Disability studies in and for inclusive teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

In inclusive education, Disability Studies is a framework that has been useful for identifying gaps in theory, in practice and the spaces in between. Disability Studies in Education also provides new spaces in which to manoeuvre, re-framing theory, reflecting on and (potentially) shifting practice in classrooms, schools, and national policies and guidelines. In this paper three teacher educators and a school principal describe their work in undergraduate and graduate teacher education, both initial teacher education and in-service professional development. We describe the genesis of our theorising in an ongoing project developing and disseminating a sociocultural approach to assessment, Narrative Assessment. We continue to learn about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in this project. These learnings inform our theory and practice of teacher education for inclusive education.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability studies in education
• teacher education
• teacher professional learning
• inclusive education

Acknowledgments

The Narrative Assessment Project described in this article is funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative through the New Zealand Council of Educational Research [http://www.tlri.org.nz/tlri-research/research-progress/school-sector/using-narrative-assessment-support-secondary-school].

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Missy Morton

Missy Morton is Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education in the School of Critical Studies in Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Her research interests include Disability Studies in Education, assessment for social justice, inclusive education and teacher education. <[email protected]>

Anne-Marie McIlroy

Anne-Marie McIlroy is a Lecturer in the School of Critical Studies in Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland working on the project Using narrative assessment to support secondary school teachers’ inclusive practices. Anne-Marie has also taught on the Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching, Complex Needs while working at the University of Canterbury. She also has a .2 position as a new entrant teacher at Kimi Ora Special School in Lower Hutt.

Jude Macarthur

Jude Macarthur is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Critical Studies in Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Jude has also taught on the Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching, Complex Needs. Her key research areas include disabled children’s childhood studies; inclusive education and teacher education; disabled children’s and young people’s rights at school; ethics in research with children; qualitative research.

Paul Olsen

Paul Olsen is Principal of St Kevin’s College, in Oamaru, New Zealand. St Kevin’s College is a co-educational Catholic secondary school founded in the Edmund Rice Tradition.