff?
- Are governors welcome to contribute to the work of the school at any time?
- Are the skills and knowledge of governors known and valued?
- Does the composition of the governing body reflect the school’s local communities?
- Are governors fully informed about school policies?
- Do governors and staff agree about what governors can contribute to the school?
- Do governors feel that their contribution is valued irrespective of their status?
- Do governors share in-service education opportunities with staff?
- Do staff and governors share an approach to students categorised as ‘having special educational needs’?
- Do staff and governors share a view about the identification of students who experience difficulties and the way support should be provided?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.1.7 | All local communities are involved in the school
- Does the school involve local communities, such as elderly people and the variety of ethnic groups, in activities in the school?
- Is the school involved in activities in the local communities?
- Do members of local communities share facilities with staff and students such as the library, hall and canteen?
- Do communities participate equally in the school, irrespective of their class, religious or ethnic background?
- Are all sections of local communities seen as a resource for the school?
- Do staff and governors seek the views of local community members about the school?
- Do the views of members of local communities affect school policies?
- Is there a positive view of the school within the local communities?
- Does the school encourage applications for work in the school from the local communities?
Further questions:
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A.2 | Establishing inclusive values
Indicator A.2.1 | There are high expectations for all students
- Does every student feel that they attend a school in which the highest achievements are possible?
- Are all students encouraged to have high aspirations about their learning?
- Are all students treated as if there is no ceiling to their achievements?
- Do staff avoid viewing students as having a fixed ability based on their current achievements?
- Are students entered for public examinations when they are ready rather than at a particular age?
- Are all students encouraged to take pride in their own achievements?
- Are all students encouraged to appreciate the achievements of others?
- Do staff attempt to counter negative views of students who are keen and enthusiastic or attain highly in lessons?
- Do staff attempt to counter negative views of students who find lessons difficult?
- Do staff attempt to counter the derogatory use of labels of low achievement?
- Is there an attempt to address the fear of failure of some students?
- Do staff avoid linking the potential achievement of one student to those of a sibling or another student from their area?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.2.2 | Staff, governors, students and parents/carers share a
philosophy of inclusion
- Is building a supportive school community seen to be as important as raising academic achievement?
- Is fostering collaboration seen to be as important as encouraging independence?
- Is there an emphasis on the appreciation of difference rather than conformity to a single ‘normality’?
- Is diversity seen as a rich resource to support learning rather than as a problem?
- Is there a shared resolve to minimise inequalities of opportunity in the school?
- Is there a shared wish to accept students from the local communities, irrespective of background, attainment and impairment?
- Are attitudes about the limits to inclusion challenged, such as for students with severe impairments?
- Is there a shared understanding that inclusion is about increasing participation in, as well as access to, the school?
- Is exclusion understood as a process that takes place in staffrooms, classrooms and playgrounds and may end in separation from the school?
- Do all members of the school take responsibility for making the school more inclusive?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.2.3 | Students are equally valued
- Is a variety of backgrounds and home languages seen to make a positive contribution to school life?
- Are regional accents and dialects seen to enrich the school and society?
- Are differences in family structure acknowledgedand appreciated?
- Are parents/carers regarded as equally valuable to the school, irrespective of the status of their work or whether they are employed or unemployed?
- Are students and staff with impairments as welcomed into the school as those without impairments?
- Are higher and lower attaining students valued equally?
- Is the work of all students displayed within the school and classrooms?
- Does the reporting of achievements within and beyond the school include all students?
- Do all students leave secondary school with a nationally recognised accreditation?
- Are the achievements of boys and girls given equal support and prominence?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.2.4 | Staff and students treat one another as human beings as well as occupants of a ‘role’
- Is every student known well by some members of staff?
- Do students feel that teachers like them?
- Are all members of the school regarded as both learners and teachers?
- Do staff feel valued and supported?
- Are significant events, such as births, deaths and illnesses, given the appropriate acknowledgement?
- Is it recognised that everyone, not just members of ‘ethnic minorities’, has a culture or cultures?
- Can students (and staff) be supported to acknowledge that they are hurt, depressed or angry on a particular day?
- Is it accepted that staff can express negative personal feelings about students in private as a way of overcoming them?
- Do staff avoid demonising particular students?
- Are basic facilities such as toilets, showers and lockers, kept in good order?
- Are the wishes for modesty of students respected in arrangements for showers or swimming?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.2.5 | Staff seek to remove barriers to learning and participation in all aspects of the school
- Do staff understand that they can make a difference to the barriers to learning and participation experienced by students?
- Are barriers to learning and participation seen to arise in a relationship between students and their teaching and learning environment?
- Is the teaching and learning environment understood to include student and staff relationships, buildings, cultures, policies, curricula and teaching approaches?
- Do staff avoid seeing barriers to learning and participation as produced by deficiencies or impairments in students?
- Do staff and students understand that policies and practices must reflect the diversity of students within the school?
- Are the barriers that arise through differences between school and home cultures recognised and countered?
- Is it understood that anyone can experience barriers to learning and participation?
- Do staff avoid labelling children according to notions of ability?
- Is there an understanding of the way categorisation of students as ‘having special educational needs’ can lead to their devaluation and separation?
- Do staff avoid contrasting mainstream and ‘special needs’ students?
Further questions:
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Indicator A.2.6 | The school strives to minimise all forms of discrimination
- Is there recognition of the existence of institutional discrimination and the need to minimise all forms of it?
- Do staff and students understand the origins of discrimination in intolerance to difference?
- Is attention paid to the exclusionary pressures on ethnic minority students and the way intolerance to difference may be interpreted as racism?
- Is it recognised that all cultures and religions encompass a range of views and degrees of observance?
- Do staff avoid stereotyped roles for students in school productions (for example according to type of hair or skin colour)?
- Is there respect for teachers and students irrespective of their age?
- Are the cultures of the school equally supportive of boys and girls?
- Do staff and students avoid gender stereotyping in expectations about achievement, student futures or in help with tasks, such as refreshments or technical support?
- Do staff avoid valuing middle class above working class backgrounds and interests?
- Are gay and lesbian people valued by the school as part of human diversity?
- Do staff see disability as created when people with impairments encounter negative attitudes and institutional barriers?
- Are stereotyped views of bodily perfection challenged?
- Is there recognition that knowledge about their impairments makes a limited contribution to planning education for students?
- Do staff attempt to counter stereotyped attitudes towards people with impairments when they are seen, for example, as objects of pity or heroic battlers against adversity?
- Is the exclusion of students with severe impairments understood to reflect limitations of attitude and policy more than practical difficulties?
Further questions:
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Source: Booth, T and Ainscow, M (2002): Index for Inclusion: developing learning and participation in schools. Published by the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE).