Dimensions of Belonging
By Erik W. Carter & Elizabeth E. Biggs
School should be a place of belonging for every student. This aspirational statement would certainly be affirmed by educators, school leaders, and families alike. We all hope that students will feel truly “at home” in their classrooms. We want them to feel valued and accepted by their peers and teachers. We strive to create connections among students that lead to reciprocal relationships. We work to ensure they feel like true members of their school. Every student should know for certain that they belong (Slaten et al., 2016).
Although the experience of belonging is equally important for students with significant cognitive disabilities as it is for their peers, it has remained far more elusive. The history of schooling has long been marked by exclusion and segregation (Agran et al., 2020). Students with disabilities were once denied a free appropriate public education. They were sent to separate special education schools apart from their peers. They were left out of so many of the ordinary educational experiences that could promote their flourishing. This sustained separation has had a negative impact on the relationships and learning outcomes of so many students.
Efforts to promote the integration of students with significant cognitive disabilities in their neighborhood schools sought to remedy this isolation. Local schools created special education classrooms that brought students into the midst of their same-age peers without disabilities, at least within the same school building. However, the lives of students with and without significant cognitive disabilities still rarely intersect. The clear divide between general and special education classes meant that students with and without disabilities learned near one another, but not with one another. In the absence of shared activities, strong social connections are unlikely to form. Integration falls short of fostering true belonging for students with significant cognitive disabilities within their school communities.
The current movement toward the full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities aims to break down this enduring divide. Within inclusive schools, students with and without disabilities learn together in the same classrooms throughout the entire day. Educators and specialized instructional support personnel (for example, physical therapists, school counselors speech-language pathologists) collaborate closely to deliver strong instruction and individualized support. As a result, students with and without disabilities are engaged together in accessing and making progress in the general education curriculum. Learning becomes a shared endeavor and interactions among students abound.
This long journey from exclusion to segregation to integration to inclusion has been a protracted and winding process. Movement has not always been in one direction and progress has sometimes stalled. Indeed, all four of these terms could be used to describe aspects of the educational experiences of students with significant cognitive disabilities in nearly every state and country. Yet, there seems to still be one more destination worth pursuing. Yes, students should be included in all aspects of everyday school life. But they should also participate in ways that lead to a deep sense of belonging. School should be a place of belonging for every student.
Dimensions of Belonging
Belonging is easy to affirm but much harder to define. What does it really look like for students with disabilities to experience belonging within inclusive schools? What are the experiences and relationships that will assure them that they have a cherished place within their learning community? How would you know whether your students have found a place of belonging in your school? Schools that are committed to the concept of belonging must have a strong understanding of the practices and postures that contribute to this goal.
Research and practice each provide valuable insights into what leads to belonging. Through reviewing the literature and conducting numerous studies on inclusive education, we have identified ten essential dimensions of belonging for students with significant cognitive disabilities (Biggs & Carter, 2017; Brock et al., 2020; Carter, in press). Belonging is experienced when students are present, invited, welcomed, known, accepted, involved, supported, heard, befriended, and needed (see Figure 1). When each of these areas is addressed well, schools become learning environments in which students with disabilities thrive and are seen as valued and indispensable members of the school community. We present this framework for belonging as a helpful guide for schools that want to press even further on this important journey.
Figure 1. Dimensions of belonging
Overview of the Belonging Mini-Guides
We have developed a series of practical mini-guides that unpack each of these ten dimensions of belonging. Although our accent is on how each area could be advanced for students with significant cognitive disabilities, you will quickly see that each has salience for any student who might be on the margins of their school. Belonging matters for everyone.
The opening section of each mini-guide defines each dimension and addresses why it is so important for students with and without disabilities. We then provide brief snapshots of what it might look like when students experience each aspect of belonging. These examples are certainly not exhaustive, but they do illustrate small ways in which students’ school days could look different. Next, we present several steps schools can take to promote change in each area. For example, educators can rethink how they provide instruction, arrange supports, engage peers, and design environments so that belonging is more likely. Finally, we suggest areas of reflection for individual teachers, related service providers, school counselors, and school leaders. These questions encourage you to consider the importance of each dimension and the ways they are experienced in your classroom or school.
Mini-Guides
Belonging begins with presence. It is hard to feel like you belong if you are never or rarely part of the array of activities and events that make up the life of a community. To be present is to be involved each and every day in the same places as everyone else in your school. It means being part of the everyday fabric of school life—just like anybody else. Students with and without disabilities should participate together in the same classrooms, hallways, playgrounds, and cafeterias. In other words, the presence of students with significant cognitive disabilities should be natural and expected. Unfortunately, many students still spend most of their school day in separate classrooms. Even when students with disabilities are physically in the same spaces as their peers, they may not really encounter one another in ways that lead to belonging. For example, they may be sitting by a paraprofessional rather than their peers. Instead of playing with schoolmates on the playground, they may be more likely to be alone or spending time with adults. When students with and without disabilities are present together, they are more likely to get to know one another, accept one another, feel comfortable around one another, and build relationships with one another. This is sometimes called the “proximity effect.” The more students come into contact with one another, the more likely it is that their interactions will cultivate a relationship. Although there is much more to belonging than merely sharing the same space, being present is a necessary starting point.
What Does It Look Like?
Until she started taking general education classes, Dominque never had a chance to meet other kids in her school who shared her interests. Once she transitioned out of the self-contained special education classroom, the number of peers she spent time with each day jumped from 8 to 80.
Shareece, a middle school student who has Down syndrome, loves having a locker right next to Ayesha. They always smile, wave, or catch up between classes. This everyday routine has become a favorite part of Shareece’s day.
Upon walking into the cafeteria, you immediately notice the talking, eating, and laughing. Anika is right there in the middle of the fun. Because she is so integrated into a group of friends, most people would not know that she has autism and uses a communication device.
Michael used to sit with two other students with disabilities near the back of the classroom, flanked by a paraprofessional. His math teacher recently replaced all the student desks with tables, which work better for Michael’s wheelchair. He enjoys sitting with two peers without disabilities. The paraprofessional now circulates around the room helping everyone, providing direct support to Michael only as needed.
What Can You Do?
Along with other teachers (and perhaps even students), walk through your school buildings and grounds. Identify the physical or environmental features that could prevent students with disabilities from being fully present in all of the places in which their peers also have a presence.
During IEP meetings, talk about how supplementary aids and services could be provided that support a student to be a true member of their age-grade general education classroom. Supplementary aids and services can include modified but aligned instruction, peer supports, behavior supports, communication supports, and much more. Students should not be put in special education settings simply because they need a modified curriculum.
Prioritize involvement in extracurricular programs for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The more that students are involved in activities built around shared interests, the more likely it is that new relationships will form.
Questions for Reflection
Think about the relationships you have, both with close friends and acquaintances. How has being in proximity to one another (being present in the same spaces together) been part of helping these relationships form?
Look around your school building this week. Are students with disabilities a part of the everyday fabric of your school? What tells you that this is or is not the case?
Talk with others at your school. What are the barriers to presence that they notice? These might be physical barriers, attitudinal barriers, or practice barriers.
Make an action plan for your school. What steps can you take—individually and with others—to help students with disabilities have an everyday presence in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, playgrounds, and other school settings?
There is something quite powerful about being picked by someone else. It is encouraging to know that others want to be in your midst; that your company is desired or even needed. To be invited is to have your presence or participation sought out by another person. Being invited involves being considered—and then pursued—by others. Invitations should abound for students with significant cognitive disabilities at your school. This might involve being asked by peers to sit together at lunch, to join in games at recess, to collaborate on a project, to come to a birthday party, or to attend a sleepover. Likewise, students with disabilities should be invited by teachers to join extracurricular clubs, to attend inclusive field trips, to contribute on service projects, and to take part in other school activities. Each of these ordinary gestures communicates to students that their presence matters. Yet such invitations are far too rare for some students. Whether inadvertent or intentional, students with significant cognitive disabilities are often left out of the experiences that so many other students in their school enjoy. Belonging begins when these powerful invitations become an everyday occurrence—from peers, from teachers, and from others at the school.
What Does It Look Like?
Knowing Elena loves animals and the outdoors, Ms. Johnson made sure to invite her to the kick-off meeting of the school’s 4-H club. She assured Elena and her parents that all of the needed support and assistance would be in place.
The principal personally asked Sam to be one of three student delegates to represent Beech Middle School at the upcoming School Board meeting. Sam programmed his presentation into his communication device and proudly donned his school colors as he shared what he was learning in his civics class.
Lunch was the absolute best part of Gigi’s school day. She was always asked to join a group of girls from her science class. She loved sitting at the “cool” table, laughing and talking with her friends.
The abundance of names on Fiona’s birthday invitation list certainly did not surprise her mom. As she helped Fiona stuff envelopes with invitations, they reminisced on the numerous parties Fiona had herself attended since the start of the school year. Fiona was excited to finally reciprocate with a party of her own.
What Can You Do?
Encourage peers to reach out to fellow students in their classes or school who may feel excluded.
Create opportunities for students with and without disabilities to meet and get to know one another. Invitations are more likely to come when students already know one another.
Ask general educators to actively encourage the involvement of students with significant cognitive disabilities in the programs, clubs, and activities they lead outside of the classroom.
Make sure that all school events are announced and shared in ways that will reach students with significant cognitive disabilities and their families. Follow-up with personal invitations to individuals who do not respond.
Find creative ways of connecting the parents of students with and without disabilities. Parents are the ones who facilitate play dates and other out-of-school get-togethers among younger children.
Questions for Reflection
Think back to your own elementary or middle school experiences. What did it feel like when you were invited to another child’s party or social activity? What did it feel like when that invitation never came? How did each of these experiences impact your sense of belonging?
Notice whether students with significant cognitive disabilities are participating in the same breadth of class and school activities as other students. To what extent is the presence or absence of invitations impacting this involvement?
Ask fellow teachers what (if anything) makes them hesitant or resistant to having students with significant cognitive disabilities in their classes or programs. What steps could you take to address or alleviate those concerns?
Develop a list of activities, clubs, or programs at your school. What are some ways you could share these opportunities with students with disabilities and their families in ways that would encourage greater involvement?
Schools should be thoroughly welcoming places. The way students are greeted and treated by others communicates quite a bit about their place within the community. To be welcomed is to be received by others with warmth, friendliness, and an authentic delight. In other words, people find pleasure in your presence. Students tend to feel welcomed when others greet them, strike up a conversation, ask about their day, and join them in shared activities. The extent to which students feel genuinely welcomed in their classrooms or at their school can impact their enthusiasm for learning and their sense of membership. When hospitality abounds, students will be more excited about coming to class each day. When it is absent, they may feel uncomfortable or express more reluctance. Unfortunately, a warm welcome is not always experienced by students with significant cognitive disabilities. Some students are made to feel like a perpetual guest or a part-time member of a class. Others are overlooked by their peers or are rarely noticed by school staff. Finding ways of ensuring that every student feels extravagantly welcomed each day can shape the extent to which they also experience a sense of belonging.
What Does It Look Like?
Everyone—including Ms. Yin, his general education teacher—is truly delighted Jayden is a member of their class. Jayden knows it! The warm reception he receives each day when he arrives reminds Jayden that he really does belong.
Mateo’s classmates love spending time with him. In fact, it sometimes seems as if they compete over who gets to be in a small group with him. They all call out, “Hey, Mateo, come sit here by me!” as they make space for his wheelchair.
Ginny is never an afterthought. Before she ever arrives to school, Ginny’s third-grade teachers have already planned for how she will be supported in each of the day’s academic and social activities. When she bounds through the door, there is no uncertainty about whether she will participate just like anyone else.
The environmental club just wouldn’t be the same without Yasmine. Her peers remind her regularly just how glad they are that she decided to join.
What Can You Do?
Model and encourage a culture of friendliness and warmth in your class. Talk with classmates about how they can greet and get to know students who have significant cognitive disabilities.
Ask family members, special education staff, and students themselves what would make your club or class the best part of the school day.
Ask students to share about their experiences in your class and the things that make them feel welcomed by others. Turn it into a regularly occurring discussion where students with and without disabilities can hear from each other about what makes them feel welcomed and wanted.
Have students with and without disabilities collaborate on projects and assignments so that they have abundant opportunities to get to know each other.
Questions for Reflection
Think about the various communities you personally belong to. What makes you feel welcomed in each of those spaces? What does not? How does the extent of this welcome impact your sense of belonging?
Observe and reflect on the experiences of students with significant cognitive disabilities that you know. Do students feel truly welcomed in your classroom or at your school? What tells you this is or is not the case?
What do students at your school say are the things that make them feel welcomed there? If you don’t know, ask them.
Are there certain students you are less excited to see each day or struggle to welcome in your classroom? What steps could be taken to change this situation?
Children love to hear their names—whether announced across the cafeteria, shouted on the playground, or called upon in the classroom. But the joy of being known involves more than just being noticed and recognized by name. It also comes from being understood deeply and personally. To be known is to be seen as a unique individual and appreciated for all of who you are. Having relationships with people who really understand and affirm you is an important aspect of belonging. Sadly, students with significant cognitive disabilities can sometimes feel like strangers in their own schools. They are often overlooked or known impersonally (for example, by their disability label or as someone from the special education classroom) rather than personally. Disability is so often defined in terms of limitations, challenges, or deficits. Emphasizing a students’ special education label often serves to flatten the portraits of how these students are known. Students with significant cognitive disabilities also have wonderful strengths, talents, personalities, character, and interests that are exciting to get to know—just like anyone else. Students should be known by their teachers and peers by their names instead of their labels; by their strengths, interests, and personalities instead of by their struggles.
What Does It Look Like?
Jamal is known far and wide as the Celtics' “number one” fan. The day after each game, scores of students at his middle school seek him out to share a celebratory fist bump or to express their condolences.
Jackson might seem a bit reserved at first, but his classmates know how quickly he lights up when the conversation turns to The Mandalorian or the Skywalker Saga. There is no one in second grade who knows as much about Star Wars as Jackson. Conversations between Jackson and his friends in the cafeteria often explore the intricacies of every story line and character.
Although Riley does not speak, her friends know that she is never short on things to say. Using her communication device, Riley is always quick with a comeback or a clever comment. They always appreciate her unique sense of humor and thoughtful insights.
Luciana had developed quite a reputation at Millersville Elementary—the good kind. After nearly five years of being fully included in classes, clubs, and every other school activity, almost everyone at the school had come to know and love her.
What Can You Do?
Use strength-based assessments as part of Individualized Education Program (IEP) planning so that other educators will come to know the positive qualities of students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Learn about each of your student’s interests, preferences, passions, abilities, and talents through observations and conversations with others. Seek out other students in the school who share any of these same things in common as a way of facilitating introductions.
Look for opportunities to highlight the positive qualities of students with disabilities throughout the school day. This could involve inviting students to talk about their interests, affirming aloud the things that they do well, or incorporating their strengths into class activities.
Create opportunities for students with and without disabilities to work together in pairs or small groups during each of their classes. Shared activities increase the likelihood that students will have the chance to meet and get to know one another.
Questions for Reflection
Think back to a time when you felt like a stranger or outsider within a particular group or community. What did it feel like? What helped you move from the periphery to the center of those relationships?
What was your “reputation” back when you were an elementary or middle school student? How accurately did it represent the whole of who you were? How did it impact your sense of belonging at school?
Listen to the ways people talk about students with disabilities at your school. In what ways might the disability labels people use present an incomplete or inaccurate portrait of the students they serve? What alternatives are there for describing these students?
How well are students with significant cognitive disabilities known at your school? Do the places they are taught and ways they are supported inadvertently limit the number of people who get to know them personally? Talk with your colleagues about any changes you could make to service delivery at your school.
Schools are unique communities in which the lives of students from many different backgrounds come together. As students learn and play alongside one another each day, they regularly encounter others whose characteristics, experiences, and circumstances differ from their own. Promoting acceptance amidst this diversity is central to supporting belonging. To be accepted is to be embraced gladly without condition and viewed as an equal. Knowing for certain that you are liked by others contributes to feelings of self-worth, gives you a sense of roots, and makes school a more enjoyable place to be. Yet, acceptance is not always assured for students with significant cognitive disabilities. What children know and think about disability varies widely within and across schools. In some places, negative attitudes, stereotypes, and stigma are all too common. In other places, though, acceptance abounds. Transforming rejection or tolerance into acceptance and a true embracing often requires promoting awareness, providing accurate information, affirming strengths, and supporting shared activities.
What Does It Look Like?
Although a first-time visitor might notice Tyler’s twirling and hand-flapping, his peers talk most about his deep knowledge of all-things-science and his incredible creativity. Tyler is usually the top choice when students pick their lab partners.
Imani knows she matters to others in her school. She loves the compliments she regularly receives on her unique fashion choices. She also knows that her classmates will be excited to see her each day.
Although Kai cannot read at the same level as his classmates or grasp every concept in quite the same way, no one ever questions his presence in general education classes. Like every other member of his class, Kai is there to learn, grow, and connect with others.
Ms. Turner was adamant that students should not have to perform at a certain academic level to take any of her classes. With a motto of “no exclusions,” she welcomed any student simply by virtue of their being enrolled at Slater Middle School.
What Can You Do?
Find creative ways of integrating disability awareness into classes through carefully chosen books and group activities.
Undertake schoolwide events in conjunction with national awareness days or months focused on developmental disabilities (March), Down syndrome (March 21 and October), cerebral palsy (March), autism (April), and inclusive schools (December).
Provide well-supported opportunities for students with and without significant cognitive disabilities to spend time together within and beyond the classroom. Preconceived ideas or misconceptions about people with disabilities are most likely to get overturned through personal contact.
Ask students with and without disabilities at your school to brainstorm ways of ensuring students with significant cognitive disabilities experience greater acceptance. Students are often the most well-acquainted with the culture at their school and they have creative ideas for changing it for the better.
Invite guest speakers with disabilities to talk with your class—or present during a schoolwide assembly—about their experiences and advice.
Questions for Reflection
Everyone has experienced rejection at some point in their lives. How would you describe the feeling of being left out of a group that was important to you? What impact did this have on you?
Reflect on the culture of your classroom or school. What are the attitudes of peers and staff toward disability? Do their words and actions tend to communicate true acceptance, or something else such as rejection, discomfort, or mere tolerance?
What active steps is your school taking to promote an understanding and embracing of diversity? Consider how these efforts could also focus on the acceptance and belonging of students with disabilities as a part of a broader focus on equity, inclusion, and diversity.
What do you think peers and staff at your school need to know in order to be more accepting of students with significant cognitive disabilities? How might you equip them with this information and guidance?
Learning is a primary purpose of school, but not as a solitary event. A distinctive feature of school is that students are all learning together—not alone. To be involved is to be actively engaged with and alongside peers in shared learning and common goals. Learning together is a magnificent way to learn. Students are meaningfully involved when they participate in cooperative learning with their classmates, work toward collective learning goals, and navigate challenges together as peers. Teachers support this deep involvement in the curriculum when they hold high expectations for all students and design opportunities for students with varying abilities, strengths, and needs to learn from and with one another. Unfortunately, students with significant cognitive disabilities are sometimes “included” in a class without really being very involved. They may be passively sitting while others are working. They may have goals that are substantially different from any of their classmates. Or they may have few meaningful interactions and collaborations with fellow classmates. Fostering belonging in school means ensuring all students are actively involved in meaningful learning together.
What Does It Look Like?
Amaira and her classmates are learning how to measure objects, which helps Amaira master early number concepts. Her classmate, Sarah, says “Let’s count together to see how long it is.” Sarah counts out loud as Amaira touches each number in sequence on her communication device.
Dante’s 8th grade English Language Arts teacher posts a brief “Do Now” assignment on the board for all students to work on as they enter the classroom. Dante works on his “Do Now” with his friend Terrance, who knows how to support Dante in answering each of the questions.
Ms. McLoughlin uses journal prompts at the end of most of her 4th grade social studies lessons. After their lesson on the Gettysburg Address, Nicholas drew a picture of Abraham Lincoln in his journal and wrote “All people are equal.” When he showed it to his classmate, Jessica, she said “I wrote something like that too!”
What Can You Do?
Identify ways that students can interact and collaborate more in their learning. Be sure to think about the support students with significant cognitive disabilities need to participate in these learning activities with their peers.
Use creative ways to support collaboration between general and special education teachers, such as using shared cloud-based documents online. Focus this collaboration on identifying support for students with significant cognitive disabilities to be more involved during lessons and learning activities.
Learn how Universal Design for Learning principles can help you plan classroom activities that support the learning and involvement of all students, including those with disabilities.
Teach students with and without disabilities the interpersonal skills they need to participate in and benefit from cooperative learning.
Questions for Reflection
Reflect on a time when you successfully navigated a shared challenge or met a learning goal with other people. What is different about learning together compared to learning alone? How did learning together contribute to your sense of belonging?
Observe students in their classrooms to determine the extent to which everyone is involved in common learning goals and activities. What do you notice about the involvement of students with significant cognitive disabilities?
Talk with fellow teachers about their learning goals for students with significant cognitive disabilities who take general education classes. What can collectively be done to help promote high expectations in your school?
Brainstorm several ways that you can support the learning and active involvement of all students in the classroom. What is one new strategy you can try out first to help students with and without disabilities make progress in the curriculum together?
Our true capabilities are evident not in what we can do on our own, but rather by what we can do when given the right opportunities and support. To be supported means having the individualized resources needed to reach one’s full potential and thrive in everyday life. Supports are a bridge—they help people go from where they are to where they want to be. Supports can involve changes to the physical environment, adapted materials, technology, or other tools. But feeling supported is more than these resources—it is a social experience. Students are most likely to feel supported when they are part of a community in which they are known personally, where people see their potential, and where they are provided the assistance they need to be successful. However, teachers sometimes struggle to know how to support the potential of students with significant cognitive disabilities. Or, teachers may provide numerous supports without a strong student-centered plan, resulting in students receiving more support than is actually needed. When students receive the right types and amount of support from teachers and peers to reach their full potential, it provides assurance that their presence and involvement is truly desired. It reminds them and everyone that they belong.
What Does It Look Like?
Andi always works with Brittany and Gretchen, two classmates who are part of her peer support arrangement. Ms. Davis, a paraprofessional, provides periodic support to all three students as they work together during English class. Andi prefers working with her classmates “just like anyone else,” rather than always sitting next to an adult.
Mr. Walker enjoys getting to know each of his 3rd grade students at a personal level. When he learned that Joseph loves drawing, he worked with Joseph’s autism support teacher, parents, and the principal to make sure that support was in place so that Joseph could be part of the afterschool art club.
Treshon and his friends love to play basketball during recess. With input from the physical education teacher and Treshon’s physical therapist, the students made some simple changes to the way they play so that Treshon could fully participate while using his wheelchair.
Ms. Bowman never wants to haphazardly plan students’ supplementary aids and services. She conducts observations, gathers feedback from team members, and has conversations with the student to learn what support is working and where more support is needed. All of this work helps the IEP team carefully plan the individualized system of support that meets each student’s needs and helps students reach their full potential.
What Can You Do?
Rather than relying primarily on paraprofessional or adult support, consider how peers can provide natural support to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Be sure to encourage peers to provide support as a classmate or friend, not as a teacher or “helper.”
Identify support that would be beneficial to all students in a classroom (sometimes called “universal supports”) and support individual students might need (sometimes called “individualized supports”). Combining universal and individualized support can help teachers more feasibly meet the educational needs of all of their students.
Learn how to use an ecological assessment to individualize support planning in inclusive school settings, such as classrooms, cafeterias, or playgrounds. An ecological assessment helps educational teams identify needed support by examining the demands in specific settings and comparing them to students’ individualized strengths and challenges.
Ask students about their goals for school and the support they think would help them reach these goals. Use visual supports (such as pictures) as response options for students who may have trouble communicating their ideas on their own.
Questions for Reflection
Reflect on a time when you felt deeply supported and on a time when you did not. What distinguished these two experiences? What impact did each have on your sense of belonging?
This week, look for instances when students seem to be receiving just the right amount and types of support. What lessons can you learn from these situations that could be applied to other students, activities, or goals?
Some types of support can be stigmatizing and stand in the way of belonging. Talk with other teachers or service providers at your school about their approach to supporting students with significant cognitive disabilities throughout the day. How can support can be provided that enhances belonging without increasing stigma?
Everyone wants to feel heard and understood. Knowing that your voice is really valued is not only empowering, but it also helps you feel more connected to others. To be heard means that your perspective is sought, listened to, and respected. Amplifying the voices of students promotes their self-determination, self-worth, and sense of belonging. Whenever students feel heard at school—by both adults and their peers—it reminds them they are important, that their voice matters, that they have ideas to contribute, and that they are valued. However, students with significant cognitive disabilities rarely have opportunities to be heard. Instead of getting to share ideas, set goals, express preferences, or contribute to meaningful conversations in the classroom, teachers and other adults make important decisions for them or without their input. Students may also be overlooked by their peers and never get asked what they think or want to do. It is important to ensure that students have everything they need to share their views—and that everything is in place for their voice to be truly heard.
What Does It Look Like?
Mrs. Yates makes sure that Antonio gets to speak for himself, rather than having others speak for him. At the beginning of the year, classmates would usually ask questions about Antonio’s wheelchair or hearing aids right in front of him. Mrs. Yates found a natural way to redirect those questions (for example, “How about asking Antonio?” “Antonio, do you want to show anything cool about your wheelchair?”).
Mikayla uses a communication device. She used to miss out on sharing her ideas with her classmates because their conversations moved so fast. Her teacher talked with peers and helped them think of what they could do differently. Several of Mikayla’s classmates are now more aware. They stop to ask Mikayla “What do you think?” and they wait to listen to what she has to say.
Every morning, Tyler’s 1st-grade class starts with a morning meeting focused on social-emotional learning. It provides a time to greet one another, build relationships, and talk about important topics. With the right support in place—such as visual supports, wait time, and occasional encouragement—Tyler is able to share his ideas during these conversations with his peers.
What Can You Do?
Make sure all students have reliable ways to communicate their thoughts, goals, and preferences in every school setting. Get to know the various ways each student communicates. Use communication supports such as picture symbols or communication devices for students with disabilities who need them.
Identify how student choice, goal setting, and preferences can be integrated more fully into lessons and other class activities. Include these elements of student voice every day in some way.
Teach students with and without disabilities about respect and interpersonal skills like active listening and asking questions. Give students opportunities to practice, role play, and provide positive feedback.
Consider times when students with disabilities might be misunderstood because they have trouble communicating. Identify ways to support students in repairing communication breakdowns and making sure their ideas are heard and understood. For example, instead of nodding, saying “mmhmm,” and moving on, ask the student, “I didn’t quite understand. Can you tell me again in a different way?”
There is nothing quite like a friendship. Friendships are among our greatest sources of support, affection, understanding, comfort, and fun. To be befriended means having peer relationships marked by mutual affection and reciprocity. Having a friend means having someone in your life who says, “I choose you too.” A friend provides someone to play with, talk with, spend time with, and grow up with. There is no denying that friendships contribute to our well-being. They give meaning to our lives, make us who we are, help us navigate challenges, and bring us joy. Every student needs enjoyable and affirming relationships with their peers that provide companionship and fun. Yet, friendships can be quite rare for many students with significant cognitive disabilities. In the absence of inclusion, students with disabilities have far fewer opportunities to meet and get to know their fellow schoolmates. There may be no greater way to strengthen belonging than by creating environments in which friendships can bloom.
What Does It Look Like?
Nikita was so thankful to have a friend like Reagan. Reagan just seemed to really “get” her. They met at an inclusive service-learning club at their school in 6th grade, and now, two years later, they remain inseparable.
Drew’s parents were worried about whether he would make friends in kindergarten because his classmates might notice he was “different.” Drew’s teacher, however, was committed to fostering a culture of inclusion in her classroom. Drew was never without a friend—in the classroom, playground, or lunchroom.
Alejandro would help Deandre out when his wheelchair got stuck, when he couldn’t reach something, or when he struggled with an assignment. But their relationship was really more of a friendship. No one could make Alejandro belly laugh like Deandre, and Alejandro loved having Deandre over to play after school.
What Can You Do?
Promote a classroom culture of inclusion and acceptance. For younger children, incorporate a “morning meeting” during which students with and without disabilities can talk about friendship, learn valued social skills, and get to know one another better.
Ask students with significant cognitive disabilities which peers they would like to get to know better. Then, identify ways the students could spend more time together. Friendships usually develop when students have multiple opportunities to spend time and have fun with one another during shared activities (for example, working on a project, playing, eating lunch, joining the same club, doing a classroom job).
Be mindful of the roles you ask peers to take on in their relationships with students with significant cognitive disabilities. Although there is nothing wrong with giving and receiving help, a friendship is quite different from a “helping” relationship. Encourage peers to be friends and classmates rather than teachers or helpers.
Questions for Reflection
Think back to your own friendships when you were in school. How would you describe what it meant to you to have (and be) a good friend? How did these relationships change as you moved through school? How did friendships impact your sense of belonging?
Take time to learn about the peer relationships of students with significant cognitive disabilities at your school by observing and talking with students. To what extent are peer relationships marked by qualities of friendship? For example, do students talk, play, and spend time together across settings? Are the benefits mutual? Do students feel like they can be themselves in these relationships?
Work with educators at your school to brainstorm a list of the practices at your school that are supporting or hindering the development of friendships among students with and without disabilities. Choose 1-3 practical things you can do together to provide greater opportunity and support for students to become and strengthen friendships.
The richest forms of community are marked by a real reciprocity among all members. Every person is seen as having skills, talents, and strengths that can benefit others and the broader community. The same is true in schools—every student should be seen as a significant member and recognized for the contributions they can and do make. To be needed involves being valued by others and considered an indispensable member of the community. It is not uncommon, however, for some students to feel less needed than others. Students with significant cognitive disabilities are often viewed as being in need of support and assistance from others. Rarely are they acknowledged as individuals whose presence and contributions enrich and enliven the learning community. When students with disabilities are known personally and seen for their strengths, schools are in a much better position to find ways for them to contribute meaningfully within and beyond the classroom. When others come to need you, your absence is missed. And when you are missed, you can be certain you belong.
What Does It Look Like?
Whenever Grayson was absent from school, he was definitely missed by his peers. The members of the Robotics club all rely on Grayson’s insights into coding, and they count on his wry humor to brighten up their conversations.
Aria has become the unofficial “tech support” for Ms. Sedgewick’s 7th grade science class. She loves to distribute the tablets, set up the projector, adjust the lighting, and troubleshoot the interactive white board. No one is surprised anymore that someone with a visual impairment can play such a helpful role.
Although Chloe was the first student with Down syndrome to be elected to the Bledsoe Middle School student council, it was the creative proposals she put forth for Spirit Week that garnered the most attention. Her clever ideas for the pep rally and pre-game celebration were a hit with all of her schoolmates.
Yusuf was quite proud to be one of the two students from his school to be picked to present at the state education conference. Using a switch to activate his slides and voice narration, he gave a stellar speech about the impact of inclusion at Grassmere Elementary School.
Whenever his group met in class to work on their history project, Xavier was always picked to serve as timekeeper and chief encourager. He has a real knack for keeping everyone on track and motivated.
What Can You Do?
Provide leadership opportunities for students with significant cognitive disabilities within and beyond the classroom. Likewise, teach students the skills needed to carry out any of these activities well.
Help connect every student to at least one extracurricular activity in which they can play an active role and contribute to the group.
Involve students with disabilities in service-learning projects. This allows them to meet the needs of others and showcase their talents and contributions to the community, all while learning and serving alongside their peers.
Make a list of the classroom roles responsibilities that students tend to value or enjoy. Identify the adaptations and supports that students with significant cognitive disabilities will need in order to assume these same responsibilities.
Use cooperative learning activities that require and reward interdependence. As students work together and rely on each other, they come to recognize each person’s district contributions.
Make sure students with significant cognitive disabilities are considered for schoolwide recognitions and superlatives available to any student.
Questions for Reflection
Think about a community in which you play an active part. How does having valued roles in that community shape your sense of membership and belonging?
Create a list of all the ways that students at your school take on leadership roles or important responsibilities. To what extent are students with significant cognitive disabilities also contributing in any of these ways? Why or why not?
Throughout society, individuals with significant cognitive impairments are often seen first and foremost as the designated recipients of assistance and support, rather than as people who can provide assistance and support to others. Are similar views evident among students and staff at your school? What could you do to shift these perspectives in more affirming directions?
Who do teachers at your school tend to turn to when they need help or assistance from students? Identify a few practical ways that you could help them consider a broader range of students who might have something to contribute.
Questions for Reflection
Think back on a time when you felt misunderstood, ignored, or overlooked in an area that was important to you. How did this experience impact your sense of belonging?
How often and how well do peers invite, listen to, and understand the perspectives of students with significant cognitive disabilities at your school? Observe students’ interactions to discern what you could do to support peers in each of these areas.
Talk with teachers, paraprofessionals, service providers, or others about the strategies they used to address student choice, goal setting, and preferences. What steps could you all take together to help all students feel heard, especially students who may have a harder time sharing their perspectives?
Reflecting Together (Belonging Reflection Tool)
We also encourage you to reflect as a team on how belonging is experienced by students with disabilities throughout your school. Gather fellow teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, administrators, and other school staff. Invite the perspectives of students with and without disabilities. Speak with parents and other family members of students with and without disabilities. Each will have unique insights into this topic, as well as diverse recommendations on how to move forward.
We've created a simple reflection tool that can help structure this collective conversation. For each of the ten dimensions of belonging, ask: What are we doing really well right now in this area? What could we be doing better or differently in this area? The first question encourages celebration. Make sure that everyone knows what is going well, and keep doing these same things in the future. The second question invites action. Compile all of the ideas people share about what could be going better or differently and identify common themes. After addressing both of these questions for each of the ten dimensions, ask: What actionable steps should we be taking next to change how students experience belonging in our school? This last question leads to improvement. Commit to making noticeable changes throughout the school year that will transform the current landscape for students with and without disabilities to experience greater inclusion and belonging in your school. Good reflection should culminate in observable action (Forest & Pearpoint, 1997).
Moving Forward
Students will flourish most within a learning community where belonging is actively promoted and personally experienced. As you take steps to improve practices and postures throughout your school, continue to reflect on emerging opportunities and needs. Engage students with and without disabilities in efforts to promote inclusion and belonging for all students. Implement some of the powerful practices featured in the Peer Engagement Implementation Guides found on the TIES Center website (https://tiescenter.org/peer-engagement). Celebrate the difference your ongoing investment is making in the lives and learning of students with significant cognitive disabilities. We all want to belong.
Carter, E. W., & Biggs, E. E. (2021). Creating communities of belonging for students with significant cognitive disabilities (Belonging Series). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, TIES Center.