Dear Future Teachers: Letters Between Teachers With Disabilities

• In Event: Critical Understandings Through Identity: Building Bridges Across Educational Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines the lived experiences of eleven P-12 teachers with disabilities as analyzed through letters between current and future teachers. Disabled teachers are underrepresented and undervalued in education. As a method of inquiry, letter writing revealed many possibilities for supporting professional connections among disabled P-12 teachers. Findings revealed critical insights into teachers’ professional experiences with disability and how they strategically navigated school environments for themselves and to benefit their students. Professional marginalization and exclusion were evident in teachers’ letters. As a field, we have a professional responsibility to act. Doing so requires a commitment to dismantling known systemic barriers, as well as a commitment to anticipating and supporting disabled teachers and valuing their contributions to the field.

Author

• Michelle L. Damiani, Rowan University