Transforming Understandings About Who Can Teach: The Experiences and Approaches of Teachers With Disabilities

• In Event: Approaching the Vision: Disability Studies in Education Praxis

Abstract

It is well documented that people with disabilities experience high levels of discrimination related to poverty, housing, employment, education, and other areas of life. Compared to national statistics indicating that 19 percent of people in the U.S. have a disability, educators with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in the teaching force, with numbers as low as 3.6 percent according to Anderson (2006, p.368). This qualitative study utilizes a disability studies in education framework to understand how 11 teachers with disabilities navigate schools in their professional interactions and through their teaching. The findings from this research provide an opportunity to discuss and potentially transform the ways that we do and do not engage in inclusive schooling practices today.

Author

• Michelle L. Damiani, Syracuse University