A Good Teacher Makes Science Lighthearted: Experiences in Learning Science From Alejandro

• In Event: 42.067 - Voices of Students With Disabilities in Science Education

Abstract

The purpose of this session is to share the story of Alejandro, a college graduate born with “severe spastic displegic cerebral palsy” as a way to build knowledge of insightful practices for learning in inclusive general education classrooms, like science. This session is grounded in disability studies in education (DSE) and the qualitative research method of narrative inquiry. DSE centers on tenets including: a) privilege the interests, agendas, and voices of people labeled as disability/disabled and b) promote social justice, equitable, and inclusive educational opportunities, and full and meaningful access to all aspects of society for people labeled as disability/disabled (Connor, et al.,2008, p.448). DSE challenge many assumptions, that are the foundation of special education (including the medical model of disability) and provided the framework for my collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data that lifts up the voice of Alejandro. I used narrative inquiry to develop his story because it involves the reconstruction of a person’s experiences in relationship both to the other and to socio-cultural factors (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Through the use of narrative inquiry, I will convey the retrospective experiences in learning science from the perspective of Alejandro. I conducted four 90 minute semi-structured interviews of Alejandra in the spring of 2015. I used the constant comparative and microanalysis frameworks for grounded theory developed by Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin (1998) to systematically sort the data into themes to develop the narrative.

For brevity in this proposal, I elucidate one finding:

School science Experiences
In ninth grade I had a science blunder. It sticks out to me but I mixed the wrong chemicals. It was in a beaker and seemed to get more condensed and then “Kaboom” it just exploded. Stuff everywhere. We had safety goggles, the whole shebang, lab coat and everything. The class reacted with a lot of gasping, everyone jumped back. Then you could hear a pin drop for about three seconds. Then the teacher came running over asking if everyone was okay. “Yep we are fine.” “Okay, do you know what you did wrong?” “I mixed the wrong chemicals, I was supposed to put whatever the other chemical is in there instead of the one that I did.” “Ok well as long as you are ok and you know what you did wrong, Mistakes happen and we learn from them.” He didn’t diminish my confidence even more. He could have been: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING! THIS IS NOT OKAY!” But instead he was like “mistakes happen and as long as everyone is okay, you know what you did wrong so you learned from it.”

There is a paucity of research that privilege the interests, agendas, and voices of people labeled as disability/disabled (Author, 2016; Connor, et al., p.448) in education. Yet, their experiences, including Alejandro allow opportunities for us as researchers and educators to examine our current practice and suggest ways that we might reimagine inclusive education.

Author

• Michele J. Koomen, Gustavus Adolphus College