Why is an examination of inclusive education needed in both countries? 
- Both the United States and South Africa have similar historical problems facing the educational system and an overall societal issue. An examination of inclusive education is needed in both countries so that we can realize our faults, understand the barriers that are preventing education systems to actually be inclusive, and how polices are affecting the work we do. We must also understand why our current system is failing and how as educators can improve the structural benefits for an inclusive environment. Many factors can influence a students ability to learn, therefore we must understand and examine various cultures, barriers, and benefits to the inclusive education. 

What is the "Wicked Problem" and how can we solve it? 
As for the "Wicked Problem", it can be defined as something that is "complex, dynamic, multi-facted, and intractable" (2017, p. 85). There are various problems within education and how it still creates an exclusion for people from its systemic problems. Even if we try to become more inclusive, there are various problems that can cause a diverse group to enter the education system such as resources, finances, and transportation. As educators we must dig deep and find adaptive solutions to support an inclusive education and not a technical solution just to add better representation. We must truly tackle and identify the issues, fix policies, fix our own biases and privileges so that we can build a better future and curriculum. Both United States and South Africa are suffering from post-racial problems and not actually doing work to fix the elephant in the society. 

Changemaker Symposium 
Waking up on Saturday, I felt a tad ill but I brushed it aside because I was excited to understand how a changemaker symposium actually worked. I was excited to learn and interact with educators from various campuses. Upon arrival, we met the educators from Limpopo and I was intrigued by Dr. Ntsoane and his mannerism of interacting with us. He was willing to ask questions and tried to get to know me on a personal level, which was by far very warming and welcoming. He was also part of my group which made it more exciting to hear his story and how an individual with a doctoral degree is teaching at the primary school level.

In our group we had Dt. Ntsoane and Terry from Limpopo, Futhy and Mbizene from Esikhisini Primary School, along with Donna and I, which made it a very diverse group to say. We came together and realized that our differences made it our strengths and all of us had various years in the educational field. During our discussion I was able to grasp a better understanding of the various barriers that the educational system is facing in South Africa and how similar it still is to the United States. We spoke about policies and curriculum that is created by the ministry of education without even supporting educators and ineffective to the campuses that have minimal resources. With this, we were able to find that our challenge is to create an inclusive policy to fit a global standard in the educational system. We believe that policies are binding us to an issue that is ultimately destroying the learning process for all learners because it is not inclusive. Our group had various ideas to find a solution and how to best support educators in South Africa or the United States. We found the importance of having more workshops to voice systemic issue and prove to our educational boards the need of changing the current system. "If they don't understand today, how can they follow tomorrow"

I was amazed by the stories of those that have experienced education for a long time and those that were passionate about integrating workshops, creating inclusive policies, involving parents and the community, along with the use of translanguaging in our school systems. Meeting folks from various schools reminded me the important work of Friere and one of his values of collaboration. I learned more about the African education from Dr. Ntstoane and Terry and my passion for education was sparked all over again and reminded me of the reason why I chose to continue with higher education to support students that have struggled from their own barriers. 
Changemaker Pledge

1. ​INNER TRANSFORMATION: This experience made me feel warm, it allowed me to better understand the similarities and differences of education in South Africa along with the United States. I am motivated because my peers have challenged me to think differently about how to be inclusive, and how various barriers have impacted our educational systems, especially in my group where we discussed heavily about policies and politics. Moving forward, I want to better understand how policies may affect our educators, our learners, and our communities and how we can create inclusive policies that can be tailored to support all learners and the various cultures we have. Working with R - 7 at Esikhisini has furthered my passion and understanding of education and to continue the work at the higher education level. It has given me a stronger appreciation for educators who work with youth and has influenced my views of leadership and education overall. 
2. RELATIONAL TRANSFORMATION:  Working with my small group and listening to the various groups that presented, I have learned that our differences unite us to become better educators and our differences make us stronger because we are able to relate and to challenge one another. Even as educators we are continuing to learn so that we can overcome the challenges we are given by the education system. This experience can be related to the work of Freire, where we as a collective have collaborated to understand the common challenges we face, we have trusted one another to strengthen our communities by giving each other a voice to our learners, and we were open to our previous experiences and willingness to share. It has empowered me to learn more and it has allowed me to understand how education at a young age will impact the ways they learn and interact at the higher education level. 
3. SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION:  This experience will forever leave an impact in my life and I would love to continue doing this work to make change in various communities that are impacted by the education system. My passion for higher education has been influenced by the R-12 educational system and the powerful voices that were at this symposium. It has given me the ability to rethink how to be innovative in my approach with students and with policies that are implemented at the university level. It will continue to challenge my leadership that, even if I think we are inclusive in San Diego, we still have to continue the work to be culturally inclusive for all communities and not just one area. I know that I will challenge my peers when I return to San Diego to understand that we must make change and we must first understand our biases to continue the work that we want to see. 
4. CHANGEMAKING FRUTION: Changemaking requires patience and it requires an ability to challenge the system and our peers. In order to ensure that our ideas will be fulfilled, I will continue to have these conversations with our educators globally and in our communities so that we can build ideas and we must hold each other accountable. As educators accountability can be a form of motivation to continue the innovative, culturally inclusive work we want to see and so that we may learn from our past and current events.
5. EXPERIENCE: I want everyone to know that you are all amazing human beings, you are all powerful and you have inspired me to continue the work in education. We all are passionate for a better education and we want to transform our education systems so that our learners can be even better leaders when they are older. Working with the youth has reinforced my reasons of being an educator and I want to thank you all for allowing me to understand the South African education system. I am truly humbled by this experience and would love to stay in contact so that we can continue these conversations and continue to find strength-based solutions.

Soweto Bike Tour
I had heard from a lady on the plane to South Africa that it was dangerous and not a city I should visit. It began to worry me and filled my thoughts with biases and anxiety, but i knew that Dr. Jetz would not take us there if she knew it was not safe enough. On the day of our drive to Soweto, I tried to remove negative thoughts and go in with an open mind. I knew that it was an important city of Johanesburg because of the movement from Nelson Mandela and the fight against Apartheid. The food was beyond amazing when I tried their Chakalaka and Pap with Chicken stew. I really felt that I was able to eat authentic African food. During my time there I never felt unsafe, better yet I felt that the people their were welcoming, loving, and the kids wanted to shake our hands as we biked through the city. It was powerful to see the way the community lives with poor sewage conditions, various road issues, and the kids were out playing soccer without the usage of technology. They seemed content with what they had and here I was struggling to see how they lived and could not imagine myself being able to sleep well.

​Being able to immerse myself, I am able to understand why these individuals protested, why Nelson Mandela wanted to fight for equal rights, how the systemic issues are still present, and to understand my own biases and privileges. During the bike tour, I was able to connect the Nelson Mandela textbook because he shared the experiences he had in Soweto and how he had fought his way through freedom. What had also stood out to me during the tour is that instead of creating family apartments, they should have created a school or a healthy clinic to fight the systemic issues and be a more positive community. Soweto was beautiful to me and I wish that we spent more time at the Hector Peterson museum to understand the rich history they have experienced. It reminded of the privileges I have and how I as person take my privileges for granted and don't realize how much worse it can be, and yet it was the most amazing experience I had on this trip.

Apartheid Museum 
​Upon arriving at Johanesburg, we were able to relax and freshen up after flying for 25 hours before we went to our first destination. Driving to the Apartheid museum, I had no idea what to expect and I was anxious to better understand what Apartheid was about. As I began to enter the museum, I had the non white card. This made me feel somewhat uncomfortable but willing to understand the history of the Apartheid and how those that were classified as non white were treated. Non-whites were either black, coloured, or indians and those that were classified as white were either British or Afrikaan. I learned that during this time, the council determined your classification based on skin color, which meant that families may have been separated. This to me was heart aching to see, read, and understand why the council felt the need separate families based on their skin color and giving privilege to others. I was able to connect the reading, Long Walk to Freedom, to what I saw in the museum, which reminded he  fought for global ideas and conflict resolutions. I can vividly recall certain parts of the book about Nelson Mandela, especially why he was named Nelson by his teacher, which made the museum pictures and quotes relatable to a textbook that I recently read. 

• As the museum was coming to an end, two powerful quotes stood out to me. "When you take people's land from them, you break the strings that bind a community together." this reminded me of the recent events article of the importance of giving the land back to tribes. This issue is a current topic that has given rise to the complexities of land that was taken. As one of the assigned readings, it allowed me to connect the information and to better understand why it has become a recent issue in their country. 
• "If we are to plot our future in South Africa so that it is more just and humane than the present, we must grapple once more with our history" - Reading this made me realize that in order to solve our issues, we must accept what happened and move forward with the possibilities that can make our future better; not only in South Africa or the United States, but globally as well.

Mandela, Nelson, 1918-2013. (2009). Long walk to freedom. New York :Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press

​The school to prison pipeline speaks about how marginalized students receive more punishments than others and creating a systemic issue. Friere states that current education systems are marginalizing individuals, even if educators are doing the right thing, the implicit biases we hold are punishing students with marginalized identities. Translanguaging should embrace the students home language in order to support their learning process while they are in education. The lack of translanguaging is creating a barrier for students to continue to learn in their native language. 
 
In the reading provided by Hammond, they suggest a few strategies that we can shift the academic mindset and combined with Brownell et al. to create strategic learners. Combining both will provide for an effective instruction and ability for students to learn better. As educators, we should use images and quotes in order to give students the ability to create an imagination and use their memory process to spark an interest in the content. We must also help students connect the content to their own experiences or expertise so that they can better grasp the information. In doing this, we can create strategic learners by catering to the students understanding and allowing them to set goals so that we can monitor their performance. 
 
Educators must keep in mind that that they should chunk information in order to allow students in order to process information. Chunking information will allow students to understand the information more readily and easy, which then promotes processing information. After introducing the information, educators should give time to students to review that material that was presented. Reviewing will allow their memory to retain information. 
 
Traveling to South Africa reminds me of when I traveled to Brazil a few years ago. I should always be vigilant for my surroundings and understand that I should accompanied with peers wherever I go. It is also safe to not carry jewelry and more money than you need in order to remain safe while traveling outside. 
 
I read this article because the title that was posted on the website seemed appealing and something that I would love to enjoy reading more. Reading the article made me realize how closely connected it is to the United States in the treatment of Native Americans and Africans. It still reminds me the amount of oppression that is still occurring in South Africa and more work needs to be done in order to restore land to those that lost their own homes. It is a deep-rooted problem that has created a system of privilege for those that own more land. 
 
​Brownell, M. T., Smith, S. J., Crockett, J. B., & Griffin, C. C. (2012). Inclusive instruction: Evidence-based practices for teaching students with disabilities. Guilford Press.
 
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin.

How can we build trust with learners through care and empowerment?
- In order to build trust with learners and peers, you must first build a positive relationship with them. I think it's important that we understand how to form relationships in order to empower them to do better and show them that we care through our individual acts, which can lead to building trust and a mutual understanding of one another. Working with students at a University level has taught me the importance of building rapport with students, listening, understanding them outside of the education context in order for me to advise and support them in their academics and leadership roles. This experience has given me the ability to understand how to transfer those skills working with K-12. 

How can teachers use feedback to foster relationships and build skills effectively and culturally responsive?
- Feedback is critically important for the development of relationship building and to become more effective in the ways we respond. Feedback can be done mutually so that both the students and teachers can become effective learners and can support each others development. Education is a continuous process whether the teacher is learning or the students are learning from the teacher. Students can notify how they learn effectively in order for teachers to accommodate for them and to also learn how to respond to cultural differences. I think feedback is a powerful tool for positive relationships.
​
Many South African schools teach using required curriculum, describe two possible changes teachers could do to planning and instruction to support diverse learners?
- Reading the Inclusive Instruction textbook, I have been able to learn how students can learn in various ways through different methods. Students, whether they have a disability or not, process information differently that best support their fluency. I think that teachers can learn the culture of the student in order for their assignments and learning mechanism to be relevant to them. It also connects back on how teachers can provide safe and trusting environments for students to learn. Without understanding their culture, teachers may have a difficult time instructing the required curriculum. Another possible way that teacher can plan and instruct diverse learners is to provide at least two methods of teaching. They can use technology but also activities that will engage students to interact with their peers but also create independent learning. They must provide accommodations for students to process information effectively in order to retain and learn the content. 

Brownell, M. T., Smith, S. J., Crockett, J. B., & Griffin, C. C. (2012). Inclusive instruction: Evidence-based practices for teaching students with disabilities. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

​I decided to work on the CRSTP with my cousin who is fourteen years old and she just began high school. I think overall, she was able to understand the questions and why I was asking her certain topics, however, it was difficult for her to understand the overall goal of this and she never really thought about how to attain her long-term goals. She was not able to understand certain terms, which meant that I had to explain a bit more of what that meant. I realized she had difficult with some of the questions, so I decided to work some of them differently or had removed them. I had to clarify some of the information in order for her to understand because she would have a hard time coming up with responses. 
 
I think it’s important that teachers, especially in high school, can begin to challenge students and provide further resources for them to understand how they can achieve their educational or professional goals. They can begin to use helpful terms that we would assume students would try to understand in high school, however, everyone has different avenues to learning. My cousin was able to do some reflective thinking, but it made her realize that she didn’t know how to achieve her professional goal and I am not sure if it made her feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. Teachers should be aware of where the students are at and how to best approach these questions if they need to be modified. 

​My parent’s upbringing and social identities has influenced the way I perceive and currently interact with individuals and society. However, my own understanding of my social identities has allowed me to navigate my own life experiences and given me the ability to learn more about the impact it will have on others. I believe that my upbringing has given me both privilege and disadvantages, while challenging how certain things are perceived in my family. I have been able to use my current social location as a way to use my voice for others that are silenced, to support others that are going through hardships, and to navigate identities that may be marginalized. This is all important to bring self-awareness and understanding prior to comparing countries, cultures, and experiences. 
 
Some of the similarities that I noticed of South Africa and the United States are the cultural experiences that minorities may be experiencing as they navigate education in a more predominately white environment. Both systems are trying to become more inclusive and engaging in conversations that can be critical to the development of diverse populations. 
 
The group textbook, Inclusive Instruction - Education Based Instruction for Teaching Students with Disabilities, was supportive in my understanding of how to navigate inclusive education and to be aware of student engagement. It is critical to observe environments and adapt your teachings to support the learning of students in order to help them become accomplished learners. Not understanding their needs or where they may struggle may hinder their development and being able to be more independent or critical to how they learn. 
 
I hope that I can help address issues that are critical to my own learning and understanding of inclusive education and being able to explore how that can leave an impact. I also hope that with continued efforts, collaboration with South Africa stakeholders can help implement change that is meaningful and positive. 

I chose this course because I found interest in not only traveling to South Africa, but how focusing on K-12 may allow me to prepare myself for students who may be navigating college right after attending high school. Understanding inclusive education will give me a better understanding on how students experience education in their adolescence and I will have a new perspective on how I can challenge students when they become adults and independent when they leave their own parents supervision. I hope that I will be able to understand and learn how to engage and support a diverse student population in the education field and apply that to my higher education knowledge from this course work. 

I chose to read the Long Walk to Freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela.It has taught me how Nelson has navigated various institutions and environments growing up which impacted his experience through race and tensions that are caused by racial divisions. I chose to watch the movie, Catching Feelings (2018), and from viewing it I have been able to learn that it relates to the treatment and perceptions of the racial divisions in both South Africa and the United States. I learned that this film takes place in post-apartheid with a couple who has marital problems and Max is angered by his peers who engage with individuals who have privilege and not understanding the issue of race. This can be similar to America in how racism and the lack awareness of white privilege still occurs in our society, along with the stereotypes created against people of color.