Constructing “Behavior Problems”: Race, Disability, and Everyday Discipline Practices in the Figured World of Kindergarten

Abstract

This article examines everyday disciplinary practices in three kindergarten classrooms and their role in identity construction. Taking a “figured worlds” perspective, I show how racialized and ableist discourses mediated processes of surveillance, escalation, and physical restraint, leading educators to disproportionately position Black students, particularly boys and those with disabilities, as “behavior problems.” This analysis points toward opportunities to disrupt routine practices that marginalize or reward children’s behavior in ways patterned by race, gender, and disability.