Connecting Care and Challenge: Tapping Our Human Potential - Inclusive Education: A Review of Programming and Services in New Brunswick

Due to the short time frame for this Review, this cannot be considered an exhaustive report. There is however quite a massive volume of information and sources introduced here touching on the particulars required by the Terms of Reference. In section I we present legal considerations that have an impact on education in various ways, all of which are related to inclusion and the application of equality rights in Canada. Those considerations include accommodation of students with disabilities, the student-teacher relationship, discipline, safe-schools, and a framework for analysis: the new 3 R’s in education: Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships. Included are references to the state of the law based upon the most significant recent human rights tribunal decisions and court cases. In section II we present current research on best practices in inclusive education. This includes first, an academic literature review. Second, it includes an analysis of a few of the systemic elements posing challenges for inclusion, accompanied by a sampling of initiatives designed to address these systemic barriers to inclusion. In section III we present a review of practices and research in other Canadian jurisdictions, including legislation, inclusion/special education provincial reports, inclusive education programming for pre-service and in-service training for personnel, and school funding. In section IV we present an overview of the New Brunswick context, including a brief historical account, a policy and curriculum status report, statistical incidences of exceptionality and other statistical issues, and some identified partnership organizations mentioned in the Terms of Reference. More specifics of what is going on currently in New Brunswick will be forthcoming in the summary document of the ongoing and highly beneficial consultation sessions pursuant to this review, Inclusive Education: A Review of Programming and Services in Education. We conclude by reinforcing the importance and timeliness of this exercise