Disability Studies Pedagogy: Engaging Dissonance and Meaning Making
Main Article Content
Keywords
disability studies, critical pedagogy, student response
Abstract
Student responses to disability studies pedagogy are influenced by the context in which they learn. This study examined student responses in two disability studies initiatives: one within a teacher preparation program that included American Indian students, the other within a stand alone, interdisciplinary course taken primarily by Americans of European descent. Course dialogue and students' written assignments were used to identify and categorize their responses. While some students readily engaged in critique of disability as culturally constructed, experiences of significant resistance related to positivist filters, adherence to individualism, and defense of identity-related norms. These responses are discussed as considerations for more effective pedagogy in this relatively new field.
References
Abberley, P. (1999). Review of the books The disability reader: Social science perspectives and The Disability Studies Reader. Disability & Society, 14, 693–697.
Andrzejewski, J. (1995). Teaching controversial issues in higher education: Pedagogical techniques and analytical framework. In Rene J. Martin (Ed.). Practicing what we teach: Confronting diversity in teacher education. Albany: SUNY Press.
Bauman, Z. (2007). The individualized society. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Baynton, D. (2001). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. In P. K. Longmore & L.Umansky (Eds). The new disability history: American perspectives, (pp. 33-57). New York: University Press.
Bogdan, R., & Biklen, D. (1977). Handicapism. Social Policy, 7, 14-19.
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. (1976). The judged not the judges: An insider’s view of mental retardation. American Psychologist, 31(1), 17-25.
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. (1994). The social meaning of mental retardation: Two life stories. New York: Teachers College Press.
Britzman D., Santiago-Valles K.., Jiménez-Muñoz G., & Lamash L. (1993). Slips that show and tell: Fashioning multiculture as a problem of representation. In C. McCarthy & W. Crichlow (Eds.), Race, Identity and Representation in Education. New York and London: Routledge.
Brown, W. (1995). States of injury: Power and freedom in late modernity. New York: Princeton University Press.
Burbules, N., & Berk, R. (1999). Critical thinking and critical pedagogy: Relations, differences, and limits. In T. S.
Popkewitz and L. Fendler (Eds,), Critical theories in education (pp. 45-65). New York: Routledge.
Cypher, J., & Martin, D. (2008). The mobius strip: Team teachers reflecting on disability studies and critical thinking. Disability Studies Quarterly, 28(4).
Davis, L. (1997). Constructing normalcy: The Bell curve, the novel, and the intention of the disabled body in the nineteenth century. In L. Davis (Ed.), The disability studies reader (pp. 9-28). New York: Rutledge.
Dewey, J. (1927). The Public and its problems. New York: Holt.
Ellsworth, E. (1989/ 1994). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59, 297-324. Cited in L. Stone (Ed.), The education feminism reader (pp. 300-327). New York: Routledge.
Festinger, L . (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row Peterson.
Fitch, E. F. (2002). Disability and inclusion: From labeling deviance to social valuing. Educational Theory, 52(4), 463-477.
Fitch, E. F. (In press). Laggards, labeling and limitations: Re-connecting labeling deviance theory with Deweyan pragmatism. Philosophical Studies in Education, vol. 41.
Fitch, E. F., & Hulgin, K. M. (2008). Achieving Inclusion through CLAD: CollaborativeLearning Assessment through Dialogue. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12(4), 423-439.
Flores, B.. (2004). Sheep in wolf’s clothing: The paradox of critical pedagogy. Journal of Radical Pedagogy, 6(1). Retrieved from http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue6_1/flores.html.
Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and resistance in education. South Hadley, MA: Bergin.
Giroux, H. A. (2001). Theory and Resistance in Education. London: Bergin & Garvey.
Gould, S. J. (1981). American polygeny and craniometry before Darwin. In The mismeasure of man (pp. 62-101). New York: Norton.
Graff, G. (1990). Teach the conflicts. South Atlantic Quarterly, 89, 51-67.
Gramsci, A. (1973). Letters from prison. Lynne Lawner (Ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Granville, S. (2003). Contests over meaning in a South African classroom: Introducing critical language awareness in a climate of social change and cultural diversity. Language and Education, 17(1), 1-20.
Hall, S. (1997). The work of representation: Representation, meaning and language. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage Publications.
Horner, B., (2000). Politics, pedagogy, and the profession of composition: Confronting commodification and the contingencies of power. Journal of Advanced Composition, 20(1), 121-152.
Janks, H. (1995) The Research and Development of Critical Language Awareness Materials for Use in South African Secondary Schools. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Lancaster University, Lancaster.
Janks, H. (2002). Critical literacy: Beyond reason. Australian Educational Researcher, 29(1), 7-26.
Kinkaid, H. (1996). Philosophical foundations of the social sciences: Analyzing controversies in social research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kniepmann. K., (2005). Teaching for social change. In L. Ben Moshe (Ed.), Creating pedagogical curb cuts: Incorporating disability in the university classroom and curriculum. Syracuse University.
Longmore, P. K. (2003). Why I burned my book and other essays on disability. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
McKinney, C., & van Pletzen, E. (2004). “This apartheid story . . . we’ve decided it’s gone we’ve finished with it”: Student responses to “politics” in a South African English Studies course. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(2), 159–170.
Mooney, J., & Cole, D. (2000). Learning outside the lines: Two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools. Fireside Books.
Oakes, J., Wells, A. S., Jones, M., & Datnow, A. (1997). Detracking: The social construction of ability, cultural politics, and resistance to reform. Teachers College Record, 98(3), 482-510.
Quantz, R. (1992). On critical ethnography (with some postmodern considerations). In M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Millroy, & J. Preissle (Eds.), The Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education (pp.447-506). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Rousmaniere, K., Quantz, R., & Knight Abowitz, K. (1998). The reading of texts. In K. Rousmaniere & K. Knight Abowitz (Eds.), Readings in sociocultural studies in education. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Seas, K. (2006). Enthymematic rhetoric and student resistance to critical pedagogies. Rhetoric Review. 25(4), 427-443.
Sedgwick, E. Kosofsky (1990). Epistemology of the Closet. University of California Press.
Seitz, J. E. (1993). Eluding righteous discourse: A discreet politics for new writing curricula. WPA (Writing Program Administration), 16(3), 7-14.
Thomson, R. G. (1999). Integrating disability studies into the existing curriculum: The example of ‘women and literature at Howard University. In I. Shor & C. Pari, (Eds.), Critical literacy in action: writing words, changing worlds. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Coo.
Tingle, N. (1992). Self and liberatory pedagogy: Transforming narcissism. Journal of Advanced Composition, 12(1), 75-90. Available from Google Scholar http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:tXF9XAf2F7QJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_ylo=1992&as_yhi=1992
Whittaker, J. & Kenworthy, J. (1995). The struggle for inclusive education: A struggle against education apartheid. Bolton, UK: Bolton Institute.
Willingham, D. T. (2007). Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? American Educator, Summer, 8-19.
Andrzejewski, J. (1995). Teaching controversial issues in higher education: Pedagogical techniques and analytical framework. In Rene J. Martin (Ed.). Practicing what we teach: Confronting diversity in teacher education. Albany: SUNY Press.
Bauman, Z. (2007). The individualized society. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Baynton, D. (2001). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. In P. K. Longmore & L.Umansky (Eds). The new disability history: American perspectives, (pp. 33-57). New York: University Press.
Bogdan, R., & Biklen, D. (1977). Handicapism. Social Policy, 7, 14-19.
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. (1976). The judged not the judges: An insider’s view of mental retardation. American Psychologist, 31(1), 17-25.
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. (1994). The social meaning of mental retardation: Two life stories. New York: Teachers College Press.
Britzman D., Santiago-Valles K.., Jiménez-Muñoz G., & Lamash L. (1993). Slips that show and tell: Fashioning multiculture as a problem of representation. In C. McCarthy & W. Crichlow (Eds.), Race, Identity and Representation in Education. New York and London: Routledge.
Brown, W. (1995). States of injury: Power and freedom in late modernity. New York: Princeton University Press.
Burbules, N., & Berk, R. (1999). Critical thinking and critical pedagogy: Relations, differences, and limits. In T. S.
Popkewitz and L. Fendler (Eds,), Critical theories in education (pp. 45-65). New York: Routledge.
Cypher, J., & Martin, D. (2008). The mobius strip: Team teachers reflecting on disability studies and critical thinking. Disability Studies Quarterly, 28(4).
Davis, L. (1997). Constructing normalcy: The Bell curve, the novel, and the intention of the disabled body in the nineteenth century. In L. Davis (Ed.), The disability studies reader (pp. 9-28). New York: Rutledge.
Dewey, J. (1927). The Public and its problems. New York: Holt.
Ellsworth, E. (1989/ 1994). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59, 297-324. Cited in L. Stone (Ed.), The education feminism reader (pp. 300-327). New York: Routledge.
Festinger, L . (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row Peterson.
Fitch, E. F. (2002). Disability and inclusion: From labeling deviance to social valuing. Educational Theory, 52(4), 463-477.
Fitch, E. F. (In press). Laggards, labeling and limitations: Re-connecting labeling deviance theory with Deweyan pragmatism. Philosophical Studies in Education, vol. 41.
Fitch, E. F., & Hulgin, K. M. (2008). Achieving Inclusion through CLAD: CollaborativeLearning Assessment through Dialogue. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12(4), 423-439.
Flores, B.. (2004). Sheep in wolf’s clothing: The paradox of critical pedagogy. Journal of Radical Pedagogy, 6(1). Retrieved from http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue6_1/flores.html.
Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and resistance in education. South Hadley, MA: Bergin.
Giroux, H. A. (2001). Theory and Resistance in Education. London: Bergin & Garvey.
Gould, S. J. (1981). American polygeny and craniometry before Darwin. In The mismeasure of man (pp. 62-101). New York: Norton.
Graff, G. (1990). Teach the conflicts. South Atlantic Quarterly, 89, 51-67.
Gramsci, A. (1973). Letters from prison. Lynne Lawner (Ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Granville, S. (2003). Contests over meaning in a South African classroom: Introducing critical language awareness in a climate of social change and cultural diversity. Language and Education, 17(1), 1-20.
Hall, S. (1997). The work of representation: Representation, meaning and language. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage Publications.
Horner, B., (2000). Politics, pedagogy, and the profession of composition: Confronting commodification and the contingencies of power. Journal of Advanced Composition, 20(1), 121-152.
Janks, H. (1995) The Research and Development of Critical Language Awareness Materials for Use in South African Secondary Schools. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Lancaster University, Lancaster.
Janks, H. (2002). Critical literacy: Beyond reason. Australian Educational Researcher, 29(1), 7-26.
Kinkaid, H. (1996). Philosophical foundations of the social sciences: Analyzing controversies in social research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kniepmann. K., (2005). Teaching for social change. In L. Ben Moshe (Ed.), Creating pedagogical curb cuts: Incorporating disability in the university classroom and curriculum. Syracuse University.
Longmore, P. K. (2003). Why I burned my book and other essays on disability. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
McKinney, C., & van Pletzen, E. (2004). “This apartheid story . . . we’ve decided it’s gone we’ve finished with it”: Student responses to “politics” in a South African English Studies course. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(2), 159–170.
Mooney, J., & Cole, D. (2000). Learning outside the lines: Two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools. Fireside Books.
Oakes, J., Wells, A. S., Jones, M., & Datnow, A. (1997). Detracking: The social construction of ability, cultural politics, and resistance to reform. Teachers College Record, 98(3), 482-510.
Quantz, R. (1992). On critical ethnography (with some postmodern considerations). In M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Millroy, & J. Preissle (Eds.), The Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education (pp.447-506). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Rousmaniere, K., Quantz, R., & Knight Abowitz, K. (1998). The reading of texts. In K. Rousmaniere & K. Knight Abowitz (Eds.), Readings in sociocultural studies in education. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Seas, K. (2006). Enthymematic rhetoric and student resistance to critical pedagogies. Rhetoric Review. 25(4), 427-443.
Sedgwick, E. Kosofsky (1990). Epistemology of the Closet. University of California Press.
Seitz, J. E. (1993). Eluding righteous discourse: A discreet politics for new writing curricula. WPA (Writing Program Administration), 16(3), 7-14.
Thomson, R. G. (1999). Integrating disability studies into the existing curriculum: The example of ‘women and literature at Howard University. In I. Shor & C. Pari, (Eds.), Critical literacy in action: writing words, changing worlds. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Coo.
Tingle, N. (1992). Self and liberatory pedagogy: Transforming narcissism. Journal of Advanced Composition, 12(1), 75-90. Available from Google Scholar http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:tXF9XAf2F7QJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_ylo=1992&as_yhi=1992
Whittaker, J. & Kenworthy, J. (1995). The struggle for inclusive education: A struggle against education apartheid. Bolton, UK: Bolton Institute.
Willingham, D. T. (2007). Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? American Educator, Summer, 8-19.
Article Sidebar
Published
Oct 26, 2014
Article Details
Issue
Section
Research Articles and Essays
RDS Journal is an open-access journal, create a free account to read full articles and to submit a proposal. For visual arts and multimedia, submission will be considered evidence that you are offering RDS the right to display your work without penalty, compensation or royalties.
Author Biographies
Kathleen Hulgin, Associate Professor of Education, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio
Kathleen Hulgin, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of education at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her teaching and research focus on disability studies and inclusion.
Susan O'Connor, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Special Education Program, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Susan O'Connor, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and coordinator of the special education program at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has collaboratively developed a program for American Indian students and other initiatives related to diversity issues, global learning, inclusion, and disability studies.
E. Frank Fitch, Associate Professor, University of Cincinnati, Clermont College
E. Frank Fitch, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College where he teaches education foundations and pursues research in the areas of inclusive education, disability, cooperative learning, and educational philosophy. He has published articles in Educational Theory, Urban Review, Philosophical Studies in Education, and the International Journal of Inclusive Education.
Margaret Gutsell, Adjunct Faculty, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati
Margaret Gutsell, Ed.D., LPCC, is adjunct faculty at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. She is a licensed counselor with clinical endorsement in Ohio and has had extensive experience supporting individuals with disabilities and/or their families to impact and/or access services in the community.