Inclusive Ed Resources for Educational Leaders – BC CAISE

In this article, Colin Reid, President of the B.C. Council of Administrators of Inclusive Support in Education (BC CAISE) outlines their work in creating resources for educational leaders in B.C. to support efforts to make our schools more inclusive and accessible. Join us in reading all about BC CAISE’s work for inclusion in our province.

 

Written by Colin Reid, President of BC CAISE.

B.C. Council of Administrators of Inclusive Support in Education (BC CAISE) is described as “a professional association of dedicated school and district administrators passionately committed to celebrating and supporting student diversity in every classroom and school community”. While that description accurately summarizes our organization in a single sentence, BC CAISE is much more than that. BC CAISE was founded on the idea that great strides could be made toward a more inclusive education system when leaders of inclusive practice within each district are connected to each other and are provided with a supportive network of others across the province working toward the same goal.

From this concept, BC CAISE created five Regional Networks across B.C. These Regional Networks include members from neighbouring school districts who may be Principals or Vice Principals, District Principals or Vice Principals, Directors of Instruction, Assistant Superintendents and Superintendents who have inclusive practice as a part of their portfolio. Regional network meetings are held regularly where members can discuss challenges, successes, new ideas or opportunities, and pose questions to the other members of their network. Looking back many years ago, to my first year in a district leadership role and my first year as a member of BC CAISE, those network meetings were invaluable to me. They helped me find my way in a new role with a new portfolio, helped me learn from those with a bit more experience than I had, and helped me create strong professional relationships with others who were similarly committed to inclusion and who I knew then, and I still know now, are only a phone call away.

In addition to the Regional Network meetings, and our annual spring Conference in Vancouver each May, BC CAISE has also had the opportunity to create several resources to support the work already underway in school districts and independent schools across the province. Most recently, BC CAISE partnered with Disability Alliance BC, Untapped Accessibility and the Province to create several new accessibility-focused resources. The School Site Accessibility Assessment Tool & User Guide and the Guide for Developing and Reviewing Policies Through an Accessibility Lens, along with their accompanying introductory videos, were released at the end of August. These resources can all be found on the bccaise.org website and are free to download and use.

We are excited to share these resources with educational leaders in B.C. and beyond. We know that many, if not most, school districts have school sites that were built during a time when society’s focus on, and understanding of, accessibility was not what it is today. We also know that likely means the road to full accessibility will take some time. The creation of these resources was an opportunity for BC CAISE to provide support for the leaders and teams within each district who are working hard to identify, reduce and remove barriers for students, staff members, and members of the community with disabilities. We are also extremely proud of our commitment to “Nothing About Us, Without Us”, which drove much of the work on these projects – from the membership of the resource development team, to those who reviewed the final products, to the amazing people who helped create the introductory videos.

As BC CAISE continues to grow as an organization and continues to support leaders of Inclusive Education, we are looking forward to creating and sharing additional resources focused on celebrating and further fostering Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in every classroom and school community across the province.

 

Colin Reid

President, BC CAISE