47: The Intersection of Inclusion, Diversity, and Ableism with Heather Clarke

Heather Clarke is a Black Afro-Caribbean mother of 2 small children. She is also neuro-divergent, with an invisible disability. She has over 20 years of experience working as a teacher, and in the field of educational justice and policy. 

She is an abolitionist educator and universal design for learning expert with more than 20 years’ experience working with children and families with disabilities both in the United States and in other countries. 

Through Heather’s Learning Advocacy business, she consults with parents and guardians to help them with the process of educational evaluations and the creation and implementation of IFSPs, IEPS, and 504 Plans. 

She also consults with businesses, organizations, and educators about topics related to racial Diversity Equity and Inclusion, with a focus on the Disability community. 

Heather is an Early Childhood and Special Education adjunct professor at Queen’s College, CUNY, and Field Mentor to student teachers at NYU. Additionally, Heather helps administer several local advocacy groups focused on addressing Anti-Black racism, ableism and dismantling white supremacy, and other educational needs in her local community.

Join us for this conversation about dismantling ableism, creating inclusive spaces from the start, and the compounding challenges of racist and ableist biases. 

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

• Defining and dismantling ableism
• Creating an inclusive world vs. “fixing” people to function within the current system
• How universal design allows all students to express themselves 
• Inclusion as an afterthought and why it’s not enough
• Heather’s dream school that centers around community care
• The compounding challenges of racist and ableist biases 

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Heather on  LinkedIn and Instagram
• Visit learning-advocate.com to learn more about Heather and her work.
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, sign up for a  webinar and check out our project library
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here

We’d love it if you could take a few minutes to fill out this survey to let us know how we can bring you the best possible content:  forms.gle/JcKHf9DHTZnYUmQr6

Enjoying the show? Leave us a rating and review and help more people find us! https://bit.ly/RebelEducatorApplePodcasts

MORE ABOUT THE REBEL EDUCATOR PODCAST:

In each episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, I deconstruct world-class educators, students, and thought leaders in education to extract the tactics, tools, and routines that you can use as teachers and parents. Join me as we discuss how to shift the classroom, the learning environment, the mindset, and the pedagogy, to resist tradition, reignite wonder, and re-imagine the future of education.

This podcast is dedicated to all of the educators who work thankless hours to make our next generation the best it can be.  It was designed to begin conversations on how we can redesign education for the future of work and the success of our students.  It is meant for teachers, students, administrators, home schoolers and anyone who interacts with and teaches youth.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.