Exploring Inclusive Co-Teachers’ Critical Consciousness and Agency in Enacting Socially Just Inclusive Practices

• In Event: Inclusive Education: Considerations From Multiple Perspectives

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to investigate inclusive co-teachers' critical consciousness and agency in socially just inclusive practices, specifically for students of color with disabilities. Interviews and community of practice meetings with intervention and discussions were conducted with five inclusive science co-teachers about their beliefs, experiences, and practices. Findings demonstrated that teachers’ critical awareness of the co-construction of race and disability and its connection with normalcy, white privilege, and deficit-based assumptions and their critical reflection on their roles and responsibilities to attend to equity and justice encouraged their agency toward socially just practices. This study has implications for theory, research, and practice.

Author

• Latifa Sebti, Willian Paterson University