Toward disability-centered, culturally sustaining pedagogies in teacher education

ABSTRACT

Teacher education in the United States operates within the same politically polarized and tense contexts as schools. Research predominantly relies on the voices and experiences of scholars and professionals, despite the importance of community-engaged pedagogies and learning approaches. Collective work that bridges the roles of scholars and community activists requires a shift in how teacher education is conceptualized for a new generation of intersectionality-focused anti-racist and anti-ableist teachers and teacher educators. Centering the knowledge of disabled activists, poverty scholars, and community scholars in partnership with educational professionals, we introduce Disability Centered Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (DCCSPs), a conceptual framework and pedagogical application integrating Disability Critical Race Theory and culturally sustaining pedagogies in teacher education. We outline the critical need for this theory in teacher education in the United States and globally, opportunities for practical integration, and conclude with future directions.

KEYWORDS:

• disability
• DisCrit
• Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies
• teacher education
• disabled youth of color

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correction Statement

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

Notes

1. We note that Say Their Names website does not explicitly include disabled identities which is a limitation of the movement.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Saili S. Kulkarni

Saili S. Kulkarni (she/her/hers): Dr. Saili S. Kulkarni is an Associate Professor of Special Education at San José State University in San José California. She was formerly the co-chair of the Disability Studies in Education Special Interest Group for the American Educational Research Association. Her research seeks to understand how teacher beliefs (especially teachers of color) inform instructional decisions and practices related to supporting disabled youth of color in P-12 classrooms. She uses a framework of Disability Studies Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) in her work to analyze how racism and ableism operate interdependently in U.S. schools. She is the Principal Investigator of a Spencer Foundation Racial Equity grant that is working to remediate discipline disparities for young children of color with disabilities.

Amanda L. Miller

Amanda L. Miller (she/her): Dr. Amanda L. Miller is an Assistant Professor and critical educator in the College of Education at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She is an activist and abolitionist. Amanda’s scholarship focuses on youth perspectives, family-school partnerships, and disability-centered, culturally sustaining pedagogies. She centers this research in the experiences, perspectives, and solutions of disabled girls of color as well as girls of color who do not identify with disabilities to (re)imagine and transform schooling for multiply marginalized students and families. Amanda’s work is grounded in humanizing approaches to inquiry and qualitative and visual (photovoice and mapping) methods.

Emily A. Nusbaum

Emily A. Nusbaum: Dr. Emily A. Nusbaum (she/hers) teaches intro/advanced qualitative research at University of San Diego. She is a lecturer in Disability Studies at University of California, Berkeley. Her current research interests lie in the advancement of critical, qualitative research by centering the disability, the ideology of inclusive education, and exploring the epistemological and ontological erasure of disability and its intersections from a range of educational and research contexts. Emily’s recent efforts have focused on creating authentic partnerships with multiply-marginalized, disabled community scholars resulting in the publication of a children’s book, academic articles, public events, and grant funded projects.

Holly Pearson

Holly Pearson: Dr. Holly Pearson (no preferred pronouns) received her PhD in Education with an emphasis in Disability Studies from Chapman University in Orange, California. Dr. Pearson is currently working with the Department of Teaching and Learning at University of San Diego. Their scholarship explored the socio-spatial intersectional experiences of multiply marginalized folks in higher education. Presently, she is: exploring the history of higher education, particularly in the dynamic between higher education architecture and diversity in disability. She is also examining disability disclosure, hidden labor, and hidden curriculum among scholars with disabilities. She has published research on impact of disability studies curriculum, disability and diversity, disability and spaces, intersectionality, and arts-based and visual methodologies.

Lydia XZ Brown

Lydia X.Z. Brown (they/them): Lydia is a writer, public speaker, educator, trainer, consultant, advocate, community organizer, community builder, activist, scholar and attorney. They have worked for over a decade to address and end interpersonal violence targeting disabled people, especially disabled people at the margins of the margins in homes and communities. Their work begins at and centers the intersections of disability, queerness, race, gender, class, nation and migration. They have provided trainings and consultations to numerous professional and academic organizations and companies on issues that impact disabled, queer, trans, and negatively racialized peoples.