Enabling accessibility to raise standards rather than making concessions for accessibility

Education in Australia mandates that learning must be accessible to all students. I totally agree. What I do question is the way in which we are making learning accessible.

Accessibility by creating concessions, special provisions and general ‘leave passes’ don’t provide learners with the opportunities to persevere with learning, make mistakes with learning, discover processes to enable learning and create strong learning habits. Educators are constantly worried about meeting accessibility compliance measures rather than working with students to raise the standards of learning to enable growth for all learners.

For many young people, hard work isn’t in their vocabulary. With the addition of learning difficulties, learning habits or a “diagnosis” are harder to overcome unless learners roll up their sleeves and are given the opportunity to engage in learning practises in order to improve their learning capabilities. Give anyone a way out, most will take the easy route. As a country we are endanger of creating a system that provides a way out rather than a system that enables.

I believe the quest for accessibility has compromised the standards in literacy and numeracy of our students. Constantly being told to scaffold, create easier tasks and managing the student’s preparation for activities is replacing the facilitation of life-long learning processes, instilling problem solving and allowing students to make mistakes in a safe environment.

Understanding that there are students with severe learning difficulties, I believe that in order to enable them to exceed expectations or raise their own learning standards, students must be given a chance to persevere. Trying to instil fight and perseverance would be much more beneficial to future learning for all students. Encouraging students to deal with situations would be advantageous for future challenges. The knock-on effect of being able to deal with situations and face challenges will surely assist in the mental health and well-being of learners in the future. A proactive approach to dealing with metal health rather than spending millions on reacting to a problem the system has created.

My only wish for all learners is progress and for them to feel good about themselves and not be scared of making a mistake. Be brave enough to engage in conversation, try different ways to overcome difficult challenges and formulate good habits to overcome barriers of their diagnosis. It’s not going to be easy, but you may surprise yourself with what you can achieve. Ask people like Whoopi Goldberg, Justin Timberlake, Daniel Radcliffe, Kiera Knightley, John Lennon, Jaimie Oliver, Mozart, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Magic Johnson, Michael Phelps, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Disney, Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, Diane Swonk, Tommy Hilfiger, General George Patton and Steven Spielberg.

From someone who didn’t have access to effective learning experiences in school, I am pleading with educators to enable students with strategies to develop processes to deal with challenges as opposed to creating concessions for learners to access a learning activity or task. Facilitate the improvement of student’s ability to scaffold and disseminate information rather than give a template or curated information for them. There is a real need to place more importance on the process rather than accessibility.

My question to all those who disagree, where will these concessions be when the learner leaves school?