Disabled girls of color excavate exclusionary literacy practices and generate promising sociospatial-textual solutions

Abstract

Disabled girls of color have unique intersectional schooling experiences. Yet, they are underrepresented in educational research, and often unheard. Grounded in Disability Critical Race Theory and sociocultural learning theory, this study expands current understandings of how academic and social opportunities are afforded or constrained in schools for disabled girls of color from their perspectives. Through their narratives, photographs, and maps, focal participants in middle and high school described how social and spatial practices interacted with texts and technologies and in doing so, positively and negatively impacted their literacy opportunities at school. This study adds to the current literature with an intentional focus on the gifts, strengths, and solutions of disabled girls of color. Implications for future research (e.g. conducting student-led photovoice research with disabled girls of color) and generative teacher practices (e.g. using photovoice to learn about student experiences and make pedagogical changes) are discussed.

Keywords:

• Disabled girls of color
• photovoice
• Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit)
• texts
• libraries

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I use the term “girls of color” to honor the experiences, expertise, and youthfulness of the girls in this project who identified as Afghan, Black, Hispanic, and Mexican.

2 I chose to draw from Annamma and Morrison (2018), to discuss “assignment, measures, and outputs” as opportunities the education system allocates, rather than use “placement, achievement, and attainment” as indicators of what students earn in a system that positions multiply-marginalized students of color as less than.

3 Please note, none of the school-imposed disability labels noted on students’ IEPs aligned with the parent/guardian demographics forms. All names of students and teachers used in this manuscript are pseudonyms.

4 Copies of interview and focus group guides as well as photovoice and map-making prompts can be obtained by contacting the author.

5 Brackets [ ] denote student action. See Bolden and Hepburn (2018) for this transcription conventions choice.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education (DED0072555).

Notes on contributors

Amanda L. Miller

Amanda L. Miller's research focuses on how schooling mechanisms afford or constrain opportunities for disabled girls of color from their perspectives. She also studies teacher preparation for culturally sustaining inclusive education and family-school-community partnerships with and for families from diverse backgrounds. Her research is grounded in critical and participatory paradigms.