Reimagining Learning Environments: A Focus on Sensory Awareness
This podcast episode delves into the critical topic of sensory awareness and the implications it has for enriching the educational environment, particularly for students with sensory sensitivities. We engage in a profound dialogue with Dr. Shervita West, a distinguished former teacher and principal, who emphasizes that understanding the sensory needs of students is paramount to humanizing the classroom and fostering an atmosphere where every student can flourish. We explore the paradox of our extensive knowledge regarding diverse learning styles juxtaposed against the entrenched reluctance to move away from traditional educational models. This conversation elucidates the necessity of reimagining educational spaces to accommodate individual learning preferences, thereby cultivating hope and resilience among all students. Ultimately, we advocate for an educational framework that prioritizes flexibility and inclusivity, recognizing the distinctiveness of each learner's experience.
The discourse presented in this episode is anchored in the exploration of sensory awareness and its transformative potential within educational settings, as articulated by Dr. Shervita West. The episode navigates through the complexities of sensory sensitivity, particularly how it intersects with traditional learning paradigms, thereby challenging educators to rethink their approaches to teaching. Dr. West posits that sensory sensitivities should not be perceived as deficits; rather, they are integral characteristics of individual learning styles that necessitate tailored educational strategies. This perspective invites educators to reexamine their assumptions about student behavior and to foster environments that prioritize understanding and accommodation over conformity.
A salient point raised in the conversation is the distinction between sensory sensitivities and behaviors that are often misinterpreted as disruptive. Dr. West advocates for a nuanced understanding of student behavior, particularly for marginalized groups, emphasizing that behaviors stemming from sensory sensitivities should not be punished but supported. This reframing is crucial in developing an educational culture that values each student's unique needs and paves the way for more inclusive practices. The episode further examines the systemic biases that exist within educational frameworks, particularly how they disproportionately affect boys of color, highlighting the urgent need for reforms that allow for equitable treatment of all students.
This episode serves as a profound reminder of the critical role that sensory awareness plays in education. It calls upon educators to cultivate a climate of hope and empowerment, where every student is not only recognized but celebrated for their individuality. Dr. West’s insights provide a compelling framework for reimagining educational spaces as dynamic environments where diverse learning needs are met with empathy and innovation, ultimately fostering a sense of belonging and success for all learners.
Takeaways:
- In this podcast, we explore the significant impact of sensory awareness on student learning and classroom environments, emphasizing the need for educators to adapt to diverse sensory needs.
- We discuss the contradiction between our vast understanding of how students learn and our reluctance to move away from traditional educational models that often do not serve all learners effectively.
- The episode highlights the importance of creating inclusive environments that accommodate sensory sensitivities, allowing each student to thrive without stigmatization.
- We advocate for a shift in mindset among educators, urging them to abandon outdated notions of learning that prioritize conformity over individuality and self-regulation in students.
- The conversation with Dr. Shervita West reveals critical insights into how sensory integration can humanize the classroom experience and promote student empowerment.
- We conclude by stressing the necessity of cultivating hope in education, emphasizing that understanding each student's unique sensory profile can lead to improved learning outcomes.
To learn more about the work of Dr. Shervita West, check out their website:
To learn more about or engage with The Wheelhouse or Students Matter, LLC:
Transcript
Find out how a conversation about sensory sensitivity and integration leads to a conversation about the contradiction of knowing so much, about how each student learns, and our reluctance to abandon the notion of what traditional learning looks like in so many classrooms across the country.
Speaker A:A new episode of the Wheelhouse begins right now.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to give us a listen.
Speaker A:Season nine features a panel of four like minded friends and colleagues.
Speaker A:Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa, Dr.
Speaker A:Alicia Monroe, and yours truly.
Speaker A:We've opened the conversation this season to think about empowering educators to cultivate hope.
Speaker A:In this eighth episode, we welcome Dr.
Speaker A:Shavita West, a former teacher and highly respected former elementary principal.
Speaker A:Currently, Dr.
Speaker A:West is an ASCD faculty member.
Speaker A:She's president of SL West Consulting, and she's a leadership coach in the great state of Georgia.
Speaker A:Today, we're going to focus our attention on sensory awareness and sensory sensitivity and integration and how looking at the needs of students from this lens humanizes the classroom environment and empowers each student to thrive.
Speaker A:At the end of the day, what we do for some children is even bigger than cultivating hope or killing dreams.
Speaker A:It's a matter of life and death.
Speaker A:You know, as always, this was a great conversation and there were so many intriguing ideas that we brought to the space.
Speaker A:I hope you'll listen to the entire episode to hear the details, but I want to offer a couple of really interesting paradigm shifts.
Speaker A:One, we all process learning differently versus the need to fit everyone into the conventional puzzle we call schooling.
Speaker A:Two, sensory sensitivity versus behaviors that were deliberately meant to disrupt the classroom environment.
Speaker A:And finally, three, reimagine spaces of hope where there is flexibility to accommodate students where they are versus the desire and need simply to perpetuate the status quo.
Speaker A:Together, let's cultivate hope for each and every student.
Speaker A:And now, episode eight in a great conversation with Dr.
Speaker A:Shavita West.
Speaker A:You're not going to want to miss this.
Speaker A:Take a listen.
Speaker A:Good morning, I'm Grant Chandler and welcome to another episode of the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:You know, every time I start these episodes, I say I'm so excited to have this conversation.
Speaker A:And it's true again today with not only the topic, but especially the person who's joining us in the Wheelhouse this morning.
Speaker A:So before I give a big shout out to her, I want to welcome the panel.
Speaker A:So you guys, it is an absolute pleasure to do this work with you.
Speaker A:Welcome again.
Speaker A:Happy Tuesday morning.
Speaker A:Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa and Alicia Monroe.
Speaker A:Good morning, Good morning, good morning, good morning.
Speaker B:Practicing outside of you don't even know, we get together just to say good morning because it's just starts just a great space.
Speaker B:This is one of the highlights of the week, is to be able to start the day with such amazing human beings.
Speaker B:Love it, love it so much.
Speaker A:And you know, we should say, hey, thank you for listening to us out there in the world and thank you for sharing your time.
Speaker A:Whether you listen on Tuesdays when these episodes drop or you listen wherever.
Speaker A:We're absolutely delighted to welcome you as well to the Wheelhouse and we hope you will continue to listen and join our community today.
Speaker A:I have been looking, as I've said in every episode, so this sounds like a broken record.
Speaker A:I have been really looking forward to this episode.
Speaker A:Sometimes we welcome people that I don't know for the very first time and I get to make new friends with people like Rob Barnett from the Modern Classrooms Project and Reuben Britt, who was the co author.
Speaker A:So don't dismiss my story with our very own Alicia Munro.
Speaker A:But today I get to welcome someone who I've known for a couple of years and who I absolutely adore.
Speaker A:So this is Dr.
Speaker A:Shavita Jordan West.
Speaker A:She is an amazing educator.
Speaker A:She's been an elementary teacher, an elementary principal.
Speaker A:She is a faculty member for ascd.
Speaker A:She's a consultant in her own right.
Speaker A:She's now coaching principals and assistant principals, principals and other administrators in the great state of Georgia.
Speaker A:I am so incredibly pleased to welcome Shavita to the wheelhouse.
Speaker A:So welcome Shavita.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you so much.
Speaker C:I'm so happy to be here this morning again with people I absolutely love.
Speaker C:My dear, dear older friends and then some new friends.
Speaker C:And so I'm really just excited to be with you guys this morning.
Speaker A:It is an absolute pleasure.
Speaker A:So this season has been talking about this theme that we have.
Speaker A:We have guiding principles of the wheelhouse and we've been talking about those and we'd spend a couple of episodes doing that.
Speaker A:But we've also been talking to people who are doing the great work, who are part of this community of like minded educators.
Speaker A:And of course, you came to mind immediately not just because of who you are as a human and the great work that you do as an educator and the great work you do teaching educators, but you're also studying something and working around this topic of sensory learning, sensory awareness, creating sensory learning environments for students.
Speaker A:And I just thought it would be just an absolute amazing connection to our theme this season of cultivating hope.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I want to open up the, you know, because there are people who are like, well, I'm not sure what that is.
Speaker A:So let's just start with the basics.
Speaker A:So what does it mean, you know, in your scholarship, in your work?
Speaker A:What does it mean to be sensory aware?
Speaker A:What does it mean to create a sensory learning environment?
Speaker A:What is that?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So sensory awareness in layman terms is really about how we notice and respond to what we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, even how our bodies move, our balance in a sensory aware space.
Speaker C:The consideration for all of that is taken into account, how different Right.
Speaker C:Students are when they are in the classroom and how they learn.
Speaker C:Students who have sensory sensitivities tend to be more heightened to those things.
Speaker C:And so a good learning environment becomes aware of what those triggers are and how to support students in that learning space.
Speaker A:So what does it mean to respond to the sensory needs of students?
Speaker A:Can you provide us a couple of examples for people who are still trying to get their head around?
Speaker A:What does that mean?
Speaker C:So it's the student who is having a difficult time focusing because of the external noises that are going on in the classroom.
Speaker C:Things that I feel like, usually for adults, we learn to tune out certain discriminatory noises that are happening around us so people can be engaged in a conversation.
Speaker C:And that not necessarily trigger me or bother me.
Speaker C:But for a student who is displaying sensitivity with that, it becomes sometimes debilitating for them to be able to discriminate with that background noise going on.
Speaker C:And so they tend to be off task or maybe they lose focus.
Speaker C:For some of them, it depends on what the noise is.
Speaker C:It may make them anxious or nervous in the classroom.
Speaker C:So a sensory aware environment helps me to understand every student that is in my classroom.
Speaker C:And if those are triggers, how do I isolate that for that student?
Speaker C:And so it is using sensory tools and resources to help do that.
Speaker C:So maybe it's noise counseling, headphones, maybe it's giving them a serene space, a calming space to be able to retreat to so that they can be in a more comfortable learning setting.
Speaker A:You know, I love that example that you gave because, you know, I, you.
Speaker A:We, you know, often in our, in our adult lives, we're in, we're in busy places, right?
Speaker A:And we're having conversations with people, and there's a lot of stuff, you know, going on around us.
Speaker A:And, you know, some people, you know, some adults are better able to tune that out than others.
Speaker A:So it would absolutely make sense that, that, you know, that, you know, young, young students, you know, have that particular issue as well.
Speaker C:But it also, it also does not.
Speaker C:It welcomes me in an environment to be who I am to show up who I am not trying to fit in a space that is already predetermined, that I should be successful in that, you know, I should be able to learn exactly the same way that you do.
Speaker C:Although, you know, we all have sensory sensitivities.
Speaker C:But this is a focus on us being intentional about creating a safe space for students who need that additional support to have it in the classroom and it not being seen as different or another thing to do to accommodate learning in a classroom for our students, or.
Speaker B:Seen as a student being disruptive, that they're intentionally being defiant, that there are things that then often end up being attached to consequences and discipline.
Speaker B:And so what I'm hearing is this real strong connection to the work, with powerful student care, with thinking about the tenets of community.
Speaker B:And so as we build this space, as we understand each of our students as humans, then we're able to cultivate that community to allow every student to experience the joy of learning, to be successful, regardless of what sensitivities they may bring to that space.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And what the reactions to are for that.
Speaker C:I'm a person who believes that every behavior that exhibits in a classroom, there's an underlining factor.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And a lot of times it is a sensory sensitivity thing that is underlying.
Speaker C:A lot of times, won't say all the time.
Speaker C:But I do think it's imperative for us as educators before we assume to have a process of observing and imploring strategies to mitigate what those behaviors look like in the classroom.
Speaker C:If I'm honest, as I have continued to do research around this topic, and even through observation, this tends to be very difficult when it comes to boys of color.
Speaker C:That is not a population where we tend to use the word sensory sensitivity or sensory awareness in terms of behavioral factors in the classroom.
Speaker C:Most of the time, Kathy, it's exactly what you said.
Speaker C:We see certain behaviors and it's they're being distracted, right?
Speaker C:They're being distracted or they're being disruptive.
Speaker C:Are they not engaged?
Speaker C:Are they off topic?
Speaker C:And I can go on and on and on.
Speaker C:And instead of us trying to figure out what strategies to use to support students in regaining some independence, learning to self regulate and to kind of get themselves back on kill, we see those as offensive behaviors.
Speaker C:And so it becomes the constant redirection, and then that leads to frustration, and then, you know, sometimes isolation or the kid being removed from the classroom.
Speaker C:And that is, you know, research.
Speaker C:Research supports that, that often see, you know, boys of color, especially black and brown boys, being penalized or it being punitive in terms of behavior and there is a direct correlation to there being sensory sensitivities that are there.
Speaker D:I'm so glad you mentioned that, Shubita, because just a quick search for any of the research that has been done shows there's also a propensity for disproportionate identification for special needs when they don't actually exist for our black and brown male students.
Speaker D:One of the questions that's popping around my head is when we see a student who's having difficulty regulating in the classroom environment as it currently exists.
Speaker D:Have you, through your work, begun to compile a set of strategies that capitalize on our curiosity as the caring adults moves we can begin to make that help us see this child in a slightly altered setting, a different setting, where one by one some of the key factors of the sensory diet are eliminated or introduced.
Speaker D:I was wondering if you could talk about that.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, I think it's twofolds.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:From a research standpoint and looking at strategies that support, I won't say, well, accommodate.
Speaker C:You know, we talk a lot about a sensory diet in education.
Speaker C:That is something systematically that we could probably look at with, you know, what food offerings we, we offer as a school for, you know, nutrition, breakfast, lunch.
Speaker C:Ironically, I remember when I was a school principal, it used to always baffle me how the choices that were offered for nutrition in the morning, a cinnamon bun with lots and lots of sugar or you know, something that is heavily, you know, that no gluten free options, no whole food options for students to try.
Speaker C:And so, and I think that that becomes a broader issue than drilling down to how that's supported in a classroom or in a school in terms of overall strategies.
Speaker C:How I even came to this point was because I was seeing lots of students who behaviors were escalated in the classroom.
Speaker C:But I was not sure if these were deliberate behaviors that were meant to cause disruption in a classroom.
Speaker C:And so I started just doing some light researching and trying strategies on my own.
Speaker C:The kid who's in the classroom that fidgets a lot, you know, why not give them a stress ball or something that they can hold that's quiet, that will help them to stay focused.
Speaker C:Or the kid who does have the hearing sensitivity where they say, you know, my friends are all talking and I just can't concentrate, I can't focus.
Speaker C:Why not invest in noise canceling headphones to help them isolate sounds?
Speaker C:The kid who, you know, constantly has to be up out of their seat.
Speaker C:Why not think of investing in non traditional seating where students have an option of how they sit.
Speaker C:So I invested in bean bags and chairs that wiggled and traditional seating so that when students came in the classroom, they had a choice where they sat and how they felt comfortable.
Speaker C:And it could change on a daily basis that we were not so regimented.
Speaker C:And I think that's the other key to having truly sensory aware schools is that there's flexibility built in.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:We want to have structure, but we want to have flexibility to accommodate students where they're at common corners.
Speaker C:You know, sometimes I need a break.
Speaker C:I know I need a break, sometimes I don't.
Speaker C:Why is that not a option for students to be able to self regulate by taking brain breaks or even if they need movement breaks that that be okay and welcome in the classroom.
Speaker C:I used to love the notes that I got from my daughter's teacher when she was in grade school because she was that kid that needed movement.
Speaker C:She needed movement.
Speaker C:She was not trying to be disrespectful.
Speaker C:She was not ignoring the teacher's redirection that she needed to sit down.
Speaker C:It was that she had a lot of energy and she needed to be able to move.
Speaker C:And ironically, when the teacher would ask about what was being said in the classroom, she could capture the learning, but she needed the movement.
Speaker C:Had I known now back then, what I know now, then I feel like there would have been a stronger advocacy for me as a parent to say, hey, my child is different and she needs opportunity to exert this energy in a safe way that accommodates it and that accommodates her learning style.
Speaker E:So, Dr.
Speaker E:West, as I hear you speak, I think about the contradiction between learning modalities and learning intelligences.
Speaker E:Right?
Speaker E:And we all learn and process differently, but yet we as educators are expected to fit our school, our scholars, right into this perfectly traditional and conventional puzzle.
Speaker E:And it makes me think about how do we process as educators?
Speaker E:Mattering.
Speaker E:And we really unpacked mattering last week, right?
Speaker E:How do I really matter to you?
Speaker E:Do you know me?
Speaker E:And how do we create spaces that our students really understand that we are cultivating hope and that we're really for them, and we're really adaptive leaders ready to make the change and meet the student needs.
Speaker E:So the research that I do around neurodiverse students and sensory perceptions and the sensory diet, we ask ourselves these questions quite a bit to be reflective in our practice.
Speaker E:And I wanted to ask you, what are your thoughts around the contradiction that we as educators really applaud and uphold and uplift learning intelligence and multiple modalities, but yet we're still trying to fit the square pegs and the round holes.
Speaker C:I think we have to abandon the notion of what traditional learning looks like.
Speaker C:Like, I feel like that is where, yes, educational system has stayed stuck.
Speaker C:All this great research, all of this new learning about how we learn as adults and as children learn, but yet we have not let go of school needs to look a certain way.
Speaker C:And because we've been stuck in that mindset, it's almost a contradiction to say, yep, we got all this great research and all this great information, but we're more comfortable staying with the status quo.
Speaker C:It's every school you walk in, every classroom, it almost feels and look the same, even though we know the humans sitting in those seats are vastly different and have such different needs.
Speaker C:I think that in order for us to make the shift, we have to be comfortable with dismantling and breaking the status quo model to build something new.
Speaker C:If we're going to ever get to a point where we see all learners thrive, we see kids being empowered in the classroom.
Speaker C:We're creating these safe spaces of learning.
Speaker C:We're taking into account how different each one of our students are, and even in a learning environment, how different the adults are.
Speaker C:And we're providing an opportunity for them to thrive in who they are and finding ways to connect that with the big picture.
Speaker C:I always use the word reimagine.
Speaker C:We have to reimagine what education looks like.
Speaker C:We have to reimagine what the classroom looks like and use the information that we have to create these spaces of hope where we can see people thriving, students thriving, adults thriving in those learning environments.
Speaker A:And what you're saying is so incredibly powerful, right?
Speaker A:And I often say, and people get really angry with me when I say, you know, our educational system is broken.
Speaker A:It's not because we don't have good people.
Speaker A:It's not because we don't have some people who care deeply for what's going on.
Speaker A:It's because we are afraid for whatever reason, Right.
Speaker A:We are reluctant to stop hurting people toward a finish line.
Speaker A:We're afraid to take all this wisdom that we're surrounded with and actually use it.
Speaker A:Which is why we are talking about humanizing the space, right?
Speaker A:And eliminating.
Speaker A:Looking at children from a deficit model.
Speaker A:Why are we doing that?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Why do we look at everything from a deficit model?
Speaker A:If a student comes to our classroom and they can't handle the noise, that's not a deficit.
Speaker C:That's just a different way.
Speaker C:That's just something different.
Speaker C:So what?
Speaker C:That's not A deficit.
Speaker A:We should be embracing that, right?
Speaker A:As we humanize that space for them and thinking about what they need.
Speaker A:Because it's not about fixing kids to herd them to the finish line.
Speaker A:It's about fixing the system, how we do our business to support the needs of every student.
Speaker A:And you said it beautifully.
Speaker A:You said it beautifully.
Speaker C:I think there's another component to that now, like I really have try to be reflective on some context of that question, right.
Speaker C:I think it is a fear of the unknown.
Speaker C:What would a system look like if students were empowered and they could self regulate and they could be in a class and be confident and have this overwhelming sense of safety and belonging in a classroom like that would be amazing, right?
Speaker C:I think the fear comes in is how do we become equipped and prepared to do that?
Speaker C:Because those are lofty goals.
Speaker C:And so, you know, our preparation programs for educators, and I say it at each level, how we prepare students to become teachers, how we prepare teachers to become administrators and administrators, how are they prepared to lead school districts.
Speaker C:We have this universal model that there is very little fluctuation with that, that the perception of what we need to do is really around academics.
Speaker C:Academics.
Speaker C:We throw in some social, emotional, right?
Speaker C:And we talk about wellness and wanting, you know, everyone to have growth, mindset, and us to be in a position to accomplish these things in every classroom, every school, and throughout our districts.
Speaker C:The misstep is that we resort back to exactly the trainings that we've had, how we have learned this education thing.
Speaker C:And so the adjustments are very minimal.
Speaker C:We spend lots and lots of money with trainings and resources, buying books and, you know, things that tend to never make it off the page in implementation.
Speaker C:And I think our kids have continued to kind of be the byproduct of us being afraid to step out and truly disrupt the system and to create these places that we dream about, we think about, but making those a reality.
Speaker E:So the imbalance and the juxtaposition lie in the fact that our generations have evolved, right?
Speaker E:So you have Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who are first and second digital natives, sitting in spaces where historically everything is status quo and traditional.
Speaker E:So it's fractured and the schism is getting deeper and deeper because the mastery in the teaching space is not at that level of competency.
Speaker E:So there's a major disconnect.
Speaker E:So we're seeing students with their heads on the desk.
Speaker E:We're watching them like daydream outside, as Cath said earlier, right?
Speaker E:Discipline issues go up, chronic absenteeism is on the rise because students are not engaged.
Speaker E:We are really not meeting their needs.
Speaker E:In our attempt to promote students success, we are failing them.
Speaker A:And when you think about digital natives, right?
Speaker A:And you think about what you.
Speaker A:That's such a huge, a huge point.
Speaker A:Because how are educators responding to the needs of digital natives?
Speaker A:We're locking the technology up in plastic bags and telling them they can't have it.
Speaker C:And that's when we see, as Alicia said, this disengagement happening in the classroom.
Speaker C:We hear students who would rather do anything else than to show up at school and learn because they don't really feel like they're learning.
Speaker C:They feel like they have adults talking at them, not to them, that they are not a part of those conversations.
Speaker C:What I love about the thought of sensory awareness and creating a sensory aware space is that it becomes this interactive hub of supports of where I'm at and what type of and what way I learn.
Speaker C:And so if technology is a part of what sparks me and gets me to be there, then we build in opportunities for me to have breaks, that support that need for me.
Speaker C:If I am a student who's very visual, I have the opportunity to have visual cues, to have visual supports, because that is the way that I learn.
Speaker C:We have a very linear focus of what we think is learning.
Speaker C:We think that if kids show up and they sit in the classroom in those seats for whatever time in a period or throughout the day, that somehow they're capturing this learning that we tend to be delivering to them.
Speaker C:And I want you to catch that because we're delivering it to them.
Speaker C:They are not a part of the process of developing that learning.
Speaker C:And there's a disconnect because what they walk away with is oftentimes a very skewed information that has been given to them because they haven't been engaged in the learning.
Speaker A:And in reality, what we really want them to say to us through their through words and actions are I want to learn right.
Speaker A:I have power, I have voice, I have confident, I am supported.
Speaker A:And I find purpose here.
Speaker C:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker C:You know, when you were saying those words, I was thinking about students that we don't traditionally think fit into needing sensory sensitivity.
Speaker C:A lot of times when we talk about sensory awareness or sensory process and we think of students who have IEPs, but very often, and I know for me as a leader, this was true, those students who needed additional support were some of my high achieving students who had really high anxieties that didn't know how to self regulate or even had great coping skills in the classroom.
Speaker C:Ironically, I built A sensory room.
Speaker C:My last couple of years in leadership, it was an absolutely fabulous space, if I do say so myself.
Speaker A:Tours are currently available.
Speaker C:But, you know, I remember when we were finishing, we were talking about who this, this space would be for.
Speaker C:So the goal was to try to help those students who were having difficulty in the classroom regularly having a safe space, a safe zone, to be able to do that.
Speaker C:And I was coming out of that space one day and one of my really gifted students said, hey, Dr.
Speaker C:West, can I ask you a question?
Speaker C:I said, yeah.
Speaker C:He said, who is that space for?
Speaker C:Can someone like me?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And I, you know, of course, I mean, it's all inclusive.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:But my question to him is, why do you feel like you need the space?
Speaker C:He said, sometimes when I'm in the classroom, it's just really hard for me to collect my thoughts.
Speaker C:Sometimes I get distracted and I try to do my best to get back on task, but it's hard for me to kind of bring myself back to getting back in the flow.
Speaker C:And I thought about it, because sometimes our high achieving kids do a really good job masking.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:That they're disconnected from the learning because they don't exhibit the same behavior that we see from students who may be having difficulty self regulating and their behaviors are more external.
Speaker C:And we see that and we respond to that.
Speaker C:And so it made me shift my thinking in terms of that space, that it's not only for students where there may be external behaviors that are being displayed with those kids who truly are having moments where they just need a timer.
Speaker C:I just need to step away.
Speaker C:And actually it became a safe space for many adults in the building because we struggle.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:With sensory sensitivities too.
Speaker C:I know I do.
Speaker C:I need quiet space to be able to focus.
Speaker C:And I feel like I'm more productive when I have that.
Speaker C:And so as an adult, I've taught myself to balance and how to create that for myself.
Speaker C:I think it's important that we continue to work with schools and teachers to help them figure out ways to do that for students in classrooms.
Speaker D:Dr.
Speaker D:West, I hear when you talk about the work that you've done, and I hear that invitation to dive more deeply rather than to check a box that says we have attended to this need in the prescribed way so that this child now can conform to the space that everyone else is occupying.
Speaker D:And there, there is that natural belief, regardless of profession and organization, that here is the given.
Speaker D:And we have to become resilient, adaptive human beings and make our adjustments because we can't Control everything.
Speaker D:And you're pushing on that in a way that says these aren't boxes to be checked.
Speaker D:This is a practice, this is a call to use everything we understand from our existence as human beings and leverage that to build awareness, not just in the environment we're creating, but in the young learner about what they need.
Speaker D:And that's, it's like a subtle shift.
Speaker D:We think that the policy is going to solve the issue, even though the policy might be necessary, like a personal device and the distractions it creates.
Speaker D:But then we continue teaching the same way we were before.
Speaker C:Two words.
Speaker C:You said adaptive is the first one.
Speaker C:And I've heard that a couple of times throughout the conversation.
Speaker C:You know, we talk about adaptive learning, right?
Speaker C:That we need to be able to make these shifts and to be able to adjust based on what learners need.
Speaker C:We say it, it's a really great theory, but I'm not sure it always happens.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And then the other thing, and I think you touched a little bit on it and you know, certainly I want you to continue to expound on your question, but advocacy was kind of weighted in there as well.
Speaker C:Teaching students how to advocate for their needs.
Speaker C:And for me to feel like I'm in a risk free learning environment to say to you, hey, Mr.
Speaker C:Michael, I learned best this way.
Speaker C:And instead of that being seen as little Shavita being confrontational, you understand that and you work with me to make that accommodation or to support my learning in that way that you, myself, my parents, have been a part of this team to design what my learning needs to look like.
Speaker C:Like, I feel like that is the most empowering learning environment we can create for kids.
Speaker C:And so it is about an ongoing work that this is not just about.
Speaker C:Yeah, okay, we had a meeting, we talked about it.
Speaker C:We're going to do X, Y and Z and then she's going to be great.
Speaker C:It is an ongoing process because you realize that as I continue to grow and to become self aware that I am learning different ways or different things, that I need to support me as a learner.
Speaker C:And I think that that conversation should be encouraged more and not discouraged.
Speaker C:Sometimes we hear it and we tune it out.
Speaker C:And I think that that is the most, I think that is difficult for children, especially our older children in middle school and high school, because now I work with middle school and high schoolers as well.
Speaker C:And I see that, that when they push back, it's seen as being threatening, opposed to being the opportunity to have.
Speaker D:A conversation and they're doing exactly what we're needing them to do.
Speaker D:They're becoming more and more aware about their specific needs as learners.
Speaker D:Isn't that an essential quality of a lifelong learner?
Speaker E:Before we move off this, I want to deep drill this just a little bit because.
Speaker E:And I want to actually map it back, Dr.
Speaker E:West, to your research around the differences in the stigma around the ask and risk free areas and zones for boys of color in comparison to their white or other counterparts.
Speaker E:I know that you've done some work in that and I want to actually ask you to lift some insights on the disparities that you found in your research.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, ironically, not only through research, but through observation as well.
Speaker C:We tend to.
Speaker C:It's very skewed in how we respond to certain behaviors that are mimicked in the classroom.
Speaker C:A student of color, boy of color, who is tapping on their desk.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And because they need that to stay focused, there are some cultural expressions that we tend to ignore in the classroom that are so significant to who boys of color just are, what they bring with them when they come to the classroom.
Speaker C:And instead of seeing that as a means to help self regulate and help a student focus, it's a distraction and you need to somehow be either corrected for it and in some cases you're penalized for it.
Speaker C:A white student could be doing the same thing and it, you know, tends to unignored that it's, you know, just little Johnny being Johnny.
Speaker C:And that is a huge, it's disparaging but it's also very discouraging.
Speaker C:Research talks about creating this welcoming environment for students and how oftentimes boys of color feel like they less belong in a classroom because of their attributes, what they bring and how they're often overlooked or they feel unseen and in some cases feel unheard in the classroom environment.
Speaker C:And those parallels are there.
Speaker C:Like we could talk about that all morning.
Speaker C:The little boy who is.
Speaker C:Who's pretty talkative.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I like to talk, I like to tell jokes.
Speaker C:And that's seen as disruptive and annoying.
Speaker C:But a student of a different you does the same thing and she's outgoing or you know, oh, he's so funny.
Speaker C:Those parallels are so frequent now that you know it.
Speaker C:It's become a way of just how we've seen this system work.
Speaker C:And it is disparity.
Speaker C:There is a huge alignment to what we ultimately see as the success students who are successful in school who continue to thrive academically.
Speaker C:The learning environment has a lot to do with that.
Speaker C:And I feel like the biggest reasons that are one of the main reasons why that happens is because we don't recognize those cultural expressions that kids bring into the classroom room.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was thinking about, you know, all of this, this work in this conversation about understanding each of our.
Speaker B:Of our learners and within this kind of ecosystem of a classroom and how if we just expand out a bit and think about as we're creating these safe spaces for individual students, their classmates are seeing that.
Speaker B:So you.
Speaker B:You start to.
Speaker B:To really nurture this sense of acceptance, of belonging, of safe, of not judging because somebody needs something different.
Speaker B:So I take that as a human, into other spaces in which I exist.
Speaker B:So our work with each student, with these sensory sensitivities as we're talking about, then just leads to ultimately other students understanding that as humans, we're all wired different, we all need different things.
Speaker B:And that's okay.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:Kathy.
Speaker C:I think that is certainly the goal is to create those safe learning environments that are risk free and that allow students to be comfortable with who they are.
Speaker C:Unfortunately, the opposite of that becomes true in learning spaces where certain students are singled out because of those differences.
Speaker C:And so the mindset of the classroom shifts to he's always like that, or he's just different like that.
Speaker C:And that's seen as a negative, not a positive.
Speaker C:And, you know, again, I shift back to how we're training our staffs to be aware and how to respond in situations where we see certain behaviors being displayed that we pause, we take an opportunity to, you know, observe what we see, to collaborate and figure out how we meet those needs without naming and identifying certain behaviors and attaching those to kids, because those become stigmas that are really hard for them to outlive.
Speaker C:I know Grant knows.
Speaker C:I had a son who was adhd, diagnosed ADHD actually, when he was three.
Speaker C:And, you know, as he continued to move through the education system, there was always this high level of advocacy from me as a parent that I didn't want him, I didn't want him to be treated differently.
Speaker C:And, you know, I wanted him to learn adaptive skills in the classroom.
Speaker C:But every conference, you know, we tend to reference that he was adhd.
Speaker C:And I'm like, okay, you know, that's, that's, that's a part of the diagnosis, but it's not who he is, and this is not him.
Speaker C:And so teaching him too, how to develop coping skills in the classroom and how to self advocate was very important for me as a parent, but it was also important for me as a parent.
Speaker C:And I guess the benefit of being an educator is to teach those who were working with my son exactly the same thing.
Speaker C:You know, how to accept his self advocacy, how to have, you know, clear expectations from him that are not watered down because of the diagnosis, but that he was clearly able to achieve and achieve at high levels and to hold people accountable for that.
Speaker C:I always say kids who have parents who are educators are blessed and purse right, we go off the top to make sure our kids have what they need.
Speaker C:But that should not be the case because the kids who don't have it, what does home look like for them?
Speaker C:And that's really what I'm trying to convey in my research, in my writing, is that we really do have to have a system that is ever evolving but very aware that people, our students, come to our classrooms different, they have different needs and that we have to be responsive to that in a way that allows them to be comfortable with who they are and ensuring that we're doing everything that we can to help them thrive and to be successful.
Speaker A:And that's a wrap of episode 8 in this season of the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:A special thank you to Dr.
Speaker A:Shavita West, President of SL West Consulting.
Speaker A:Are you a like minded educator who's committed to promoting hope?
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