Transition Metaphors

• In Event: 14.033 - Disability Studies in Education: Promoting Justice in the Postsecondary World

Abstract

Students with significant disability have dismal transition outcomes as they progress from school to community life (Rusch, 2009). Ethnography of transition was conducted from the perspective of a small sample of those living the experience. A “qualitative toolbox” (Owens, 2007) of data collection techniques were adapted from traditional methodology to facilitate participants to generate their own data, rather than it being provided on their behalf. Results are presented in visual metaphors. Findings exemplify the ways participants understand and express abstract transition concepts. Future research could involve accessing the voice of other marginalized groups, or applying similar adaptations in methodology to other disability experiences.

Author

• Sarah M Hart, Auckland University