Designing a Critical Special Education Syllabus Amid Divisive Concept Laws: An Autoethnographic Account in an Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

• In Event: Subversive Pedagogies and Critical Special Education in an Era of Surveillance and Silencing

Abstract

Purpose
This study explores the development of a syllabus for a junior-level undergraduate course in critical special education within a teacher education program at an R1 university. The course was designed to prepare pre-service teachers—most of whom would be teaching in predominantly Black and immigrant school communities—to approach dis/ability through a sociopolitical and intersectional lens. The objective was to create a curriculum that challenges deficit-based models and affirms dis/ability as a dimension of diversity, while navigating rising legislative constraints that limit discussions of race, oppression, and power in classrooms (Watson, 2023).
Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework
This work draws on critical dis/ability studies (Annamma et al., 2013), intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991), and culturally responsive pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995). These frameworks guided syllabus design by emphasizing structural inequities, identity, and the lived experiences of multiply marginalized students. The course aimed to disrupt traditional special education narratives by reimagining the role of pre-service teachers as critical actors within systems of power.
Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry
Autoethnography (Ellis et al., 2011) served as the primary methodology, allowing the instructor to critically examine their experience as a scholar-practitioner designing and implementing the syllabus. Narrative reflection was used to unpack institutional tensions, personal identity work, and the emotional labor of engaging in justice-centered teaching amid censorship fears.
Data Sources, Evidence, Objects, or Materials
Sources included reflective journals, annotated syllabus drafts, institutional emails, and feedback from colleagues and students. These materials, alongside the instructor’s positionality as a woman of color with a dis/ability, offered insight into how academic labor is shaped by both resistance and vulnerability (Love, 2019).
Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions or Warrants for Arguments/Point of View
Findings revealed key tensions in syllabus development: navigating administrative discomfort, the self-censorship triggered by divisive concepts laws, and the challenge of protecting student learning spaces while honoring academic freedom. Still, the process allowed the syllabus to become a pedagogical tool of counter-narrative, care, and solidarity (Kuntz, 2021).
Scientific or Scholarly Significance of the Study or Work
This study adds to the critical special education literature by demonstrating how autoethnography can document curricular resistance under politically hostile conditions. It underscores the importance of educator agency, culturally affirming pedagogy, and institutional courage in preparing teachers to serve marginalized youth in meaningful and liberatory ways.

Author

• Suman Rath, Montclair State University