Inclusive Teacher Preparation for Urban Schools: A Miseducation at the Intersection of Race and Ability

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Teacher Preparation Programs in Supporting Teachers for and From Diverse Communities

Abstract

Critical inclusive teacher preparation seeks to interrogate the meaning that is made of difference from dominant conception of normalcy in school systems. This requires teachers candidates in critical inclusive programs to unlearn years of miseducation in which abled, white, Euro-centric norms have been privileged. This paper investigates the experiences of four new special educators who graduated from an institution committed to inclusive and urban education. The objectives of this paper were (a) to understand how the absence of opportunities for unlearning in inclusive urban teacher preparation perpetuated new teachers’ miseducation about race and disability and (b) uncover how new teachers’ miseducation contributed to social processes that raced, disabled, and excluded students of color in urban schools.

Author

• Molly Elizabeth Siuty, Portland State University