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Primary and Middle School English Department: Discussing Disabilities and Embracing Inclusivity

December 29, 2023

On Monday, December 4th, students from Grades 4-8 gathered in the reading room during lunch-time to visit the English department’s Equity Cafe. This enrichment event was hosted to celebrate the achievements of those with disabilities. It also aligned with the International Day of People with disabilities – a day that works to support and raise awareness for differently-abled people. Celebrating alongside popular cafe snacks, activities were facilitated with an English focus of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, to discuss how we can embrace equity and promote inclusivity.

Students took part in a variety of reading tasks, including appraising poems, short-stories, and novels written by people with disabilities or texts which explore themes related to supporting individuals with disabilities and advocating for inclusivity in our everyday lives. In addition, the students took part in dismantling and analyzing challenging myths about people with disabilities, including debating statements such as “all disabilities are visible” and “people with disabilities are not able to be employed” to seek new perspectives as part of our independent learning mission. Furthermore, students approached the topic of neuro-diversity by completing complex tasks that simulated challenges that those with disabilities face in their everyday lives such as drawing complex patterns relying solely on the verbal guidance of peers. The goal of these tasks was to challenge preconceptions about disabilities and encourage students to think critically about how they can raise awareness and challenge discrimination towards differently-abled individuals.

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The students immersed themselves in the Equity Cafe and left with newfound knowledge about our social duties as responsible citizens in our school community and the wider world. Let’s pledge to challenge discrimination and embrace equity and inclusivity together!

Written by Edward Key, Carrie Mao

Picture by Carrie Mao

Edited by Serene Yang, Ginger Xu, Cong Luo, Wu Shiyu (Intern), Bianca Noguera