If you walk into a school and ask “where are the inclusive classrooms?” you’d likely be pointed toward rooms where students with disabilities are “allowed” to learn alongside their peers without disabilities. But, if inclusion can be pointed to as a place, then we’ve missed the point entirely.
Inclusion is not a room, it’s not a program, it’s not a label. Inclusion is a way of being present with a belief system that centers equity, belonging, and full participation in a community.
Inclusion Is Built, Not Assigned
According to the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE), inclusion is about designing schools and classrooms that welcome and support all learners – not just accommodating students with disabilities after the fact. That means inclusive education isn’t just about access, it’s about participation, contribution, and meaningful membership.
Here at Heartset and Mindset, we believe that we must start with values embracing participation, contribution, and meaningful membership before we can apply methods or establish structures. In other words, shift from compliance to community. We need to rethink how we receive our relationships (heartset) and our beliefs about who belongs in general education (mindset). Then, and only then, can we consider effective, evidence-based instructional strategies (skillset), or how to create systems that support collaboration and flexibility (willset).
The Myth of Readiness
Children are capable of learning and thriving together. This must be paired with practical strategies – co-teaching, embedded interventions, and strength-based supports. Too often, inclusion is treated as a bonus or luxury for students who are “ready.” But inclusion isn’t something students must earn. It’s something schools and classrooms must design.
In her videos, educator Shelley Moore passionately deconstructs the “readiness” myth – the idea that students must meet certain criteria before they can be included. Through stories and research, she explains how inclusion actually benefits everyone when we design with variability in mind from the start. Her metaphor of the bowling ball hitting the middle pins – and missing the ones on the edges – illustrates why we must “aim for the margins” to truly reach all learners.
As she says, “Inclusion isn’t about bringing kids into what already exists. It’s about changing what exists for everybody.”
Start With a Focus on Inclusion
A program, the Bayfield Early Education Program in Bayfield, Colorado takes this idea further by supporting educators and families in developing inclusiveness as the expectation. They emphasize distributed leadership and agency. They stress that inclusion is not just a classroom issue—it’s a schoolwide culture. Effective inclusion starts with leadership that values equity, prioritizes the voices of staff, and builds strong, collaborative teams.
Their frameworks emphasize that inclusion is not a checklist or specific curriculum; it’s a process of transformation that begins with relationships.
So What Does Inclusion Look Like?
Inclusion as a practice means:
- Students are supported where they are, and are not separated because of what they need.
- Supports follow the student, not the other way around.
- Teaching is flexible, responsive, and creative.
- Everyone – teachers, therapists, families – collaborates as a team.
- All students are seen as competent, valued, and capable of growth.
Final Thoughts
Inclusion is not a room down the hall. It’s not something that happens during one part of the day. It’s not a place you go when you behave well or when your needs are small.
Inclusion involves the heartset, mindset, skillset, and willset. Not a designated classroom.
When we stop asking “Where do we put this student?” and start asking “How do we support this learner?” – that’s when inclusion truly begins.
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