Susan L. Gabel

Presage of a paradigm shift? Beyond the social model of disability toward resistance theories of disability

Over the last decade, a growing number of scholars in Disability Studies have begun to critique the social model of disability. This paper documents the movement in these critiques, analyzing several ways paradigms and theories have been used in relation to the social model and the ways in which resistance plays a part in these paradigms. In the second part of the paper, we begin to explore the implications of resistance theory for disability theory, noting that resistance appears to exist throughout all paradigms at play in disability studies while it is rarely explicitly addressed. We conclude by describing the potential use of resistance theory for both theory and praxis.

Disability studies and inclusive education — implications for theory, research, and practice

This paper serves as a broad introduction to Disabilities Studies in Education (DSE). The emergence of DSE over the last decade has resulted in a vibrant area of academic scholarship as well as a critical forum for social/educational advocacy and activism. First, the authors trace the roots of DSE in the growth of disability studies (DS) within the UK and the USA. Second, they describe the formation of international networks dedicated to DSE. Third, they chart the evolution of DSE’s conceptual framework, complete with tenets and examples, carefully crafted over time by a community of scholars. Fourth, they comment upon twelve papers selected for this special double issue of the International Journal of Inclusive Education, highlighting the contribution of each toward both advancing and elucidating the tenets within the conceptual framework of DSE. Finally, the authors close with reflections on the significance of DSE, contemplating what it offers theorists, researchers, and practitioners, as well as highlighting future possibilities.

Vital questions facing disability studies in education

Disability studies in education is a provocative and innovative field of social inquiry that challenges standard ways of thinking about disability in education, practices that serve to exclude disabled people from equal educational opportunity, and policies that support or drive inequality. This book brings together the best disability studies in education scholars to address the pressing questions facing the field. It provides an introduction to the field for the newcomer, a sharp challenge to the status quo in special and general education, and a map to understanding the serious disability issues confronting education today.

Some Conceptual Problems with Critical Pedagogy

Abstract One of the scholarly debates of the last decade has been about the discourses of pedagogy and pedagogy’s function in society. As a result, pedagogy has been critically theorized, conceptualized, and analyzed, resulting in a body of work that adheres to the importance of understanding the human subject in pedagogy. Liberatory pedagogies, particularly critical pedagogies, are concerned with students who traditionally have been marginalized in school. Using a blend of autobiography and criticism, this article examines the case of an often marginalized group, disabled students, and asks whether they are present in the texts of critical pedagogies. The article concludes with a discussion of the tensions between inclusive theory and inclusive practice and, finally, suggests the constraints under which inclusive practices operate.

South Asian Indian Cultural Orientations toward Mental Retardation.

The findings of a portion of a 2-year ethnographic study involving North Indian Hindu immigrants living in the mid-Western United States is discussed. These findings illuminate the ways in which participants think and talk about mental retardation, how this linguistic information was obtained, and the cultural context within which participants have come to hold their beliefs. Implications for special education practice are explored as are some strategies that could be helpful when working with Indian families. Suggestions for future research are included.

Migration and ethnic group disproportionality in special education: An exploratory study

Issues of educational equity and opportunity cannot be understood without regard to special education, as a key response to disabilities, disadvantages, and difficulties. Likewise, globalization cannot be understood without regard to cross‐border migration and minority group status in society. Illuminating the nexus of these, research into disproportionality in special education, defined as the over‐ or under‐representation of particular ethnic groups in such programs, shows that this, too, has become a global phenomenon. Comparing Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the USA, this article explores international trends in migration and discusses the globalization of ethnic group disproportionality – as a primary indicator of inequity in education. We conclude by questioning the functions of special education in an era of globalization and identifying the challenges ahead that these findings indicate.

Resistance, transformation and the politics of hope: imagining a way forward for the disabled people’s movement

The social model of disability has been a useful tool to shift the focus of disability as individual deficit to disability as a social construction in an oppressive society. However, a theory of political action is needed to create transformative change. This article develops resistance as a unifying political construct and tool for action. Four critical incidences from different historical eras and different global regions – India, the USA, Cyprus and Zimbabwe – offer examples of how resistance manifests itself and the ways it may be harnessed effectively by disabled individuals and by disabled people’s movements to create and sustain change for a more just society.

“Cripping” the Curriculum Through Academic Activism: Working Toward Increasing Global Exchanges to Reframe (Dis)Ability and Education

This article illustrates a work in progress about why and how a small yet growing network of international scholars have forged alternative frameworks for understanding what is termed “disability.” First, we discuss the definition of disability calling attention to its social contexts, including schools, and the hegemony of special education. Second, we critique the knowledge base of special education as insufficient for understanding the lived complexities of people identified as disabled. Third, we describe Disability Studies in Education (DSE) as an example of academic activism that counters the master narrative of deficiency. Fourth, we illustrate the global exchanges around disability explored through DSE. Fifth, we consider implications for DSE in theory, research, policy, and practice. Finally, given that DSEs academic activism is rooted in social justice, we discuss some of the tensions, paradoxes, and unresolved questions that broaden what constitutes diversity within classrooms.

Discourse and the containment of disability in higher education: an institutional analysis

We use a social model of disability to examine disability discourse at a regional university in the mid-western United States. Using an institutional unit of analysis and several different information sources (e.g. interviews, federal regulations, syllabus texts, surveys), we illustrate the ways in which disability-as-difference is governed by an architecture of containment at the university.

When numbers don't add up and words can't explain: Challenges in defining disability in higher education

Abstract This paper follows the discursive loops we have been attempting to untangle as a result of our work on a federally sponsored 3-year mixed methods research project at a private, not-for-profit university, which we will call Midwestern Regional University (MRU), in the mid-western United States. Grounded in the social model of disability, the project aimed to improve MRU’s ability to provide a quality education for disabled students. We explore two sets of tensions: methodological ones that emanate from different epistemological assumptions of qualitative and quantitative inquiry that we combined, and theoretical ones stemming from different ideological underpinnings that position the medical and social model of disability as incongruent. These methodological and theoretical tensions also reverberated to the ethical and political aspects of our research.