From Disability To Embodied Biodiversity: analyzing international inclusive education policy processes in Kenya (Poster 35)

• In Event: AERA Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research
  In Invited Poster Session: AERA Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research Poster Session

Abstract

Disability inclusive education is a growing sector within international development that pushes for the rights of children with disabilities to access education along with their non-disabled peers. Many countries including Kenya have committed to achieving equitable education for children with disabilities with its ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In my dissertation, I strive to explain disability inclusive education policy processes. How do policy makers develop national disability inclusive policies and laws while reconciling with competing social norms regarding people with disabilities reflected in global policies? What explains the lack of effective implementation of disability-inclusive education policies in countries such as Kenya that have ratified the CRPD? Is the lack of effective implementation due to the different conceptualizations of disability? Conceptualizations of disability refers to how stakeholders view the roles of people with disabilities in society. There are norms that reflect deficit orientation on Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing (DDBHH) people and people with disabilities (PWD) while some global policies reflect a holistic orientation on DDBHHPWD. Kenya is a leader in the African continent regarding creating and implementing inclusive policies and yet experiences a lack of fully realized implementation of its disability inclusive education policies.

Author

• Maegan Shanks, American University