Designing for Belonging: Why Inclusion in Education Is a Human Right

Redefining Belonging Through Inclusion

“For me, true freedom begins with social safety: an environment in which everyone feels seen, heard and protected… not despite their differences, but because of those differences.” — Saniye Çelik

This quote resonates far beyond academia or policy; it touches the core of what it means to be human. We often define freedom in terms of civil liberties or political autonomy. But as Saniye Çelik so eloquently states, meaningful participation is also about social inclusion: the right to show up as your full self in any space—without fear, without censoring, without erasure.

From the Netherlands to New Zealand, progressive leadership circles are recognizing this expanded definition. In 2022, Aotearoa New Zealand’s Ministry for Women launched a national campaign explicitly linking women’s autonomy to their ability to participate in decision-making spaces, from corporate boards to local schools. Inclusion wasn’t an optional policy; it was a precondition for equity.

The lesson is universal: Equity isn’t simply granted. It must be built—intentionally, and by design. Building a sense of belonging in institutions, especially in schools, is an act of care and justice that shapes our collective future.

Inclusion Starts in the Classroom

If we want a world where everyone can thrive, the blueprint begins in education. The classroom is often a child’s first encounter with belonging—or exclusion. It’s the testing ground for whether students feel valued, respected, and empowered to express their full identities.

That’s why inclusive education is more than a moral goal. It’s a foundation for equitable societies. When students from marginalized groups—including neurodivergent learners, multilingual students, and students with disabilities—don’t feel seen or heard, their right to learn and grow is compromised.

As Çelik puts it, “Freedom… means consciously building a culture in which every person matters. A culture in which no one censors themselves, feels curtailed or enslaved.“

Technologies like text to speech (TTS) can help schools live up to that promise. For instance, ReadSpeaker’s education tools support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by giving students multiple ways to access content.

Whether it’s reading with highlighted text and audio, translating course material into a first language, or offering offline listening options for homework on the go, TTS helps restore agency in the learning environment.

International research backs this up. A 2021 study from Canada’s Inclusive Design Research Centre found that students who had access to multimodal learning tools were 35% more likely to complete digital coursework than those who did not.

This wasn’t because the tools made learning “easier”—but because they made learning possible for students who had been structurally overlooked.

Meanwhile, districts across the United States are seeing the positive ripple effects of inclusive practices. Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) implemented a literacy-focused, UDL-aligned framework and reported that students scored higher than the state average in English Language Arts and math in the 2023–24 academic year—marking steady improvement across the board.

Leadership with Courage and Compassion

Creating inclusive educational systems takes more than tech. It demands what Çelik calls “leaders with guts” who are willing to “have uncomfortable conversations and question systems critically.”

This includes asking tough questions:

• Who is being left out of our digital learning platforms?
• Are our accessibility efforts performative, or impactful?
• What barriers do students face in our online and blended learning environments?

We see forward-thinking governments beginning to embrace this mindset. For example, the Scottish Government’s Inclusive Education Strategy requires schools to embed inclusive design into both curriculum planning and infrastructure.

In Australia, the University of Sydney created an Accessibility and Inclusion Plan that mandates co-design with disabled students for any new digital learning tool.

The Government of Canada has also led initiatives like the Accessible Canada Act, which pushes public institutions to remove barriers to participation across education, employment, and digital services.

These actions show what it means to go beyond compliance—to lead with inclusion.

In Sweden, one university addressed these questions head-on by integrating accessibility reviews into every stage of their instructional design process.

They didn’t wait for complaints. They asked, “How can we build for belonging from the start?”

That’s the shift. Inclusion isn’t a retrofit. It’s a mindset. When leaders embrace this perspective, they empower teachers, designers, and technologists to create learning environments that serve everyone—not just the majority.

And that’s the crux of real progress: brave leadership supported by collaborative action. It also means recognizing what is lost when we exclude.

The young innovator who never graduates because of inaccessible coursework. The multilingual thinker whose ideas never surface because they weren’t given tools to express themselves. The neurodivergent learner whose gifts are overlooked because they didn’t fit the mold.

Inclusive education is not just about ethics—it’s about unlocking dormant potential. Forward-thinking institutions and governments must see this clearly: equity fuels innovation. And the greatest waste we face is not technological—it’s human potential left untapped.

Inclusion as Reciprocity, Not Privilege

“We are only truly free when everyone feels free,” writes Çelik. That’s not an abstract ideal. It’s a call to action.

Inclusion in education is not about special treatment. It’s about equal opportunity to participate, to speak, to be challenged, and to thrive. When we center the needs of those most often excluded, we lift the floor for everyone.

This reciprocal benefit is easy to see. Consider how students with reading disabilities benefit from TTS tools—and then realize those same tools help busy working parents, multilingual learners, and even students recovering from illness. Designing for difference creates opportunity for all.

Research in the UK has demonstrated the impact of inclusive design strategies: a study by the University of London’s Inclusive Design in Digital Learning initiative found that when courses are designed with accessibility and real student participation in mind, overall retention improves—not just for disabled learners, but across the entire student body. When you give everyone more ways to engage, everyone stands a better chance to succeed.

Inclusion, then, isn’t a favor. It’s an investment—in learners, in institutions, and in our collective potential.

Designing for Belonging, Every Day

Creating inclusive classrooms isn’t a one-time fix. It’s a daily choice. It means listening when a student says, “I don’t feel like I belong here.” It means advocating for tools and policies that open up learning, not gatekeep it. And it means remembering that equity isn’t just a value—it’s an experience.

That experience begins with how we design and deliver education. A thoughtfully placed audio player. A lesson plan that includes multiple entry points. A school policy that reflects diverse realities. These are the moments where design meets dignity.

With inclusive technology, empathetic leadership, and intentional design, schools can become spaces where belonging flourishes for every learner. Because when education includes everyone, everyone rises.

Explore how ReadSpeaker Text to Speech for Education can help your institution design for inclusion from day one.