Disability Sensitivity and Sensibility: A Nondisabled Lecturer Perspective on Inclusive Lecturing Opportunities

Sandra Makwembere

doi:10.46303/ressat.2021.11

Abstract

Disability is a social force that arguably creates more education problems for students with disabilities than their impairments. Understanding it as a form of social oppression can lead to less exclusionary teaching and learning attitudes, beliefs, expectations and practices. Numerous studies have looked at the experiences of staff and students with disabilities as well as the experiences of teaching students with disabilities. However, more studies are needed to better understand and address disability in higher education. Nondisabled perspectives have a role to play in opposing disabling educational practices and cultures to make higher education more inclusive. Many opportunities especially exist for nondisabled lecturers to contribute to addressing the higher education barriers and discrimination which often affect students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to use a disability perspective to present my lecturing practices during the move to emergency remote teaching and learning in response to COVID-19 while working at an HDI. An autoethnographic method was used. Content analysis of my accounts exposed the exclusionary nature of my practices in terms of how they facilitated ableism and suppressed disability discourse. Recommendations are made, in light of the results, on ways to not only make higher education spaces more accommodating but counter a wider societal culture that oppresses and even seeks to eradicate the value of those who live with impairments.

Highlights

Social, physical, institutional and attitudinal environments appear to still be failing to meet the needs of people with disabilities and, in higher education institutions (HEIs), more needs to be done to understand why this is the case (Broido, 2020; Howell, 2018; Mutanga, 2017; Snounu, 2019; Zongozzi et al, 2019;)
According to the social model of disability (SMD), disability can be understood as i) a social construct not a consequence of impairment, ii) a consequence of complex interrelationships between impairment, individual responses to impairment and the social environment and iii) the cause of social disadvantage experienced by people with disabilities (Hosking, 2008)
The focus was on three courses that I lectured under emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) while working for a South African historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) in 2020

Summary

Introduction

Physical, institutional and attitudinal environments appear to still be failing to meet the needs of people with disabilities and, in higher education institutions (HEIs), more needs to be done to understand why this is the case (Broido, 2020; Howell, 2018; Mutanga, 2017; Snounu, 2019; Zongozzi et al, 2019;). Disability is a “form of social oppression” (Thomas, 1999). From this perspective, lecturing practices that exclude students with disabilities would be oppressive. Disability is understood as part of human diversity and not a basis to deny or limit any person’s rights (Degener, 2014). The position largely stems from the rights of people with disabilities contained in the UNCRPD. From this viewpoint, exclusionary lecturing practices would be a human rights issue because of the associated denial or limitation of the rights of students with disabilities

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Conclusion