A University for All: Insights from Inclusion Alberta

Today was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and we began the day by attending the Grand Entry, the opening ceremony at Fort Edmonton Park. The ceremony was led by Chiefs and Elders from various Indigenous communities, together with government representatives. At the heart of the ceremony were accounts shared by Elders about their own experiences, or those of their communities, with the Residential School System. In these schools, Indigenous children (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) were forcibly separated from their families. They were forbidden from speaking their languages or practising Indigenous traditions, and many were subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. We learned that approximately 80,000 Survivors of the Residential School System are still living in Canada today, while thousands of children died at residential schools as a result of disease, neglect or abuse. 

The delegation spent the afternoon with Inclusion Alberta, which plays a pioneering role internationally in inclusive post-secondary education. CEO Emeritus Bruce Uditsky provided an overview of the organization’s areas of work. Inclusion Alberta supports people with intellectual disabilities and their families throughout their lives – from inclusive education, recreation and community participation to post-secondary education, employment and self-determined living. Our visit focused on Inclusive Post-Secondary Education, which Inclusion Alberta has been developing in partnership with post-secondary institutions across the province for more than 30 years. 

This approach is based on the principle of normalization: people with intellectual disabilities should have access to the same educational opportunities and life pathways as people without disabilities. Rather than being channelled into predetermined, separate structures, their lives should be able to unfold individually and openly and, like anyone else’s, should not be fully predictable. At the participating post-secondary institutions, students therefore take part in regular programs of study and attend classes alongside other students. They pursue individualized learning goals and complete adapted assessments. Support is provided by Educational Facilitators, who work closely with students, instructors and other members of the institution. The aim is to avoid creating parallel, separate structures wherever possible. Instead, students are connected with the regular services and support systems available to all students and participate fully in social life on campus. The transition into paid employment is also considered from the outset. 

This work is rooted in a deep conviction that everyone is entitled to a good life and that people with disabilities should have access to the same life pathways as people without disabilities. To ensure that people with disabilities can access post-secondary education and see it as a realistic path for themselves, Inclusion Alberta works closely with students’ families. The organization places particular importance on reaching and supporting families with fewer resources and opportunities, and on encouraging them to support their adult children with disabilities on their path to post-secondary education. 

The organization also described its efforts to engage people from a range of marginalized groups, emphasizing the importance of long-term relationship-building and trust. It also highlighted that reluctance or distrust towards educational institutions is often an understandable response to long histories of social exclusion and discrimination. This is particularly evident in Indigenous communities’ experiences with educational institutions. 

Marc Eyer, Head of the Institute of Upper Secondary Education, asked how higher education institutions could become places for all learners. Trish Bowman, CEO of Inclusion Alberta, responded that Universal Design for Learning had proved to be a valuable framework at the partner institutions involved. An important takeaway was that this requires a paradigm shift. It takes time, a willingness to make a start and to learn and evolve through practice, as well as continuous reflection from the outset. Bruce Uditsky added two key phrases: "relations and leading." In his view, inclusive higher education requires both relationship-building and clear leadership towards inclusion. 

At the end of the study day, the team led by Caroline Sahli Lozano presented a strategic institutional development project (StraHE) focused on the further development of the Diplomausbildung Fachperson Inklusion (F-INK), PHBern’s inclusive upper secondary diploma program. The deligation then discussed their shared understanding of inclusion and what inclusive higher education could mean in concrete terms for PHBern. The discussion centred on the opportunities and challenges involved in implementing such programs and on the role of the institution as a whole. Together, the deligation explored the conditions required, how existing services could be used and how the institution’s various units could be meaningfully involved. 

This article reflects the personal impressions of its authors.