Belonging Starts With How We Frame Diversity with Sam Drazin
By Sam Drazin (he/him), Executive Director, Changing Perspectives
Belonging has no borders; it is a universal feeling we have all experienced at times. For educators, the challenge is to purposefully create belonging for students from diverse backgrounds. As Brené Brown reminds us, “we all believe our perception to be our truth.” To change our teaching practices, we must reflect on our own lived experiences.
I was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the development of facial bones and results in living with a conductive hearing loss. For most of my childhood, I was the only person in my school with a visible difference. I got used to the stares, the whispered questions, and the assumptions—many of them unspoken, but deeply felt.
Yet, even as a child, I understood something powerful: the most isolating experiences weren’t about my diagnosis. They were about the lack of context. Adults didn’t know how to talk about disability. Peers didn’t know how to respond. And educators, though well-meaning, often treated disability as something outside the norm, viewed a deficit rather than an asset.
That’s why at Changing Perspectives, the nonprofit organization I founded in 2013, we help schools reframe disability as a vital part of human diversity. Inclusive school culture is developed not just by including students with disabilities, but by affirming disability as a positive dimension of what makes communities rich, complex, and whole.
Belonging is essential for all students, yet those with disabilities are often othered. Inclusion is the broader goal, ensuring access, equity, and opportunity for every learner. Belonging is what makes inclusion real, the part that students actually feel. It’s the piece of the inclusion puzzle that transforms being present in a classroom into being valued in a community.
What we say about disability and the diversity of identities in our classrooms shapes whether students feel truly seen, valued, and heard. When educators avoid naming disability, students learn it’s something to whisper about. When adults treat accommodations as secrets or burdens, students with disabilities may internalize shame. But when we intentionally frame disability as a positive dimension of diversity—like culture, language, or learning style—we build a foundation of openness, respect, and pride.
The stakes are high. Research shows that students receiving special education services are 1.5 times more likely to experience peer victimization than their general education peers. In fact, 34% of middle schoolers in special education and 25% of high schoolers report being victimized by peers through bullying, social isolation, rejection, or fighting. For many students, the threat of exclusion isn’t hypothetical; it’s a daily reality that undermines their ability to learn and develop socially and emotionally..
Belonging isn’t just important for connection. Students who feel they belong are more confident, more engaged, and better equipped to manage challenges. Meta-analytic reviews indicate that a strong sense of school belonging is associated with improved mental health and emotional well-being, enhanced self-esteem, reduced feelings of isolation, and better academic performance, including increased motivation, decreased absenteeism, and lower dropout rates.
The first step in making belonging part of everyday classroom life is to engage students in opportunities to share, explore, and celebrate the unique components of their identities, including disability. For many educators, this is a scary prospect, and something we are never taught how to do.
In class discussions about identity, you might say:
“In our class, we all have different strengths and needs. Some of us wear glasses. Some of us speak multiple languages. Some of us learn best when things are read aloud. Some people have disabilities, and that’s part of what makes our community unique.”
Children are naturally curious. Giving them inclusive language and context empowers them to engage respectfully with others and builds awareness. Awareness is the foundation for empathy, as lasting empathy requires a deep understanding.
Representation matters. When we intentionally create communities of belonging, it is vital that students see themselves represented in the content being delivered in the classroom. Stock your classroom library with books that feature characters with disabilities, not as inspiration tropes or sidekicks, but as fully realized individuals. A few favorites:
Let students see themselves, and each other, reflected in your materials.
Rather than imposing rules, invite students to co-create shared norms. Begin with prompts like:
When students are active participants in defining the culture, they are more invested in protecting it and more likely to speak up when it is breached. In this way, students today become the inclusive changemakers of tomorrow. Just as importantly, these conversations teach students how to carry inclusive values outside the classroom, into the lunchroom, onto the playground, and throughout their broader school community. Belonging built inside the classroom becomes the foundation for belonging everywhere.
When a student uses a visual schedule, speech-to-text tool, or is given extra processing time, frame it as just one of many learning supports. Instead of saying “They get extra time because of their IEP,” try: “In this class, everyone gets what they need to do their best.”
This simple reframe helps all students see accommodations as equitable and universal rather than special.
Creating a classroom culture of belonging doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a daily practice of naming, affirming, and honoring every learner’s identity, including disability. That means greeting new students with curiosity, making space for every voice, and choosing to do better when we get it wrong.
When we start with the idea that all students belong, we are not just supporting students with disabilities; we are supporting all students. We are teaching that difference is natural, diversity is valuable, and belonging is essential. Awareness is the foundation for empathy, and empathy is what fuels inclusive actions. Belonging built inside the classroom extends outward, shaping the playground, the lunchroom, and every space where students learn and grow together.
To continue exploring how to make belonging the core of your classroom culture, see our September blog, Building Inclusive Communities to Support Social-Emotional Growth.
Sam Drazin (he/him) is the Executive Director of Changing Perspectives, a nonprofit organization that promotes social-emotional learning to cultivate inclusive and equitable learning communities. A former elementary educator born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, Sam now leads worldwide efforts to advance inclusive practices across PreK-12 schools.