Reimagining Inclusive Mathematics Education: The Role of Disability Studies

• In Event: Integrating Disability Studies and Critical Mathematics Education; Emerging Perspectives

Abstract

Many students identified with severe disabilities continue to be educated in self-contained environments where they have limited access to the general education curriculum and opportunities to engage in learning with their non-disabled peers, a far cry from ideals of inclusive education. Inclusiveness in mathematics education for students with severe disabilities is particularly problematic given the misconceptions of the discipline, the common tracking practices within, and a knowledge base centered on student deficits. As such, a pressing challenge for the mathematics education community is to develop and enact understandings for advancing meaningful inclusive practices involving students with severe disabilities. This requires reimaging current research and practices in mathematics and disability that contribute to developing what public education can and must be for today’s children, their families, and communities. In this presentation, I provide a theoretical overview of inclusive mathematics education situated in disability studies. I argue that advancing inclusive mathematics education requires reframing, relocating, and (re)presenting disability. Finally, I provide an exploratory study of such effort in one elementary mathematics methods course to situate this theoretical framework in practice.

To deepen understanding of social, political, economical, and historical forces that marginalize individuals in and out of schools I draw from social-cultural theories such as disability studies. Disability studies aim to contextualize disability within cultural and social constructs of disability to “help determine personal and collective responses to difference” (Society for Disability Studies, 2017). Applied to education, disability studies are transdisciplinary fields working to be critical of inequitable educational practices, laying claim that disability is a social construction rather than a problem located within an individual (Collins & Ferri, 2016). DSE operates within a social model by locating “the problem” within school curricula and practices, and deficit constructions of individuals with disabilities (Collins & Ferri, 2016) that create barriers preventing full participation in schools and classrooms (Gabel & Connor, 2014).

Guided by DSE, I introduce the disability studies in mathematics education ([DSME], Authors, forthcoming) as a theoretical framework to inform our understanding of how prospective teachers make meaning of mathematics education involving students with disabilities. DSME focuses on reframing concepts such as mathematics learning difficulties toward considerations of co-constructions of disability (Heyd-Metzuyanim, 2013) and on removing barriers (i.e., relocating disability) and advocating for high-quality and empowering mathematics education (re)presentative of students with disabilities. DSME also reclaims mathematics educational practices typified for those with identified disabilities from remediation and “fill in the holes” types of interactions toward ones that enable and empower every student. Rather than drawing lines of exclusion, DSME innovates for inclusive practices, expanding our capacity to support all learners in robust mathematics learning communities.

In practice, I argue that teacher educators, guided by DSME, can support prospective teachers’ knowledge, dispositions, and skills to challenge oppressive practices and enact inclusive mathematics education. I share results of an exploratory study that analyzed prospective teachers’ conversations during their engagement with a DSME-oriented tool and discuss implications for future research and practice.

Author

• Paulo Tan, University of Tulsa