Inclusive Education as Teshuva Rabbi Ruti Regan Rabbinic Disability Scholar in Residence
www.matankids.org @mataninc
Why do we talk about “inclusion”? •
Exclusion is still the default.
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Exclusion goes without saying.
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It’s still normal for children with disabilities to be cut off from appropriate education, Jewish and secular.
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“Inclusion” is new, innovative, and difficult.
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Our work of innovation is teshuva.
It never had to be this way. •
We never had to exclude people with disabilities from our schools.
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We never had to allow our people to be institutionalized.
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We could have valued all of our children equally.
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We could have taught them, as they grew to adulthood within our communities.
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We spent centuries making the wrong choices.
We have lost generations of our people. •
Jews with disabilities didn’t pop into existence when we started talking about inclusion.
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Disabled Jews have always existed, but they have been pervasively excluded from Jewish education.
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We have lost the voices of Jews with disabilities, and we have let great harm come to our people.
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This is still happening.
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It is on all of us to fix this.
Teshuva for the sins of previous generations. •
Those who came before us chose to exclude children with disabilities from school.
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Because of this sin, we are left without knowledge and without infrastructure.
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Because of this sin, the students we work with have been hurt badly.
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It is on us to do teshuva for these sins as well as those that we have committed personally.
We don’t know as much about teaching disabled kids as we should •
Teachers learn what the previous generation of teachers knew, add to it, and pass it down to the next generation of teachers.
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When kids with disabilities were excluded from school, teachers weren’t figuring out how to teach them.
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Learning to teach kids with disabilities is part of our teshuva.
We don’t have the infrastructure we should have. •
How many curricula were designed with inclusive education in mind?
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How often does developmentally appropriate practice take into account the presence of developmentally disabled learners?
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How many schools of Jewish education teach inclusion skills at a high level?
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Where can teachers go for help figuring out how to make a lesson plan accessible?
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What else do we need to build?
We are working with kids who have been hurt badly •
Kids should be able to assume schools and teachers will know how to teach them.
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Kids with disabilities can’t even count on being welcome at all.
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They are hurt in almost every context they’re in.
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This isn’t your fault — or theirs.
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Part of our teshuva is to learn to face this without flinching.
This is hard, and it hurts •
We all want to think of ourselves as effective and compassionate educators. The work of teshuva can challenge this.
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It’s painful to think that we could be hurting disabled children.
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It’s painful to think about programs and educators we admire hurting disabled children.
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It’s painful to think about all the people we have lost.
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The only thing that hurts more than doing this teshuva is not doing it.
Inclusion is hard. Being Jewish gives us some tools for facing hard things. •
The legacy of centuries of exile and antisemitism has a lot in common with the legacy of exclusion of people with disabilities.
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We know a lot about responding to collective trauma constructively.
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We know a lot about facing intractable problems without falling into despair.
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Leaning on our spiritual tradition can make this work a lot more bearable.
Jewish tradition can help us to resist the temptation to seek inappropriate absolution.
Mishnah Yoma 8:9 עֲבֵרֹות ׁשֶּבֵין. יֹום הַּכִּפּוִרים מְכַּפֵר,עֲבֵרֹות ׁשֶּבֵין אָָדם לַּמָקֹום . עַד ׁשֶּיְַרּצֶה אֶת חֲבֵרֹו, אֵין יֹום הַּכִּפּוִרים מְכַּפֵר,אָָדם לַחֲבֵרֹו Sins between a person and another person: Yom Kippur does not atone until s/he makes things right with that person.
Living without absolution •
There are things that, right now, we can’t be forgiven for.
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We can’t be forgiven until we make them right; we have not yet figured out how to make them right.
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None of us are going to be able to undo all of the legacy of exclusion this year.
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This need not lead to despair.
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Life without forgiveness is worth living.
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We can get closer. We can do better.
God already knows that we are flawed. •
You can’t hide from God — and you don’t need to.
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God already knows what we’ve done, both individually and as a community.
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If God was going to smite us for our sins, that already would have happened.
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Our liturgy gives us a way to face up to our own sins and those we have inherited.
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This can be terrifying — and praying together can make it more bearable.
אֱֹלהֵֽינּו וֵאֹלהֵי אֲבֹותֵֽינּו וְאִּמֹותֵינּו ּתָבֹא לְפָנֶֽיָ ּתְפִּלָתֵֽנּו וְאַל ּתִתְעַּלַם מִּתְחִּנָתֵֽנּו ׁשֶאֵין אֲנַֽחְנּו עַּזֵי פָנִים ּוְקׁשֵי עֶֹֽרף לֹומַר ָלְפָנֶֽי יְהֹוָה אֱֹלהֵֽינּו וֵאֹלהֵי אֲבֹותֵֽינּו וְאִּמֹותֵינּו צַּדִיִקים אֲנַֽחְנּו וְֹלא חָטָֽאנּו :אֲבָל אֲנַֽחְנּו וַאֲבֹותֵֽינּו וְאִּמֹותֵינּו חָטָֽאנּו Our God and God of our fathers and mothers, hear our prayer; do not ignore our plea.
Our God and God of our ancestors,
We are neither so insolent nor so obstinate as to say before you,
“We are righteous people and we have not sinned”,
But rather: “We, along with our forefathers and foremothers, have sinned.”
Al Chet •
During the Al Chet prayer on Yom Kippur, we acknowledge a long list of sins together.
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The wording goes “For the sins we have committed through…”
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We go through a specific list because sin is not an abstraction; we have to think in concrete terms about what we’re doing
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(and what we’re complicit in.)
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We confess in the plural because we’re all in this together.
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You are not alone, and there is a way forward.
Al Chet Getting Specific •
When you say Al Chet this year, think about how each item on the list might apply to your work as an inclusive educator.
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(If you don’t understand the list in Hebrew, it may help to recite it in English).
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Here are some examples…
:וְעַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְזִלְזּול הֹוִרים ּומֹוִרים For all the sins which we have committed by disrespecting parents and teachers.
Teachers with disabilities •
Are there any teachers with disabilities in your school?
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Would a disabled applicant be considered seriously?
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Would a disabled teacher who talked about their disability be supported if parents took offense?
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When you think about accessibility in your school, do you plan for the presence of teachers with disabilities?
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What might you be able to do to recruit more disabled teachers?
Disabled disability experts •
How often do you listen to disabled people’s teachings about disability?
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When you listen to disabled disability advocates, do you take their expertise seriously?
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Are you prepared to learn from disabled disability advocates, or do you focus on feeling inspired?
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Do you say “You have such a unique perspective” to every disabled presenter without learning unique things from each person?
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When you feel inspired, what are you inspired to do?
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When you feel moved, is that a substitute for growth?
Disabled students as future teachers and parents •
Are children with disabilities treated as people who are growing into Jewish adulthood?
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Are children with and without disabilities taught to teach their Torah?
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Are the insights of children with disabilities taken seriously, or are they written off as cute?
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When you talk about Jewish continuity, can you imagine your disabled students as people who will be spouses and parents?
Teachers learning to be more inclusive •
The work of inclusive education is hard.
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Do teachers have space to be honest about that?
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Are they told things like “Inclusion doesn’t have to be hard!” or “Inclusion is all about attitude!”?
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What reaction do they get when they need help?
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How are teachers supporting each other in doing this work? What else is needed?
Parents of disabled children •
Is the parenting relationship being respected?
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Are parents being blamed for their kids’ disability?
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Are parents given intrusive advice?
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Are parents expected to have ready-made solutions to all disability-related problems?
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Are parents forced to describe their children in negative terms in order to get access to appropriate support?
Disabled parents •
Is accessibility on the table for parents, or only children?
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What barriers would a blind parent face to enrolling their child in your school and receiving school communications?
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When you talk about “parents of students with disabilities”, are you remembering that some of these parents may also have disabilities?
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What are you doing to make parent-teacher conferences accessible?
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What other barriers might parents with disabilities be facing? How might they feel disrespected?
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How are you communicating that parents with disabilities are welcome and valued?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבִבְלִי ָדעַת
For all the sins we have committed without thinking.
Sins committed thoughtlessly •
Are statements like “He’s so unique!” and “We’ve never had a kid like her before” used as a justification for failure to plan inclusive activities?
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Are access needs routinely overlooked? What mistakes are made thoughtlessly? Eg:
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“I didn’t think to make a large print version.”/“Oh, I forgot to email you that file.”
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“I’m sorry, the bus isn’t accessible.”/“We didn’t think about accessible bathrooms on the field trip”.
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How are you making sure that you and others consistently think about accessibility and inclusion? What else do you need to do?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְׂשִיחַ ׂשִפְתֹותֵינּו
For the sins which we have committed through conversation.
How are we talking about students with disabilities? •
Do we use stigmatizing language?
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Do we pretend disability doesn’t exist?
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Do we acknowledge disability, ability, and humanity at the same time?
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How are we showing respect? Where are we falling short?
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Do we talk about disabled students as though they’re not there?
Does “we” include people with disabilities? •
How might you be speaking as though everyone present is nondisabled?
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Do you say things like: “You and I can tune out the florescent lights, but they can be really painful for people with autism”?
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How can you include disabled people in “we” more consistently?
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Do awareness days consider the perspectives and needs of disabled students? What are disabled students learning about disability? How are their voices valued?
How are students with disabilities included in important conversations? •
Are students with communication disabilities given a way to contribute to class discussions? Are their contributions taken seriously?
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Do you have strategies for repairing communication breakdowns? (Eg: Noticing When Repetition is Communication: http://realsocialskills.org/post/ 32526314325/social-skills-noticing-when-repetition-is)
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Do students with impaired motor skills have a substantive way to participate in class discussions that involve writing?
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What other barriers to equal participation in conversations might exist? What are you doing about them?
Saying the wrong thing won’t ruin everything. •
Has fear of embarrassment or saying the wrong thing lead to destructive silence?
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Are we avoiding difficult conversations?
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Are disability and accessibility taboo topics?
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What conversations need to happen this year? How might you be able to make them happen?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְוִּדּוי ּפֶה For all the sins we have committed through empty confession.
Empty confession •
How much does “We’re an inclusive school!” mean in practice?
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When you apologize for an access problem, what happens next? How often do you do more than apologize?
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Have you made promises to end bullying that your school wasn’t able to keep?
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Have awareness days been a substitute for effective action?
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What other empty confessions may have been made? What can you do about it?
:וְעַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְלָצֹון
For the sins we have committed by scoffing.
Scoffing at people with disabilities. •
When students with disabilities speak seriously about their experiences, needs, and perspectives, does the audience laugh?
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When you see condescending laughter at people with disabilities, what do you do about it?
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Are teenagers and adults called cute in ways that are not ageappropriate?
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When students communicate with odd syntax, are they presumed to be joking?
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Are odd statements a student makes collected and ruefully laughed at? “There goes David again” “That’s such a Sarah-ism”.
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How else are we failing to take people with disabilities seriously? What can you do about it?
Bearing witness •
Disabled students face very difficult realities. Are they allowed to talk about them honestly? Do they get an honest response?
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Are the reasonable fears of disabled students dismissed as irrational anxiety?
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Are disabled students expected to smile at all times, or are they allowed the full range of emotions?
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Are disabled students told “It can’t really be that bad!” or “I’m sure they didn’t mean it” when they accurately describe experiences that make us uncomfortable?
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How else might disabled students face scoffing and silencing? What can you do about it?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְלָׁשֹון הָָרע For all the sins which we have committed through lashon hara.
Lashon Hara - Slander •
Are some students described as “low functioning” or “retarded”?
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Is the capacity of some students to learn dismissed? “She doesn’t understand anything” “Nothing gets through to her”.
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Do teachers get together to vent about how much they dislike a particular student?
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Are students struggling with an inaccessible environment described as “difficult and defiant” without regard for context?
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Are detailed records kept of everything about a disabled student that someone has at some point found objectionable?
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How else might we be slandering disabled students? What can you do about it?
:וְעַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְגִּלּוי עֲָריֹות
For all the sins which we have committed through uncovering nakedness.
Uncovering nakedness •
We know the rate of abuse is high. This is a communal sin. How might you be complicit? What might you be able to do about this?
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When kids go through puberty, is the need to avoid uncovering their adult nakedness taken seriously?
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Are kids with disabilities treated with age-appropriate physical distance? Are teenagers with disabilities encouraged to hug indiscriminately?
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Could a gay disabled student safely come out to you? Could they trust you to respect their privacy and see their sexuality as legitimate?
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When kids need help in the bathroom past the usual age, is their nakedness uncovered, or is their privacy respected?
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Does your school have a policy about reporting suspected abuse?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבִפְִריַקת עֹול For the sins we have committed by throwing off all restraint.
When we don’t feel bound by the rules. •
Do we do things to disabled children that we’d see as unacceptable to do to nondisabled children?
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Do we focus on training behaviors and forget about helping a student to understand the material?
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Are students with disabilities expected to tolerate bullying and teasing on the grounds that “the other kids don’t understand their disability yet”?
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Have you found yourself saying things about disabled students that would horrify you if you said them about nondisabled students?
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Have you heard other teachers and specialists talk that way? What have you done about it? What can you do about it?
What happens when violence against children with disabilities is in the news? •
When there’s a news report about murder or abuse of a disabled child, are they seen as a victim?
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Does the conversation focus on how difficult it is to parent a disabled child?
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What messages are sent about how we value the lives of people with disabilities?
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What can you do to make sure the lives of disabled people are valued in our communities?
Laws and ethical standards •
Do we act as though students’ disabilities mean that our ethical standards of kindness and respectful teaching don’t apply to them?
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Do we fail to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights legislation?
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What other laws, ethical standards, and rules might we be unjustly exempting ourselves from in our work with disabled students?
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What can you do about it?
:עַל חֵטְא ׁשֶחָטָאנּו לְפָנֶיָ ּבְאֹנֶס ּובְָרצֹון
For the sins that we have committed willingly, and for those we have committed under duress.
Willingly - sometimes we do it on purpose •
“I shouldn’t have to teach those kids”/“That’s just not how I teach”.
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“That’s not the image we want to project”/“Is this really a good use of our resources?”
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Are students excluded on the grounds that “we feel he’d be better off in a place more equipped to meet his needs” when no such place exists?
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“We don’t need a ramp, there are no disabled kids in this school”.
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Are children with disabilities denied enrollment in your program in order to prevent your school from having a high percentage of disabled students?
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How else might we be willfully excluding disabled Jewish children from Jewish education? What can you do about it?
Under duress - sometimes we exclude people against our will •
None of us live up to all of our best intentions.
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Sometimes we don’t know how to do the right thing.
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Sometimes what’s needed costs more money than we have.
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Sometimes we are unable to do the right thing because we’re overruled by people above us in the hierarchy.
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Sometimes we’re terrified of the consequences we’d face for doing the right thing.
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What we do under duress, we still do.
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We are responsible for what we do, even if we didn’t want to do it.
Some things duress can look like: •
“The budget won’t allow for it”
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“I’d like to, but…”
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“Liability”
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“Parents vehemently object to inclusive policies because they think disabled students will draw attention away from their children”.
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“No one is trained for that”
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“My board won’t allow it”
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“Our donors would withdraw funding if we did that.”
Teshuva for sins committed under duress •
What have you done under duress that you regret?
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How might you be able to gain more power to do the right thing this year?
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What have you seen others do under duress? How might you be able to support them in doing the right thing this year?
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How might you have pressured people to do the wrong thing? What can you do to support them in doing the right thing this year?
Teshuva is also about holding on •
You will likely come under pressure to do the wrong thing at some point this year.
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Some people may try to make you ashamed of your work towards inclusive Jewish education.
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Think about what you’re proud of. Think about what you want to hold on to. Think about how you’re going to resist pressure to let go of it.
For all the sins which are not on this list.
Adding some of your own •
What sins have you inherited?
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What sins have you committed personally?
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What is your community sinning about?
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What have you been complicit in?
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What can you do about it?
We’re in this together •
This is not your sin to bear alone.
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(You may sometimes be the least culpable person in the room).
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The work of teshuva is hard, and we’re all responsible for it.
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There is a way forward.
Yom Kippur is also a celebration •
Yom Kippur isn’t just about confessing sins, it’s also a celebration of teshuva.
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There is a lot of work left to be done, and a lot of teshuva we still need to do.
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There’s also a lot to celebrate! We have done a lot of successful teshuva, both individually and collectively.
What teshuva are you celebrating this year? •
Between this year and last year, you’ve grown and done a lot of successful teshuva.
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What changes are you celebrating? What teshuva are you proud of?
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What teshuva have you done yourself? What have you seen your community do?
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All of this is worth celebrating.
Shanah Tovah! May we all be written and sealed in the Book of Life.
Matan Jewish Disability Acceptance and Inclusion Pledge •
I acknowledge that ability, disability and humanity coexist, and I pledge to see my students as they are.
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I will not look past their disabilities; I will seek to understand. I will not overlook their abilities; I will seek to support them effectively.
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I will not ignore the humanity of my students; I will remember that they have individual interests and a perspective of their own and that they were each created in the image of God.
About the #SymbolStix images •
© 2017 SymbolStix, LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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