Claiming and Resisting a Label of Disability: Navigating Teacher Education With Invisible Physical Impairments

• In Event: Using Self-Study to Interrogate Diversity and Inequity

Abstract

This paper reports on a two-year qualitative self-study conducted by two new teacher educators. Our aim was to explore our experiences as teacher educators with invisible physical disabilities. Findings indicate we navigated our disabilities differently in varied contexts depending on issues of vulnerability, trust, and power. We also found there to be a palpable tension between a desire to resist and a desire to embrace the disability label in order to successfully navigate the terrain of academia. Through the self-study process, we came to better understand how these conflicting desires informed our identities and practices as teacher educators.

Authors

• Monica Eileen McGlynn-Stewart, George Brown College

• Shelley Murphy, OISE/University of Toronto