A DisCrit Analysis of Catholic Early Childhood Programming

• In Event: For Whom and to What Extent Are Catholic Schools Good?

Abstract

In recent years, Catholic schools have seen an expansion of early childhood programming (NCEA, 2023). However, this has not necessarily correlated to expansion of access for young children with disabilities, who are often excluded, either preemptively, or through exclusionary practices such as suspension and expulsion (Author, 2023). Epistemologically, the field of early childhood education has been steeped in a deficit model understanding of disability, predicated on saviorism, and entangled with problematic ideologies of racism (Author, 2023; Beneke & Love, 2022). Within Catholic education, racism and ableism continue to operate in ways that uphold and centralize power (Foraker, 2020; Santa Maria, 2022). Catholic educators must reconcile with the deficit-based understandings of disability that have dominated (Carlson, 2014; Ferri & Bacon, 2011), and the perpetuation of racialized and ableist notions of child development (Blanchard et al., 2021; Love & Beneke, 2021). For our purposes, racism is defined as any measure put in place that sustains a system of inequalities, usually presented through policies, ideologies, and practices that creates disparities between racial groups (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Kendi, 2019). Ableism is defined as “A system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness, eugenics, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism” (Lewis, 2022, para. 1). DisCrit theory explains how racism and ableism are interdependent and are used together to uphold a problematic system (e.g., Annamma et al., 2013; Blanchard et al., 2021; Love & Beneke, 2021). Through a DisCrit lens, this paper seeks to conceptualize justice-driven, inclusive Catholic education for young children.

This paper will situate a reconceptualization of Catholic early childhood education within the seven tenets of DisCrit theory (Annamma et al., 2013) and disability studies in education (Gabel, 2005), to imagine how equity, inclusion, and belonging might manifest in Catholic early childhood programs.

The perpetual exclusion of young children with disabilities from Catholic early childhood programming is antithetical to the church’s message of welcoming (Carter, 2016). As alleged arbiters of social justice, the Catholic early childhood community has an opportunity to reconsider how to best be culturally responsive and inclusive in all aspects of early childhood programming.

This paper will invite a discussion of the role of the Catholic education community in reimagining an inclusive system that values and dignifies young children with disabilities and their families.

Author

• Courtney O'Grady, University of Alabama