The Spatial Politics of Belonging

• In Event: 56.022 - Reimagining, Rethinking, and Reorienting Trans-formational Curricula and Pedagogies

Abstract

Students with the most significant and multiple disabilities receive all instruction in segregated settings yet research shows that they can learn mathematics, literacy, communication and employment skills in general education settings. This paper argues that segregated spaces are artifacts of the hegemony of normalcy that serves as a hidden or implicit curriculum instructing students on ideologies of difference and belonging. Within this framework, belonging is understood as affective property situated within institutionalized attachments, practices, rituals, and allocation of resources.

Authors

• Susan L. Gabel, Wayne State University

• Christina P. Denicolo, Wayne State University

• Min Yu, Wayne State University

• Christopher B. Crowley, Wayne State University