Institutional Ableism & the Politics of Inclusive Education
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Institutional Ableism & the Politics of Inclusive Education: an Ethnographic Study of an Inclusive High School Gregg D. Beratan Institute of Education, University of London April 2012 A thesis submitted in accordance with the regulations for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London Abstract This thesis explores some of the ways inequalities are maintained and legitimated within the context of reforms that are focused on them. In particular, it looks at the continued marginalization of disabled students in U.S. public Schools. Central to this is the development of the concept of institutional ableism, the idea that there are discriminatory structures and practices and uninterrogated beliefs embedded within society that subvert even the most well intentioned policies. This thesis is an attempt to examine this oppression on both the macro and micro-political levels. Chapter three looks at how institutional ablism works at a policy level. Using a detailed deconstruction of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement act 2004 (IDEA), the first chapter examines the ways in which institutional ableism subverts the stated intentions of IDEA to maintain disabled peoples marginalised status within the education system. The chapter further deconstructs IDEA, focusing on its attempts to address the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. The Final three chapters look at the micro-politics of school level reforms. Based on a year long ethnography in an inclusive school in the western United States. Chapter four focuses on the relationship between teachers and disabled students examining the mechanisms used to maintain inequalities when traditional ableism has been made inaccessible. Chapter five focuses on peer relationships. It was found that in filling a gatekeepers role nondisabled students utilise the governance of friendship to preserve and regulate the hierarchical relationship between disabled and nondisabled students. Chapter six using case studies of several students looks at the school's disabled students' experience of the school, their teachers and their peers. It is clear from these cases that even with the extensive efforts to dictate and control the positioning within the school, disabled students are still able to create spaces for resistance. I hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Word count (exclusive of appendices, list of reference and bibliography): 68,292 words When a system of oppression has become institutionalized it is unnecessary for individuals to be oppressive. Florynce Rae Kennedy For My Family Contents Acknowledgments i Introduction Thesis as self exploration 1 Finding my disabled self 5 Disabled at last 13 The Thesis 18 1. Literature Review Introduction 21 Identity 21 Identity and Postmodern Theory 23 The Mechanics of Identity: Agency, External Forces and Negotiation 24 Intersectionality, Disability and Critical Race Theory 27 Critical Race Theory 29 The Centrality of Racism 31 The Permanence of Racism 31 Counternarrative 32 Deconstruction 33 Whiteness and White supremacy 34 Interest Convergence 35 Critique of Liberalism 36 Disability 36 The Medical Model 37 The Social Model(s) of Disability 44 The Social Justice Model 49 Disability as an Aspect of Identity 50 The Policy Process and Identity Formation 53 Inclusive Education, Disability and Identity 54 Conclusion 59 Conclusion 59 2. Methodology Introduction 60 Research Questions 61 Why ethnography? 65 Finding Red Rock 66 Negotiating Access 68 `Red Rock High School' 76 Participants 76 Reflexivity 77 Role of the researcher 82 Observation 84 Interviewing 86 Documentary and Secondary Data 87 Analysis 87 Ethics 89 Conclusion 91 3. The Song Remains the Same: Institutional Ablism, Transposition and IDEA Introduction 92 Institution Ableism 94 Critical Race Theory, deconstruction, and disability studies 97 Deconstructing IDEA 99 The least restrictive environment and its qualifiers 102 Disproportionality and the transposition of racist outcomes 108 Interest convergence: retrenchment and disability rights 114 Conclusion 116 4. 'You are who they think you are': Teachers, Ablism & Transposition Introduction 119 The acceptable, and the unacceptable 124 Acceptable learners 126 Unacceptable Learners 127 Transposed Deficiencies 132 Transposition: Race as deficiency 134 Transposition: Class as deficiency 141 Institutional Ableism 145 Impossible Learners 147 Conclusion 153 5. 'We're not friends': Nondisabled peers and the governance of friendship Introduction 155 Nondisabled Students and Inclusive/Service School Culture 156 Acceptable, unacceptable and impossible peers 164 Whyatt: An exception that protects the rule 169 The Governance of Friendship and disabled students 174 Conclusion 184 6. Making Space: Disabled Students' Resistance Introduction 186 `Shouldn't what I want be the most important?' Disabled Students and Policy 187 Daniel 188 Self Determination 190 `Cutting' 193 `They believe in me. (...) she don't matter. ' Disabled students and Teachers 199 Jorge 199 Sanctuary: Mrs Aguilar 200 Hostile Territory: Mrs. Reeves 202 No man's land: Jorge 204 `As if I'm a different person who they don't know' Disabled students and nondisabled peers 210 Kelly: from acceptable to impossible 210 Withdrawal as defiance 215 Resistance unrecognized 217 Conclusion 220 7. Conclusion 223 Institutional Ableism and Disabled Students: Sophisticated Attacks and Resistance 227 New Questions & Future Research 231 Reflections 233 References 235 i Acknowledgements I cannot begin to acknowledge every individual who impacted upon this thesis, but there are a number of people it would be egregious of me not to thank for their contribution to this project. First and foremost I am deeply indebted to the students and staff of Red Rock high school whose open and honest engagement with this project made this project possible. I am grateful to all the friends who were happy to see me whenever I showed up despite my anti-social and isolating behavior. Neek Alyani, Fernanda Bates, Vincent Carpentier, Neal Carr, Malini Chib, Simona D'alessio, Jarek Dydowicz, Stephen Harrrison, Emmanuel Kanakis, Cate Knowles, Anjali Kothari, Alex Linkov, Kristin Long, Miriam Mareso, Cathy Tang and Chris Thompson all provided me with a connection to the world at times when it was most needed. There are two friends in particular whose contributions to this thesis are innumerable; Claudine Rausch and Nicola Rollock have been friends, confidants and most importantly critical readers. Their willingness to act as sounding boards and tell me which ideas needed more work and which were on target made this a better piece of work. Thanks are owed to the institute's night time security particularly John, Lenny, Joe & Ade who made it possible for me to work when I was still nocturnal. I am also grateful for the kindness of all of the John Adams Hall staff particularly Angel, Bisrat, Lita, Marcel & Nesro. Many institute faculty members provided me with invaluable support, guidance and critiques during my time here and for this I am very much in debt to Felicity Armstrong, Anne Gold, Barbara MacGilchrist, Hiedi Mirza, Simon Warren, Geoff Whitty and Deborah Youdell. Jennifer Evans, Jenny Corbett and Len Barton all retired while supervising this thesis (they have all assured me it was purely coincidental) but I am deeply thankful to each of them for the wisdom, advice and criticism they have provided me with, they are all scholars and people who I feel lucky to have had access to. I must also say thank you to my former colleagues at City University of New York: Jan Valle whose scholarship, commitment and practical engagement with inclusive education continues to inspire and inform my work; and I must especially thank Linda Ware who has been incredibly supportive of both my ii scholarship and my career, giving me the opportunity to teach disability studies in a dynamic but far too short lived program. One person who I will never feel has been adequately thanked for his contribution to this thesis is David Gillborn as a supervisor and friend. He is the one person (including myself) who always believed in this project and its author. I am a better scholar and person for having worked with him. Last but certainly not least I need to thank my family: my wife Ola, whose patience and love I am sure has been tested; my parents Gayl & Harold whose faith in me despite my glacial pace, has always made me feel safe enough to take the important risks such as this thesis; my sister Gaby who has been there for every second (except for those two minutes you abandoned me in utero). I will never be able to fully explain to the four of you how grateful I am. All of these people have contributed to this thesis in innumerable ways. Much of the credit for the project is due to them, and while I would love for them to share credit for its flaws as well, I am afraid those are all mine. 1 Introduction A growing number of researchers have shown that all research is to some extent subjective (Baglieri, et al., 2010;Brantlinger, 1997; Gallagher, 2001; Newmahr, 2008; Scheurich & Young, 2002) and that, rather than striving for an impossible to achieve objectivity, researchers should work at being more transparent about their subjectivities within their research. Research should make the researcher's positioning explicit not try to obfuscate it (Allen & Slee, 2008; Clough & Barton, 1995; Valle, 2011). With this in mind I have set out within this introduction to make my own subjectivity as explicit as possible. This chapter explains the overall shape of the thesis but I begin by tracing my own relationship to the conceptualization and experience of disability (a subject very much at the heart of this thesis) and how that relationship has shaped me as the person conducting the research. It is an approach which has been chosen very much through the influence of critical race theory (CRT); a field which, perhaps more than any other, has demonstrated the power of storytelling and autobiography to help reveal new perspectives.