Disrupting Ableism and Building Inclusive Schools: A Teacher Study Group

• In Event: Professional Development for Inclusive Practice: Exploring Teacher Perceptions and Discourse

Abstract

This paper discusses a teacher study group project in which elementary school teachers engaged in weekly discussions of critical issues in inclusive education, based on readings from disability studies in education (DSE) literature. Teachers examined individual, cultural, and institutional beliefs about disability and problematized educational discourses and practices that perpetuate segregated education for students with disabilities. Ultimately, the project was focused on generating strategies for the removal of barriers to the full participation and achievement of children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Teachers experienced transformations in their conceptualizations of disability and learned to reflect critically on their own teaching practices. At its culmination, each teacher generated a proposal for social action aimed at effecting changes at their school site.

Author

• Priya Lalvani, Montclair State University