An historical ethnography of the enactment of Rawl’s Theory of Justice as applied to the education of learners with disability in Western Australia

ABSTRACT

The education of students with disability has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Universal declarations and conventions have underpinned many of these changes at both an international level and within Australia. In the early 1970s, the philosophy of John Rawls provided a theory of justice to preserve social justice and individual liberty within communities. This mirrored attempts to advance education to ensure social justice, rights and access to education for learners with disability. This micro-historical ethnography provides a review spanning the past half century in Australia of changes to the education of students with disability. Underpinned by an ethnographic epistemology through interviews with the presentism of eight educators involved in Western Australian education for learners with disability, and viewed through an interpretivist lens, major elements of change are identified. An analytical framework deduced from the work of Rawls is used to reflect upon the changes and discuss the degree that Rawls’ justice as fairness has been enacted in education for learners with disability from 1970 to 2021 in Australia. Key words: Australia, learners with disability, special education, inclusion, Rawls, equity, social justice

KEYWORDS:

• Australia
• learners with disability
• inclusion
• Rawls
• equity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants of this research for sharing their extensive experiences in special education in Western Australia.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dianne Chambers

Dr Dianne Chambers coordinates and teaches into courses on catering for students with special needs/disabilities, inclusion, adaptive education, behaviour management and social skills, assistive technology, research methods, and educating students who are gifted and talented. She supervises students within the School of Education Masters and PhD programs. She is published in the field of special and inclusive education, assistive technology and children with ASD. Dianne is a consultant with UNESCO on guidelines for persons with disabilities and Open and Distance Learning using open solutions, and teacher education for global citizenship. She is a member of the Australian Association of Special Education (WA Chapter) the Council for Exceptional Children (DISES division), and the Australian Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association (ARATA).

C. Forlin

C. Forlin is an international education consultant and Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She specializes in supporting governments and school systems to implement effective and quality inclusive education, having worked in the field of education throughout her career. Her extant research and publications focus on policy development for education reform and systemic support for children and youth with disabilities and development of inclusive curriculum and pedagogy with a particular emphasis on inclusion in developing countries.