Learning about Inclusive Education prompts those who listen to imagine what an inclusive education in the future can look like for children with disabilities, without the fear of experiencing discrimination. Those who believe this imagine a world that embraces people of all backgrounds, and endeavours to create a life everyone deserves.
But for those who have not heard about Inclusive Education, how do they think? What are the beliefs they had about children with disabilities – how did they perceive them? More importantly, after learning about what Inclusive Education is and why it is important, how do they change?
Tabuan Elementary School School Head Norhata Mamantik-Macaundas shared her story of her encounter with a student with disability, and how her perception of what education should be was forever changed after attending a training workshop on Inclusive Education.
A first encounter with a child with disability
In 2015, Teacher Norhata visited the school along with other parents to observe the class. She observed that her child had a classmate who was makulit (mischievous). This student loved to run around the classroom and distract their classmates from their classwork. She saw the parents of the child sitting at the back of the classroom, and telling the other parents that the child would tire themselves out eventually, and to just be patient.
Being a mother who trusted that their child was in school and studying well while they were working hard for their future, she felt frustrated that there was nothing being done. Back then, she thought that if this was how the child was, perhaps they had a negligent mother. It turned out that the parents of the other children in the room felt the same way.
Later, the group of parents submitted a school petition to exclude the child from the classroom activities so that their children would be able to focus on school. They said that the child did not belong in the classroom. The student was removed not long after that.
Looking back, but paying it forward
Norhata looked back on this memory years later in regret that she ever did those things back then.
“Na-guilty ako, naging mababaw yung pag-unawa ko. Dapat before ako nag-judge, kinausap ko muna yung nanay. Sana pinaintindi sa amin nung parents yung, “Paki-intindi yung anak ko.’”
(I felt guilty that I had a shallow understanding. Before I judged them, I should have talked to the mother. I wish that the parents made us understand the sentiment of, ‘Please be patient with our child.’)
If she knew what they were going through, she might have helped them given her experience as an educator. At the same time, she acknowledged that it was possible the parent did not know, or that they were simply protecting their child from the cultural stigma against disability.
Norhata looked back at this memory with a renewed perspective when she attended the training on the Foundations of ISA (Inclusive Schools Approach) that taught selected Field Enumerators for the 20-Day Campaign to Reach Every Child or the Child Finding Activity an introduction to disability inclusion and inclusive education. The training – supported by Australia through the implementation of Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao with partner The Teacher’s Gallery – was initiated to build the capacity of educators and school leaders as Field Enumerators through training and actual field experience. This campaign exposed the Field Enumerators to the situations of children with functional difficulties and how these factors into their access to quality education.
She wishes that she would find the parent again and promised to look for her. This became part of her purpose as a Field Enumerator; and for her, perhaps the reason she was chosen in the grand scheme of things.
She was surprised when she was selected by her supervisor as a Field Enumerator, and described herself as someone who was afraid of disability – an effect of the prevailing culture of parents hiding children with disabilities. Soon after the training, she that there was nothing to be afraid of and that this was a sign for her to change.
Norhata considered her position in Tabuan Elementary School in the Lanao Del Sur II Division an opportunity for her to use what she had learned learnt to pay it forward. She plans to prioritize identifying learners in need of assistance when face-to-face classes resume.
How parents and teachers must build an inclusive world for children with disabilities
For her, it was important that parents of children with disabilities be helped to understand that their child belongs, and that they should not be hidden. Though the child knows that they are different, they should also feel that they belong. Norhata promises to talk to them and tell them that they should come be part of the school activities.
“Dapat belong sila (children with disabilities). Belong yung bata, kasi tao rin sila, at may pakiramdam din sila.”
(Children with disabilities must belong. They must belong because they are human and they feel, too.)
It was also important for her that teachers accept them. “Sa atin sila (batang may kapansanan) kukuha ng lakas, lalo na ‘yung mga parents. May mga parents na magbabakasakaling dalhin yung anak nila [sa school] para matanggap. Kung may mapansin na [may sintomas ng kapansanan], tulungan natin silang maintindihan and ano yung mga kailangan niya at pano natin siya pwedeng matulungan. Dapat open [kami]. Dapat may communication.”
(Children with disabilities get their strength from us, especially their parents. There are parents who will take a chance and bring their children to school so they can be accepted. If you notice any signs of disability, let us help them understand and know what they need and how we can help them. We should be open. There should be communication.)
Putting what we learn into action
Norhata looked back on this memory years later in regret that she ever did those things back then.
Mistakes are opportunities to learn – everyone knows this, but not everyone does learn. At the same time, not everyone also gains the access to opportunities that would help them learn the important lessons that empower educators to be champions for inclusive education for all learners.
This is why investing in empowering educators and the school communities they belong to is vital to making inclusive education happen.
Norhata Mamantik-Macaundas shows what it means to acknowledge one’s mistakes after learning, to be brave enough to face one’s guilt, and to transform ourselves to be instruments of change. Being human means being imperfect – but beyond that, her story teaches us that being human also means always trying to be better, and moving on to build a world that is better than before.
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Norhata Mamantik-Macaundas is the School Head of Tabuan Elementary School in the Lanao Del Sur-II district. Currently, she is serving as an Enumerator in the Pilot Disability Data Gathering as part of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education’s (MBHTE) Inclusive Schools Approach initiative, supported by the Australian Government through Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao (Pathways) and The Teacher’s Gallery (TTG).