Inclusion gatekeepers: the social production of spatial identities in special education

Abstract

Critical approaches to inclusive education seek to transform educational systems to increase access, participation, and achievement for students at the intersections of multiple markers of difference. Yet, the role of space in inclusive education remains under explored as a social and political construct. We know that space matters for the production and maintenance of student identities; however, little is known about its interaction with teacher and specifically special educator identity. This qualitative study takes a ‘spatial turn’ in inclusive education by exploring how the existing geographies of exclusion within schools mediated special educators’ identity construction. Through interactions with their sociocultural contexts, special educators’ engaged in the co-construction of gatekeeper identities and participated systems of ableism that perpetuated and justified exclusion. Recommendations will be made for how school communities can critically interrogate space as a means for increased equity and inclusion.

Keywords:

• Critical spatial analysis
• inclusive education
• ableism
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Kansas School of Education Student Research Fund.

Notes on contributors

Molly Baustien Siuty

Molly Baustien Siuty, PhD, is an assistant professor of inclusive teacher education in the Curriculum and Instruction Department. She is also a cohort leader in the Secondary Dual Educator Program (SDEP). She received her doctoral degree in special education from the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on critical and intersectional approaches to inclusive teacher preparation. In her work, she explores the ways in which inclusive teacher preparation can be a tool for disrupting dominant ideologies that construct ‘normalcy’ in urban school systems. Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, she taught special education in New York City.