What is your response?
Emily Eaton's parents demanded that she not be segregated but rather be integrated into a class with her peers and took their advocacy for Emily to the Supreme Court of Canada. The school board believed that Emily would have her needs met better by being in a segregated class with students in a similar situation as she. In basing its decision on Emily's educational needs, do you think that the Supreme Court failed to place adequate importance on Emily's social and emotional needs? Why or why not?
The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child speaks to decisions made in "the best interests of the child". Schools have always agreed that parents are the first educators of their children. Do you think that parents have the right to have the final say in deciding what is in the best interests of their child? Or should schools have the final say in deciding what is in the best educational interest of the child? Why?
If you were Emily and could make your wishes known, what would you have wanted: integrated into a class with your peers or segregated into a class where you hoped your needs would be addressed? What decision do you think your parents would have made? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each choice?
How can educators make equality meaningful form the student's point of view when making educational placement/accommodation decisions?
These are difficult questions to answer. How would you answer these?
