Workbook final

108 - Planning Inclusive Cultures in School, River East Transcona School,

Canada

ONTACT

River East Transcona School Division

Ms. Joan Trubyk

Canada

+1 204 667 7130

VERALL GOAL

MISSION

PICS (Planning Inclusive Cultures in School) is a self-assessment instrument and process for use in early, middle and

senior year’s schools. It helps stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents, students, support staff and others) to

better understand inclusion, assess and improve their own practice, and celebrate success. River East Transcona School

Division sought to achieve that purpose and required a process for doing so. The school division worked with

collaborators to develop PICS, then began a pilot project to apply the instrument in three schools, adding to that

number each year. All schools in the pilot complete the PICS assessment, develop, and implement action plans based on

the data. As the pilot continued, the school division and its collaborators revised the instrument based on feedback from

participants.

HE SOLUTION THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED

River East Transcona School Division set out to improve the practice of inclusion in its Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools.

Its general approach was to develop a self-assessment strategy focused on inclusion to complement existing school

planning. The school division recruited collaborators with a history of scholarship in inclusive education. Together, they

investigated available resources and adapted the best to create "Planning Inclusive Cultures in School"

. PICS is a facilitated process that guides stakeholders to identify and analyze

current school practices with an emphasis on those that encourage inclusion with particular attention on traditionally

disenfranchised populations. While considering the concept of inclusion across eight domains, participants learn to

understand inclusion itself more fully, thus creating a more fertile ground for subsequent planned change. PICS is most

powerful as a learning tool; engaging in the inventory fosters conversations among all stakeholders about what good

teaching means – from the broadest values to the most specific classroom practices – and how to translate that into

everyday practice.

OUNTRY IN WHICH IT WAS DEVELOPED

Canada