Inclusion Gatekeepers: Teacher Identity (Re)Constitution for Critical Inclusion in Communities of Practice

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 40
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Teacher Studies: Rethinking Space, Language, and Relationships

Abstract

Scant attention has been paid to the ways in which graduates of inclusive teacher education programs (re)constitute their teacher identity as they traverse the boundaries between their preparation experiences and school systems. This study explored the social processes through which four special educators and graduates of a critical inclusive teacher preparation program (re)negotiated their identities within the power dynamics of their communities of practice. Results indicated that inclusion was a privilege that students with disabilities had to earn rather than their right. Special educators, then, were positioned as the inclusion gatekeepers with the power to create inclusive experiences but also deny them. Most often teachers reified dominant ideologies but they also demonstrated creative resistance for inclusion and equity.

Author

• Molly Elizabeth Siuty, Portland State University