Calling forth disability in the classroom

Abstract

Disability theory discusses the interplay between impairment and disability as though they can be identified separately. More recently, scholars in the field have sought to move beyond the dichotomy to an interactional model. This article uses evidence from a longitudinal ethnographic case study to demonstrate how notions of interaction and relation need to be understood within context. Socio-cultural theory makes explicit a situated understanding of participation and experience and demonstrates how classroom environments ‘call forth’ disability. Findings reveal how classrooms as educational contexts mediate the experience of a student with a learning impairment. The evidence shows how a classroom draws on the wider regimes of competence at the institutional level to create particular experiences for students. The challenge for teachers and other support staff in schools is to reflect on and influence the dynamic of impairment/disability within their classroom and school context in order to support appropriate participation and learning.

Keywords:

• socio-cultural theory
• participation
• schooling
• ethnography
• student experience
• New Zealand

Acknowledgements

This research was part of a larger project called ‘Disabled and non-disabled children’s constructions of identity’ supported by the Marsden Fund (Royal Society of New Zealand) and led by Dr Jude MacArthur. Thanks to Professor Anne B. Smith and Associate Professor Lisette Burrows from the University of Otago for providing feedback on this article.

Notes

1. New Zealand’s special education policy focuses on resource allocation that uses professional assessments to establish the level of need. If thresholds are met, students gain access to the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme, which provides therapy, education support, specialist teaching and programmes, so adaptations can be made to the classroom curriculum.New Zealand’s special education policy focuses on resource allocation that uses professional assessments to establish the level of need. If thresholds are met, students gain access to the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme, which provides therapy, education support, specialist teaching and programmes, so adaptations can be made to the classroom curriculum.New Zealand’s special education policy focuses on resource allocation that uses professional assessments to establish the level of need. If thresholds are met, students gain access to the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme, which provides therapy, education support, specialist teaching and programmes, so adaptations can be made to the classroom curriculum.

2. This high school did not have a ‘special needs’ unit so Ben was automatically included in the regular programme as happened while he was at intermediate school. The students were assessed on entry to school and streaming was used to allocate the cohort into the new entrant classes based on their performance. Many of the students in his Year Nine class had come from the same intermediate school, but only two of Ben’s classmates were from his Year Eight class.This high school did not have a ‘special needs’ unit so Ben was automatically included in the regular programme as happened while he was at intermediate school. The students were assessed on entry to school and streaming was used to allocate the cohort into the new entrant classes based on their performance. Many of the students in his Year Nine class had come from the same intermediate school, but only two of Ben’s classmates were from his Year Eight class.This high school did not have a ‘special needs’ unit so Ben was automatically included in the regular programme as happened while he was at intermediate school. The students were assessed on entry to school and streaming was used to allocate the cohort into the new entrant classes based on their performance. Many of the students in his Year Nine class had come from the same intermediate school, but only two of Ben’s classmates were from his Year Eight class.