Responsive to Whom? Specifying the Intersection of Race and Disability in Culturally Responsive Practice

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Antibias, Antiracist, and Culturally Responsive Practices in Early Care and Education (Table 1)

Abstract

Pursuing intersectional justice for children of color with disabilities requires enacting inclusive and culturally responsive practices that explicitly address racism and ableism (Love & Beneke, 2021). The current project reports a study that explored ECE teachers' perceptions of inclusive and culturally responsive practices and the extent to which they enacted said practices to be responsive to children of color with disabilities. Researchers observed 24 preschool and Kindergarten classrooms and interviewed teachers. Initial analysis revealed two themes: (1) teachers narrowly defined cultural responsiveness, excluding disability; (2) institutionalized policies, particularly clustering multilingual children and children with disabilities, eschewed the presence, abilities, and support needs of children of color with disabilities. The proposed presentation will report on findings and implications for inclusive education.

Author

• Hailey Love, University of Wisconsin - Madison