Toward Inclusive Praxis:

Disability Studies as a Framework to Shift Ideology and Pedagogy

Mary Ward LupinacciPh.d. Student WSU Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education

Founder/Director, The Center for Inclusive Praxis

Ideology of Inclusion

Inclusion, as it is currently practiced in American schooling, is driven by an ideology that relies on the ranking and sorting of normal v. abnormal student subjectivities (Ware, 2001) and produces essentialized, “less-than” identities for students with disabilities.

Ideology of normalcy and homogenization that has been historically enacted through the violent practices of colonization, industrialization, and modernization.

Current exclusionary neoliberal practices of ranking and sorting students based on ideological assumptions of normalcy perpetuate the violent oppression of marginalized students, as they are expected to control their moving bodies and regulate their expression of knowledge to increase productivity, compliance, and contribution (Erevelles, 2002).

Discourses of Exclusion (Ward, 2012) are commonly used practices and language in schools that work to keep this hierarchical ideology in place.

Discourses of Exclusion

Normalization (interventions, IEP, measurable goals)

Contribution (school ritual, high stakes testing, college prep)

Disconnection (opportunities for meaningful social and academic engagement)

Dehumanization (policy and procedure, litigation, prescription)

SHIFT… Disentangling these discourses from current

notions and practices of Inclusion in schools creates an opening to challenge the hierarchy of normal versus abnormal in education.

Begin the shift in Ideology and the opening to new ways of DOING Inclusion

Disability Studies in Education, in combination with Feminist Pedagogy and educational theories of De-schooling and Unschooling provide a framework for this shift toward Inclusive Praxis.

…Toward Inclusive Praxis

Re-frames Inclusion as an ACTION that must be made with INTENTION

Begins with shifting ideology. Grounded in Critical Disability Studies/Crip Theory,

Feminist Pedagogy, and Deschooling/Unschooling Achieved through compassionate teaching and intuitive

curriculum development that includes opportunities for yoga-based movement/mindfulness/nature experience/creative expression/community engagement.

Implemented through Universal Design for Learning (multiple means of representation, engagement and expression.)

Nurtured through relationships inside the learning community and beyond.

Critical Disability Studies & Crip

Theory Disability is political, cultural, social,

and historical. Reject deficit model/medical model of

disability Disability is a natural part of human

diversity Crip Theory (McRuer, 2006) as a

interdisciplinary framework for examining privileged spaces of “normal” identity development, embodiment, and pleasure.

Feminist Pedagogy Creates a space to examine power

relationships that exist in current educational ideology, by acknowledging and disrupting accepted hierarchical dualisms (Plumwood, 1994) in the language and practice of “Inclusion.” Examples include: Masculine V. FeminineStrong V. WeakContributing V. Non-Contributing Normal V. AbnormalRegular Education V. Special Education

Proposes alternatives to teaching and learning that include community-based inquiry and holistic pedagogy (Jimenez, 2015; Heppard, 2015).

Deschooling/Unschooling

Deschooling provides a framework for re-conceptualizing the ways we understand the institution of schooling and children’s participation in it. The “disestablishment” of schools proposes a separation of school and state, re-locating the power of education to grassroots movements rooted in social organization (Illich, 1970; Esteva & Prakash, 1998).

Unschooling provides alternatives to hierarchical, power-driven, institutionalized teaching practices by encouraging student autonomy, freedom, natural inquiry and interest (Paine, 2000).

Disability Studies in Education, Feminist Pedagogy, and

Deschooling/Unschooling build a framework for re-conceptualizing and practicing Inclusion differently…

INCLUSION IS AN ACTION THAT MUST BE MADE WITH

INTENTION

Inclusive Praxis Moves toward pedagogical practices that

provide healing, growth, and authenticity in learning while actively promoting disruptions in what is valued as normal in schools.

Inclusive Praxis is Universally Designed and incorporates Yoga-based movement/Mindfulness/Nature Experience/Creative Expression/Community Engagement to fully meet the needs of all learners and movers.

Yoga-based Movement

Yoga-based Movement Build confidence Increase self-awareness through mind-body

connection Practice calm and focus skills Build strength and flexibility Encourage community among participants Inherently Universal (all types of learners

and movers, non-competitive)

MindfulnessFoundations in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and

Science (Simpkins & Simpkins, 2014) Rebalance Nervous System Emotional Regulation Behavioral Integration Calm and Focus Self-Efficacy

Nature Experience Richard Louv (2005) coined the term Nature

Deficit Disorder to explain the impacts of the children’s disconnection from nature.

Teton Science Schools: Inclusive Outdoor Education Model

Nature Experience Free Play, Unstructured but Active Imagination Stress-Management Attention and Focus Mood Connectedness

Creative Expression

Creative Expression Accessible Guided but Unstructured NOT an Intervention Multiple means of expression of knowledge

Community Engagement: Resiliency and Protective

Factors Opportunities for Participation/Involvement Engagement v. alienation Responsibilities for decision making,

planning, helping others Opportunities to respond Internalized success and growth Task completion

The Center for Inclusive Praxis

www.thecenterforinclusivepraxis.org

References Erevelles, N. (2000). Educating unruly bodies: Critical pedagogy, disability studies, and the politics of schooling. Educational Theory, 50(1) 25-47. Heppard, B. (2015). Community of Philosophical Inquiry as practice of Feminist Pedagogy: A strategy for a feminist classroom drawing from my experiences teaching in prisons. Feminist Pedagofy Conference. New York, NY.Illich, I. (1970). Deschooling Society. New York: Marion Boyars PublishingJimenez, I. (2015). Teaching Queer, Transnational Feminisms in the High School Classroom. Feminist Pedagogy Conference, New York, NY.Louv, Richard. (2005) Last child in the woods :saving our children from nature-deficit disorder Chapel Hill, NC : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.Paine, B. (2000). Deschooling, unschooling and natural leaming. Homeschooling Today http://www. adelaide. net. au/-mbpaine/natural. Html.Plumwood, V. (2002). Feminism and the Mastery of Nature: Opening Out: Feminism for Today. New York: Taylor & Francis.Simpkins, A. & Simpkins, A. (2014). The Yoga and Mindfulness Therapy Workbook. Eau Claire, WI: PESI Publishing.Ward, M. (2012). Discourses of Exclusion: Managing bodies away from higher education. American Educational Studies Association Conference. Baltimore, MD. Ward, M. (2014). Toward Inclusive Praxis: A panel of current and future educators. Northwest Association of Teacher Educators Conference. Pullman, WA. Ware, L. (2001). Writing, identity and the other: Dare we do disability studies? Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 107-123.