Connecting Care and Challenge: Tapping Our Human Potential (Author's Summary on Inclusive Education: A Review of Programming and Services in New Brunswick)

Abstract

The title of my Report is Connecting Care and Challenge: Tapping Our Human Potential. Some may think that inclusive education and academic excellence are opposing forces and that inclusion necessarily means diluting standards. In fact, this was a significant conclusion of a previous New Brunswick sponsored report on education. My Report argues that this need not be the case. Indeed New Brunswick’s recent literacy initiatives may be having an impact already, as evidenced by improved performance on literacy tests by New Brunswick students. A significant number of the recommendations in this Report are dedicated to looking at alternative methods of educational service delivery, with the goal of continuing to care for and nurture students while challenging them to achieve high standards. I believe the two can and must go together.

Keywords: inclusive education, academic excellence, literacy, New Brunswick, students, education