Deconstructing Dispositions: Toward a Critical Ability Theory in Teacher Education

Abstract

When attending to dispositions, or educators’ assumptions and beliefs about teaching, learning, and students, teacher educators must develop a discourse that examines disability in terms of power and privilege. This article synthesizes literature related to critical race theory (CRT) and disability theory to elucidate the need for a critical ability theory in teacher education. Combining the tenets of CRT and disability theories provides a lens for viewing how power and privilege affect public and private conceptions of what it means to have a special need. Because recognition of privilege and identity serve as the cornerstones of dispositional development, prospective teachers should be asked to examine their dispositions through this lens. This article offers a novel way to explore the dispositions construct, as previous literature has not examined the ways that privilege and identity intersect with disability and teacher dispositions.

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Notes on contributors

Christa S. Bialka

Christa S. Bialka is an assistant professor of special education in the Department of Education and Counseling at Villanova University. Her research interests include teacher preparation, analysis of dispositional development, and ableism awareness.