“It‟s better to be bad than stupid”: An exploratory study on resistance and denial of special education discourses in the narratives of street youth by Kennedy Arthur Saldanha A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of the Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto © Copyright by Kennedy Arthur Saldanha (2010) “It‟s better to be bad than stupid”: An exploratory study on resistance and denial of special education discourses in the narratives of street youth Kennedy Arthur Saldanha Doctor of Philosophy Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto 2010 Abstract This dissertation study examined and gave voice to the experiences of a group of street involved youth, those who had received special education support and services during their school years. They are not spoken about in the literature. Special education is complex, diverse, and encompasses many exceptional pupils for whom services and supports are provided in the school system. Many street youth belong to this group with exceptionalities such as learning disability, mild intellectual disability or behaviour. Using narrative analysis and structuration theory frameworks, the life history narratives of fifteen street youth who were in special education classes were reconstructed and analysed. In addition, a survey question gathered how many new in-takes at a drop-in for street youth self-identify as youth who were in special education. Furthermore, data was gathered from service providers in education and social services through semi-structured interviews and two focus groups. Youth participants considered citizenship in special education as exclusionary and actively resisted it because of the social connotations such as „being stupid‟ which were attached to it. Youth emphasized that teachers and support staff seemed unaware of the complex environmental factors that impacted on their ability to be successful in school. They reported that once they were formally identified and placed in special education, ii they were put in a holding pattern that often did not lead to graduation. Special education was focused on classifications according to deficit discourses rather than engaging these students in learning or in having their identified learning needs met. Although study participants dropped out of school a number of times, they kept returning either to complete secondary school or enroll in college, mostly without special education designation and supports. Service providers, educators and special services staff should mentor such youth, provide opportunities for addressing learning problems, and deliver quality instruction for students with identified learning difficulties and needs. There is a dearth of alternative and transitional post-secondary programs to meet the specific needs of these students. iii Acknowledgements The past five years have been both growth enhancing and challenging for me and those around me. My thesis supervisor, David Hulchanski, played an enormous role in patiently encouraging, supporting and guiding me throughout the process of conducting the study and writing and editing this thesis. I also commend his openness and willingness to include a community member on the dissertation committee. I would like to thank my dissertation committee, Aron Shlonsky, Michele Peterson- Badali and Derek Parenteau. I was fortunate to be supported and challenged by their insights, thoughtful feedback and attention to detail. I would like to thank the staff at The Evergreen Centre for Street Youth for supporting and encouraging me throughout this research process right from the very suggestion of what was not known about their clients, to providing an opportunity to conduct the study. Some staff also participated as study participants in service provider and focus group interviews. Educators at the alternative school at Covenant House were also very supportive and I would like to thank them. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the street youth who came forward, rather boldly, and spent a lot of their time patiently working to generate their narratives. They were reflective, insightful, intelligent, and creative. I also thank the other youth who provided insights individually and as a group during my field research at Evergreen. I cannot forget iv to thank the many service providers working at front-line agencies and the educators and support staff in schools and alternative programs who participated in this study. Finally, there have been a group of very encouraging persons who have supported and assisted me in a number of ways during my dissertation that are too numerous to enlist here. They will be happy to see this project brought to fruition. I thank all of them, particularly my dear mother. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Foreword ............................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Purpose and objectives of the research ....................................................................... 4 Organization of the study ............................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 2 Literature informing the study ............................................................... 8 The overall phenomenon of homelessness ..................................................................... 9 Studying homelessness and defining street involved youth ..................................... 11 The transition to adulthood for homeless youth ....................................................... 14 Lack of comprehensive interventions ....................................................................... 19 Special Education .......................................................................................................... 21 History of special education ...................................................................................... 22 Issues in special education ........................................................................................ 24 The numbers, the allocation of resources, the purse, but what about accompanying benefits? ................................................................................................................ 24 Individualization, a myriad of contradictory approaches ..................................... 26 Debates related to labelling ................................................................................... 29 Can a label lead to stigmatization? ....................................................................... 30 Labelling bias and teacher judgments particularly in inclusive classrooms ......... 32 The medical or social model of disability? ........................................................... 34 Insights from disability theory .............................................................................. 37 Amendments and reform: Promise or pitfall for special education? .................... 38 Perspectives regarding disability/identification .................................................... 44 Voices of former students who were labelled and/or in special education programs 47 Directions in Ontario: „Success for All‟ and „Learning to 18‟ with a focus on students at risk ........................................................................................................... 52 Students at risk alongside what we‟ve learned about special education and inclusive education ................................................................................................................... 53 Structuration theory and the structure-agency debate ................................................... 55 Structure, system and structuration ........................................................................... 57 Agency ...................................................................................................................... 59 The duality of structure and social reproduction ...................................................... 60 vi CHAPTER 3 Research Methods ................................................................................... 63 Theoretical perspective ................................................................................................. 63 Research design ............................................................................................................ 64 Field work at the research site ...................................................................................... 66 Data sources .................................................................................................................. 68 Other data sources ......................................................................................................... 74 Data analysis ................................................................................................................. 76 CHAPTER 4 The background of the group and the context of their narratives ..... 80 The long road to participation ....................................................................................... 80