By Kathryn Balsamo, the Speech-Language Pathologist at the ISKL Elementary School
We are so excited to share an international inclusion celebration that just took place this April. Even though Inclusive Schools Week is officially the first week of December, it is NEVER a bad time to celebrate inclusion in schools!
The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) in Malaysia celebrated Inclusive Schools Week from April 1-5, 2019. They launched the week by hosting a Coffee Chat & Resource Fair to engage the parent community. This fair was intended to raise the supports that ISKL has in place for all learners and connect parents to the resources and supports in the greater Kuala Lumpur community.
Coffee Chat & Resource Fair
Throughout the week, the students at all divisions purposely designed engagements to heighten their awareness about inclusion. At the Elementary Campus, students learned more about inclusion by watching videos, reading books such as "My Friend Isabelle", and "Zoom" and analysing cartoons. They coloured kaleidoscopes and made connections between the colors and including all. On Autism Awareness Day, the students in the preschool program “Blew Bubbles for Autism.”
Coloring and discussing our Kaleidoscope of Friends
The middle school students created a video to launch the week, interviewing teachers, students, and parents and asking the following questions: What is inclusion? Why is inclusion important? How does it feel to be included? How does it feel when you are not included? What can we do at ISKL to be inclusive of everybody? During morning homeroom, the students engaged in interactive simulations to recognise that we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but this fact does not decrease our value as people. They went on to explore what inclusion means and some ways to make ISKL a more inclusive community. They took their brainstorms (words/ symbols) and created word clouds.
High schools students sharing inclusive environment ideas
Students blowing bubbles for autism and inclusion
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