Access and Disability Justice in Theological Education

Abstract

As more students, staff, faculty, and administrators with disabilities participate in theological education, practices that promote accessibility and inclusive learning environments are essential. Though the topics of access and universal design for learning have surged in popularity among educational scholars and within popular lay sources over the past years, reflection on accessibility among theological schools remains largely under-explored. In this essay, I offer a case study describing the holistic evaluation of accessibility in a seminary. I suggest that pursuits of access and inclusive learning within institutions theological education can and should reflect a praxis of justice. To explore this justice-based approach to accessibility, I introduce one contemporary framework for “disability justice” and reflect on how the principles within this framework might help guide, encourage, and challenge those in the world of theological education toward a more accessible future.

Keywords:

• Accessibility
• disability
• inclusion
• justice
• theological education

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to the students, staff, faculty, alumni, and Friendship House residents at Western Theological Seminary who participated in the accessibility audit activities, especially for the guidance and support I received from Dr. Ben Conner. My special thanks are also due to Dr. Jay Dolmage, who I have long admired as a scholar and had the pleasure to consult with and learn from during my evaluation work on access and inclusive learning at Western Theological Seminary.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Notable contributions in the existing literature include Robert C. Anderson’s 2003 edited volume Graduate Theological Education and the Experience of Disability (Philadelphia, PA: Haworth Pastoral Press); The Association of Theological Schools’ 2008 policy document “Disability and Theological Education” (https://www.ats.edu/uploads/about-ats/documents/policy-guideline-disability-and-theological-education.pdf); Sarah Jean Barton’s forthcoming 2021 article in the Wabash Center Journal on Teaching “Expanding the Theological Classroom: People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities as Theological Learners;” Benjamin T. Conner’s 2020 article in Theology Today “‘How Do You Think You Are Going to be a Pastor?’ Vocation and Disability;” and Catherine E. Webb’s 2020 dissertation “Who is Preaching to the Choir? Disability Content in Mainline Protestant Master of Divinity Curriculum.”

2 These activities included online course completion (such as Colorado State University’s MOOC “Basics of Inclusive Design for Online Education”), conference attendance (including The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) “Accessing Higher Ground: Accessible Media, Web, & Technology” Conference), self-study of resources (select titles included: Evans, N.J., et al. (Eds.). (2017). Disability in Higher Education: A Social Justice Approach and Kim, E. & K.C. Aquino (Eds.) (2017). Disability as Diversity in Higher Education: Policies and Practices to Enhance Student Success), and participation in small reading groups for discussion of salient resources such as Dolmage (2017)

Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education and Tobin, T.J. and K.T. Behling. (2018) Reach Everyone, Teach

Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education.

3 All in-residence and distance learning students across degree programs at Western Theological Seminary are welcomed to contact or meet with the “Accessibility Team” at any time throughout their student tenure, in order to discuss learning needs, possible accommodations, and/or tips for communicating with faculty members. Contact information and team membership (the current staff and faculty members who comprise the team) are provided in all seminary syllabi (in the “Disabilities, Accessibility, and Inclusive Learning” section). This team is separate from the seminary’s ADA Coordinator position and is open to all students, regardless of disability status. Additionally, as a result of the accessibility audit recommendations, WTS has now appointed faculty member Professor L.S. Carlos A. Thompson as the “Student Accessibility Coordinator” to provide additional support to students with any kind of barriers to learning.

Additional information

Funding

Henry Luce Foundation Grant; “Enabling Theological Education: Preparing the Next Generation of Christian Leaders”