S11 E37 Sam Drazin

Tim Villegas45min

Tim Villegas

00:03

This is thinking inclusive. I'm Tim Vegas. how do educators and schools work towards building more inclusive environments for all learners? Sam Drazen from changing perspectives stops by to discuss after these messages, we'll be right back.

Tim Villegas

00:44

Welcome back to Think inclusive where each week we bring you conversations about inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world. This week, our guest is Sam Drazen, a nationally recognized educator and Changemaker founder and executive director who applies his personal and professional background to lead changing perspectives. Their mission is to strengthen school communities through social emotional learning, disability awareness, empathy, development and inclusion. Sam was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare congenital disorder, resulting in both facial anomaly and hearing loss. His experiences both as a student with a disability and as a teacher working in an inclusive classroom helped him recognize the importance of supporting students in developing the essential life and relationship skills that underpin equity, inclusion and social change. The students and educators they work with around the nation are a constant inspiration for Sam. In this episode, Sandra is and discusses the importance of inclusion in schools emphasizing the need for a growth mindset scratch. In this episode, Sam Drazen discusses the importance of inclusion in schools emphasizing the need for a growth mindset, and incremental changes. His organization changing perspectives, works with schools to create authentically inclusive learning experiences. The impact of their work is evident in partner schools, where specific goals like social inclusion on the playground have tangible results. Sam encourages educators to make small, manageable changes to enhance inclusivity aiming for a 10% improvement in their practices regularly. Sam was such a good sport for an interview, I was having a very, very bad podcast Technology Day, and nothing was working as it was supposed to. So thank you, Sam, for being such a fabulous guest. Before we get into my conversation with Sam, I want to tell you about our sponsor for this week and the entire month of June. the Described and Captioned Media Program DCMP is the nation's leading source of accessible educational videos. Membership is free for families and school personnel with at least one early learner through grade 12 student with a disability and includes free access to 1000s of videos and educational television series with captions audio description, and American Sign Language. DCMP also provides guidelines for captioning and describing educational media, as well as professional development and elearning resources. DCMP is fully funded by the US Department of Education. And did I mention it services are free? Check them out at DCMP dot o RG. And now my conversation with Sam Drazen. Oh and for free time this week, a look back at some of my favorite episodes of this season. saying let's talk about inclusion. Why is inclusion important to you?

Speaker 1

04:10

While Tim you really like to start with the big questions, I think about both my experience as a classroom teacher as well as my experience as a student in the K 12 system. And reflecting on those experiences really led me to thinking about inclusion in a different way. I think inclusion and supporting because inclusion is our world. Right? It's interesting in our schools we segregate based on ability and or disability. But in of the world we don't necessarily segregate based on ability and or disability. I think it's really important that our schools are essentially a microcosm for the real world to help our students learn about themselves. Learn about others be mindful of how other people Bull experienced the world being mindful of how other people communicate and collaborate, in order to really prepare students today to be the change makers for a more inclusive tomorrow.

Tim Villegas

05:13

I love that example, Sam about our world is automatically I mean, everyone is in it. And so we really do have to live with each other. And you would think that one of the best places to learn that would be schools, especially because typically you go to school, because it's in your neighborhood, I know that there's different ways of going to school, you know, some go to charter schools, and we go to private schools, but it's when we're talking about public schools, in the public space and sector, your neighborhood schools, you go to schools with, with your neighbors. And so it's the same sort of thing. You go to stores, you go to the park. And it's just not feasible for everyone to have their own separate store or space. And it really it life would be much less interesting if we could all be together.

Speaker 1

06:13

And I think what's interesting is why do we segregated students for the first 18 years of their lives? Right? Most kids are in school for, you know, from the age of, you know, three or four, up until almost 18. So it's actually a disservice to not provide an inclusive experience, because why would we want to wait till a person's 18 T, then put them in a situation where they are around folks who are different from them in any way, whether that's a physical difference, communication, difference, a language difference, and ethnic difference? You know, and I come to this work through students with through the lens of students with disabilities, but I really see inclusion as tier one intervention, it is to support all students regardless of how they might be classified or diagnosed.

Tim Villegas

07:09

Right, right, and great point about why we, why do we do that, for, you know, our youngest learners all the way till you know, 18. You work with a lot of educators. And I know a lot of educators listen. And for the most part, what I know that educators being a former public school teacher, nobody gets into this job wanting to segregate kids, like, you know, you become a teacher, because maybe you were inspired by a teacher when you're going to school, or maybe you have a teacher in your family, or maybe you just have this desire to help people. Nobody goes in with this preconceived notion of that everyone needs to be separate. But that's the reality for so many educators. And I just wonder, like, how, how do we as educators push back against a system that is by design meant to separate people, especially when we're talking about general and special education?

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