Abstract
In this paper I examine ways in which students with disabilities have the capacity to be full, contributing citizens within a participatory, communicative, and pluralistic democracy. In many instances, institutions such as schools provide barriers that disallow and dissuade students with disabilities from full participation in society and their education, which prevents them from becoming co-creators of their educational experience. I argue that in a Deweyan democracy, all students must have not just the right, but be allowed to grow in their capacity to develop into fully participating, contributing citizens. My hope is that by situating disability and special education within the Deweyan democratic discourse it will be possible to render that discourse more genuinely inclusive of all students, so that the needs of all are met and the unique contributions of each become a part of the educational process.
Highlights
In this paper I examine ways in which students with disabilities have the capacity to be full, contributing citizens within a participatory, communicative, and pluralistic democracy
A major focus in special education is tailoring instruction to support the needs of students with disabilities (SWDs) in the form of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), this document often limits, constrains, and silences the uniqueness of the student (Martin, Van Dyke, Christensen, Greene, Gardner, & Lovett 2006), it was intended to be a solution to the problems faced by SWDs
“disability” would be thought of as an addition to the concept of diversity, that is, a difference in degree, not type. (p. 481). Examining disability from this non-pathological perspective problematizes the notion of how the citizenship of individuals with disabilities is approached in an institutional setting because “inclusive education is about the participation of all children and young people and the removal of all form of exclusionary practices” (Barton, 1998, p. 84-85)
Summary
“The democratic faith in human equality is belief that every human being, independent of the quantity or range of his personal endowment, has the right to equal opportunity with every other person for development of whatever gifts he has” (LW 14:226-227). The goal is to expand avenues and possibilities of Deweyan democracy while operating within this unsettled, ever shifting configuration of public education In pursuit of such an expansion of democratic possibilities, it is useful to reflect on the dominant models of disability. My paper suggests altering the social and political environments to be more pluralistic, participatory, and communicative, which aligns directly with the concept of Deweyan democracy, which I will explicate in more detail later on in this paper. Such a Deweyan approach confronts and rejects the medical model. Examining disability from this non-pathological perspective problematizes the notion of how the citizenship of individuals with disabilities is approached in an institutional setting because “inclusive education is about the participation of all children and young people and the removal of all form of exclusionary practices” (Barton, 1998, p. 84-85)
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