Teachers with disabilities: a literature review

ABSTRACT

The development of an inclusive education system is regarded as a fundamental pillar for the full participation of persons with disabilities in society. To date, research on inclusive education has been mainly focused on students with disabilities, special education teachers and the role of legislation with less attention being paid to another important player in the implementation of a truly inclusive education system: teachers with disabilities. To address this knowledge gap, in this article we present a literature review, analysing the main findings and contributions from research that examines issues pertaining to teachers with disabilities. Drawing from 53 articles published in English in peer-review journals, the paper identifies four main research topics: (1) Teachers’ life trajectories, educational practices, and challenges; (2) Teacher's training; (3) Perspectives about teachers with disabilities (among students and school principals), and (4) the under-representation of teachers with disabilities in the literature. We conclude arguing that the research agenda on inclusive education would benefit from including the perspective of teachers with disabilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers with disabilities
• literature review
• inclusive education

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Prémio Inclusão ISCSP/Caixa Geral de Depósitos 2017.

Notes on contributors

Patrícia Neca

Patrícia Neca is a PhD candidate in Psychology (ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon); researcher at the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights, at the School of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ISCSP-ULisbon), in Portugal. Primary research interests: employment and disability, inclusive education, social representations and stereotyping on disability, reception of legal innovation aimed at promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6815-5602

Maria Leonor Borges

Maria Leonor Borges, PhD in Education. Professor of the Department of Social Sciences and Education at the University of Algarve, School of Education and Communication. His research concerns Teacher Education (knowledge and professional development of teachers), Social and Educational Inequalities and Disability Studies. Research Centre on Adult Education and Community Intervention (CEAD). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2763-2433

Paula Campos Pinto

Paula Campos Pinto holds a PhD in Sociology from York University, Toronto, Canada. She is an Associate Professor at the School for Social and Political Sciences/ University of Lisbon (ISCSP-ULisbon), and the coordinator of the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights, a platform that brings together academics, disability organisations and decision-makers to support disability research and advance disability rights in Portugal. Since December 2016 she is also the Chair of the National Independent Mechanism for Monitoring the Implementation of the CRPD in Portugal. Paula Campos Pinto has been the Principal Investigator and researcher in a number of national and international projects related to disability rights monitoring, social policy analyses and the impact of policy on people's lives, including from a gender perspective. Pinto is the author of many national and international publications related to disability, human rights and social policy, including a book entitled Disability, Rights Monitoring, and Social Change: Building Power out of Evidence, published in 2015 by the Canadian Scholar's Press.