(Re)Producing Special Education

• In Event: (Re)Thinking Discursive Practices to Center Disability

Abstract

Photography is a mode of representation that is often viewed as a neutral presentation of subjects within the frame. The assumption of neutrality can lead to the acceptance of the messages it produces without critical thought to the beliefs, ideas, or concepts it is communicating. Textbooks are often filled with photographic representations and accompanying captions to support the written content. The photos found within textbooks help to develop and deliver Discourses to those that interact with them. This study analyzes the photographs and captions found in three introductory special education textbooks. Clearer understandings about the Discourses on special education and disability were discovered. Specifically, Discourses on difference, access, and the identity of special education are explained.

Authors

• Sarah Anne Bubash, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Andrea Ruppar, University of Wisconsin - Madison