As I run for Richmond School Trustee, I have been thinking deeply about what “inclusion” really means in public education.

For me, it begins with a simple principle: every student matters, and every student belongs.

Our schools should be places where every student can learn, feel safe and be treated with dignity. This includes LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities and diverse abilities, newcomers and English Language Learners, students from different racial, cultural and religious backgrounds, and students whose families may hold different values and beliefs.

Sometimes conversations about inclusion become divided into “us” and “them.” When that happens, I believe we need to return to the meaning of inclusion itself.

LGBTQ+ students deserve to be safe and protected from bullying, harassment and discrimination. At the same time, students who do not identify as LGBTQ+, including those from families with different cultural, religious or personal understandings of sexuality and gender, also deserve respect and a sense of belonging.

Inclusion does not require everyone to believe the same thing.

Richmond’s public schools serve an extraordinarily diverse community. We should not expect every student or family to think alike. Part of education is learning how to live, learn and work alongside people whose experiences, identities, cultures and beliefs may be different from our own.

Respect must work in all directions.

I also believe parents are important partners in public education. Parents should have clear information about what their children are learning and should be able to ask respectful questions about curriculum, educational resources and age appropriateness. Asking questions should not automatically result in labels or division. At the same time, disagreement can never become an excuse for bullying, discrimination or denying another student’s dignity.

This is important to the kind of School Trustee I hope to be.

I do not believe leadership means choosing one group and ignoring another. A trustee represents the whole public school community. We need to listen to students, parents, educators and community members, including people who disagree with one another.

Richmond is one of Canada’s most diverse communities. I see that diversity not simply as a challenge to manage, but as an opportunity for our children to learn something essential for their future: we do not have to erase our differences in order to belong together.

That is why inclusion matters in my campaign for Richmond School Trustee.

Inclusion means making room for everyone. It means protecting those who are vulnerable, respecting differences, listening across disagreement, and ensuring that every student knows: you belong here.

Leadership begins with listening.

在參選列治文學務委員的過程中，我一直在思考：公共教育所說的「共融」（Inclusion），究竟真正代表甚麼？

對我來說，它從一個很簡單的原則開始：每一個學生都重要，每一個學生都應該有歸屬感。

學校應該是一個讓每一位學生都能安心學習、感到安全和受到尊重的地方。這包括 LGBTQ+ 學生、有特殊需要及不同學習需要的學生、新移民及英語學習學生、不同種族、文化和宗教背景的學生，也包括來自不同價值觀和信念家庭的學生。

然而，有時候當我們談論「共融」，討論很容易變成「我們」和「他們」的對立。當這種情況出現時，我認為我們更需要重新思考「共融」本身的意義。

LGBTQ+ 學生應該在校園內得到安全保障，不應受到欺凌、騷擾或歧視。同樣地，不認同自己是 LGBTQ+ 的學生，包括來自對性別和性議題有不同文化、宗教或個人理解家庭的學生，也同樣應該受到尊重，並在學校感到自己屬於這個群體。

共融，並不等於要求每一個人都有相同的信念和看法。

列治文的公立學校服務一個非常多元的社區。我們不應期望每一個學生和家庭都有一樣的想法。教育其中一個重要的部分，就是學習如何與那些經歷、身份、文化和信念與自己不同的人，一起生活、學習和合作。

而尊重，必須是彼此的。

我也相信，家長是公共教育的重要夥伴。家長應該清楚知道孩子在學校學習甚麼，也應該有空間就課程、教材及年齡適切性提出合理和尊重的問題。提出問題，不應該立即被標籤或造成彼此對立；但同樣地，意見不同也不能成為欺凌、歧視或否定另一位學生尊嚴的理由。

這也關乎我希望成為一位怎樣的學務委員。

我不認為領導就是選擇一個群體，而忽略另一個群體。學務委員所代表的，是整個公共教育社群。我們需要聆聽學生、家長、教育工作者和社區人士的聲音，也包括那些彼此有不同意見的人。

列治文是加拿大最多元的社區之一。我不只是把這份多元看成需要處理的挑戰，更把它看成一個機會，讓我們的下一代學習一件對未來非常重要的事情：我們不需要消除彼此的差異，才可以共同屬於這個社區。

這就是為甚麼「共融」是我參選列治文教育局校董的重要理念。

共融，就是為每一個人留下空間；保護容易受到傷害的人，尊重彼此的不同，在不同意見中仍然願意聆聽，並讓每一個學生都知道：你屬於這裏。

領導，從聆聽開始。