Negotiating Inclusion: Contentious Learning with Black Boys Labeled Disabled

• In Event: Interrogating Inclusion to “Re-mediate” Unjust Educational Spaces

Abstract

Purpose
Across the United States, the schooling experiences of Black boys with and without disability labels are too often characterized by marginalization (Author, 2022). Black boys are disproportionately suspended, expelled, restrained, and secluded by educators who committed to nurturing all learners when they entered the profession (Marsh & Walker, 2022). Further, the over- and underrepresentation of Black boys in special education reflects the systemic neglect of Black boys and men nationally (Skiba et al., 2016; Travers & Krezmien, 2018). Black boys deserve better. Black boys are entitled to an education in which they are provided with high-quality learning opportunities grounded in community building, ingenuity, and sustainability (Bryan et al., 2023; Author et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2024). The purpose of this paper is to reveal how Black boys labeled disabled can co-construct inclusive learning communities when provided space and opportunities to engage in deep learning with their peers.

Theoretical Framework
I used disability critical race theory (DisCrit), Waitoller and Kozleski’s (2013) notion of inclusive education, and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to design the study and analyze the activity within it. I employed CHAT to recognize my and my participants’ psychological development as situated within an ever-changing cultural-historical context. I also utilized CHAT to imagine and create a learning space that acknowledged and welcomed the cultural-historical gifts of nine Black boys labeled disabled. I investigated power relations using DisCrit and Waitoller and Kozleski’s notion of inclusive education.

Methods
I used critical qualitative methods to understand how the identities of a group of nine Black boys labeled disabled —from multiple states — mattered in the context of their schooling experiences. The boys and I co-constructed a community of practice on Zoom. We read and discussed a fiction book (that foregrounded topics such as racism, ableism, bullying, and policing) in the context of their identities and lived experiences. I supplemented the hard copy of the book with a corresponding audiobook. I also interviewed the boys individually and collectively and wrote fieldnotes during our meetings. I analyzed data using the constant comparative method (Corbin & Strauss, 1990).

Results and Significance
I found that, as the boys and I made meaning of the shared text and drew connections between the text, the world, and the boys’ lives, the boys constructed an inclusive learning environment. Specifically, the boys negotiated inclusion across three axes — redistribution, recognition, and representation (Waitoller & Kozleski, 2013) — by engaging in critical and sometimes contentious dialogue with each other and with me. Advancing inclusion was possible, in part, because the boys (a) freely shared their beliefs, values, and perspectives, which were informed by their shared and personal cultural histories, and (b) made themselves receptive to others’ viewpoints.

These findings are significant because they reveal what is possible when Black boys are provided space and opportunities to exist freely and learn within a dynamic community of practice. These findings also show that Black boys, particularly those with disability labels, have the capacity to learn and innovate, which challenges negative stereotypes about Black boys’ intelligence.

Author

• William A. Proffitt, Montclair State University