Publication Date

5-2026

Document Type

Senior Integrative Project

Abstract

This study examines how educators conceptualize, enact, and experience inclusive engagement for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students, multilingual learners (MLLs), and students with disabilities, and how structural conditions shape their capacity to implement equity-oriented practices. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with ten educators from Lakewood, Illinois, and Harborview, Connecticut, alongside autoethnographic reflection, this qualitative study centers practitioner voices to investigate the gap between educational policy and classroom practice. Grounded in Bettina Love's abolitionist teaching framework and Alison Kafer's political-relational model of disability, the analysis situates educator experiences within systems shaped by racism, linguistic hierarchy, and ableist normativity. Thematic analysis revealed four primary patterns: the centrality of relational trust to student engagement, widespread dissatisfaction with professional development, a preference for multimodal and interactive instructional approaches, and the near-total absence of clear, actionable policy guidance around inclusion. Findings suggest that while educators demonstrate strong commitments to equitable practice, they are consistently under-resourced and structurally constrained. The study concludes by applying Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory to argue that meaningful change in inclusive engagement requires coordinated intervention at the classroom, school, and systemic levels. Engagement, this study ultimately contends, is not an individual responsibility but an institutional one.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.