Inclusion is not a Department: The Systemic Ripple Effect of Belonging

Heather Ann Lo, Director of Student Support Services, IGB International School (IGBIS)

Heather Ann Lo is an educational leader and researcher with 23 years of experience across the U.S. and Asia. A certified school counselor and principal with Master’s degrees in both counseling and school administration, she also holds a post-graduate professional practice certificate in Educational Psychology. Currently completing her PhD in Educational Psychology, focusing on the intersection of student well-being and inclusion policy in Hong Kong and Malaysian secondary schools. Heather is a lived-experience advocate for neurodiverse learners and systemic educational reform.

After twenty-three years in education, from U.S. bilingual classrooms to roles as a counselor, principal, and educational psychologist across Asia, I have reached a singular conclusion: without a lens on inclusion, true student engagement is impossible. If a school lacks a systemic foundation of inclusion, any focus on "well-being" remains performative.

Schools are best viewed through a systemic lens where leadership, language, mental health, and educational access are inextricably linked. Siloing these areas obscures the big picture, preventing us from seeing, and serving, the whole child. To build a foundation for learning, we must confront the depth of what inclusion actually entails. It is not simply "placing" children with diverse needs into a mainstream classroom to tick a compliance box. True inclusion is knowing a child 100%, ensuring they are seen and valued for their strengths rather than defined by their deficits.

The Invisible Gap - We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know: The most frustrating reality in our industry is the unconscious incompetence permeating our systems. Many schools believe they are inclusive while maintaining rigid, decades-old environments. It is heartbreaking to see schools, regardless of price tag, rely on staff who lack evidence-based expertise, often labeling them "specialists" without necessary training.

Even more distressing is the trauma inflicted when schools prioritize conformity over connection. I have seen the fallout: students hiding in bathrooms crying several times a week because those who should be their advocates reprimand them for not "knowing" what the system never taught them to navigate. It is a failure of leadership when a child is made to feel their neurodivergence is a moral failing. We must ask - How do we know what we are doing is best for students? What is our evidence beyond a ticked box?

When schools fail, parents and students often internalize the lack of access as a personal flaw. They assume the struggle is theirs alone. This creates a wait to fail culture where students must collapse before receiving support. In a systemic approach, we recognize that when one part of the system is inaccessible, the ripple effect touches everyone, manifesting in the tutor trap, where families must pay for external support just to survive a rigid school mold.

The Reality Gap

In my research across Hong Kong and Malaysia, I have observed a persistent reality gap. On paper, both public and international schools boast robust inclusive education policies. They cite global commitments to equity and participation. However, the lived experience of the student often tells a different story. In many high-stakes contexts, inclusion is viewed as a luxury or a hindrance to high achievers. I have seen systemic inertia where leaders fall back on the refrain, "It’s always been done this way," while neurodiverse learners are left to navigate high-anxiety testing environments without adequate support.

"Inclusion is an exercise in systemic accountability."

This is why I advocate for a shift to a new nomenclature, Students with Intersecting Learning Diversities (SILD). This recognizes that a student’s identity is a complex tapestry of learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and linguistic nuances. When we stop trying to fix the child and instead remove the barriers within the environment, we finally begin to see the whole person.

Why This is Personal

I don’t speak only as a researcher and school leader; I speak as a neurodiverse educator with ADHD. I know the struggle of sitting in a classroom where your strengths are invisible. I lived it, eventually dropping out of school because the environment was not built for a brain like mine. Now, as a mother of neurodiverse children, I see the cycle repeating. I have watched the trauma caused by practices that prioritize conformity over humanity. Once you see through this lens, you realize that the onus must shift from the child to the system.

Innovation or Just Decoration?

When we discuss technology or engagement, we must be honest. Are we actually innovating, or are we just doing the exact same thing we did thirty years ago, using computers and whiteboards instead of paper and blackboards? If technology is only used to digitize a stagnant curriculum, we are just decorating an inaccessible system.

True engagement isn't about the tools; it’s about student agency - the feeling that a student has a voice and a choice in their learning journey. True engagement happens when the macrosystem (policy and leadership culture) and the microsystem (the classroom) are in harmony. If they are not, the student is the one who pays the price.

A Call to Leadership

Inclusion is an exercise in systemic accountability. It is easy to pass an accreditation visit with a handbook. It is much harder to look at your data and ask why students are hiding in bathrooms, why anxiety rates are climbing, or why families feel they must resort to external tutors just to keep their children afloat.

We must move away from the expert silo where senior leadership disregards the expertise of counselors or educational psychologists as peripheral. My 23 years have taught me that the "peripheral" is actually the core. Inclusion is not a destination; it is a way of seeing. If we want a future where student engagement is the norm, we must commit to a lens of inclusion that is radical, systemic, and human-centered. We must listen to the voices of our students, those who are thriving and, more importantly, those who are hiding in the shadows of our systems.