LeDerick Horne, speaks about the value of profession development and how High Tech High invests in their teachers to provide the resources to better implement inclusion in the classroom.
[MUSIC PLAYING] The part of the reason why I enjoy coming here, coming up High Tech High is that this school, this institution has a real commitment to continuous education of educators. Now I’ve met teachers, who were considered to be highly qualified, very clear in whatever their content area is, that they’ll be placed in an inclusive classroom.
And the reality is that maybe they’ve got two credits as it relates to educating students with disabilities. What I find frustrating is that I think all teachers know that. Administrators know that but we still in a way set up teachers to fail because we push inclusion without giving them the tools that they need to really be able to deal with the [INAUDIBLE].
So what I have seen are the school districts that are just really committed to professional development, right? And really looking at disability as a part of the overall diversity of their student population, right and realizing that if a teacher comes into the building and they’re brand new, right they’re not going to know how to teach every kid.
So what are the experiences that we can give that educators? So they can tailor their content expertise to who is actually in the room in front of them. So some of that can be things like having an older teacher act as a mentor, right? Someone who has a sense of what the cultural differences are in that district and can help educate that newer teacher.
I’m a big fan of inclusive schools. I think that inclusion that I see around and says that it is something that makes the educational experience better for both teachers and students and tends to raise performance for everybody regardless if you have a disability or not.
