Care-less spaces and identity construction: transition to secondary school for disabled children

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature which marks out a feminist ethics of care and it is within this framework we understand transitions from primary to secondary school education can be challenging and care-less, especially for disabled children. By exploring the narratives of parents and professionals, we investigate transitions and self-identity, as a meaningful transition depends on the care-full spaces pupils inhabit. These education narratives are all in the context of privileging academic attainment and a culture of testing and examinations. Parents and professionals, as well as children are also surveyed. Until there are care-full education processes, marginalisation will remain, impacting on disabled children’s transition to secondary school and healthy identity construction. Moreover, if educational challenges are not addressed, their life chances are increasingly limited. Interdependent caring work enables engagement in a meaningful education and positive identity formation. In school and at home, care-full spaces are key in this process.

Keywords:

• disability
• support
• education
• care ethics
• parenting
• special educational needs

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our anonymous reviewers for their really helpful comments on an earlier draft. We appreciate the time this takes and that it has made for a stronger paper. Most of all we would like to thank our participants from both research projects. It goes without saying they are at the core of our work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.