Teacher Inclusion in DEI Initiatives
Redefining normal.
Note: This article was originally published in 2023 on Medium. I wasn’t kidding when I said I have been researching neurodivergent educators for several years! Take a look and let me know what you think.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are becoming more common in educational institutions. McKinsey & Company refers to DEI as the inclusion and fair treatment of all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, and neurodiversity. Research has shown that employees are more engaged when they feel a sense of belonging in the workplace.
Additionally, moving beyond an inventory of diversity to a systematic approach to inclusion is essential to ensuring meaningful change in how we accept and appreciate diversity in the workplace.
While corporations are seeking to embrace neurodivergent individuals as part of the workforce, educational institutions are woefully behind in the inclusion of neurodivergent educators.
To further create deep structural change, DEI policies should be implemented that directly address neurodivergent educators as welcome and accepted members of the educational workforce.
Neurodivergent educators are an under-researched and misunderstood population of existing educators, so much so, that almost all research is centered on teachers with disabilities. The neurodiversity movement is rather recent, originally coined by Judy Singer in 1998, as a way to replace the deficit-based approaches to disabilities. Neurodiversity includes conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), dyscalculia, and dyslexia, to name a few, and acknowledges individual differences in function and traits as a “normal variation of the human population.”
Estimates reveal that 15–20% of the population are neurodivergent, which means that in all likelihood, there are neurodivergent educators teaching in schools today.
However, there is a distinct lack of research about teachers with disabilities, which then detracts from the opportunity to support and appreciate the unique perspectives and value they bring to students and schools. There is a perception that teachers must be “faultless”, and there is a real fear to disclose disabilities to avoid ridicule and/or misunderstanding.
Despite a fear of disclosure, research has shown that the perspective and knowledge that teachers with disabilities contribute play an “important role in enhancing academic, social, and emotional outcomes for these youngsters.” Ensuring that neurodivergent educators, and therefore teachers with disabilities, are supported in schools means targeting specific DEI initiatives to ensure inclusion.
There are a few pathways to teacher inclusion through DEI that school administrators and district leaders can utilize. First, school districts can collect data on the population of neurodivergent educators by creating a welcoming environment that supports neurodiversity. This means creating forums or open spaces for teachers to collect and discuss learning differences in a safe manner.
Although educators are not required to divulge a disability or learning difference, districts that create collaborative spaces and/or anonymous forms to discuss neurodiversity have a higher likelihood of identifying ways to create support mechanisms.
Second, school districts can invite experts to discuss neurodiversity for both students and teachers. When neurodivergent educators and their impact on students are discussed as a benefit and not a detriment to students, then educators can interact with their colleagues without fear of dismissal or ridicule once more awareness is raised by neurodiversity experts.
Last, but certainly not least, district leaders can deliberately include language on neurodivergent educators in DEI statements and initiatives. Much focus is made on students with disabilities, but there is a lack of recognition that adults are neurodivergent and exist inside schools. Redefining “normal” can ensure schools are more productive citizens of a world where neurodiversity exists.
Upcoming series: “The Hidden Faculty: Wait, What Is a Neurodivergent Educator?” This series will cover:
The Hidden Faculty : We Are Around Here Somewhere
The Hidden Faculty: The Cost of Fitting In (And Staying Invisible)
The Hidden Faculty: Why They Need Us