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Full-Text Articles in Education
Using Disability Studies In Education (Dse) And Professional Development Schools (Pds) To Implement Inclusive Practices, Brent Elder, Lesa Givens, Andrea Locastro, Lisa Rencher
Using Disability Studies In Education (Dse) And Professional Development Schools (Pds) To Implement Inclusive Practices, Brent Elder, Lesa Givens, Andrea Locastro, Lisa Rencher
College of Education Faculty Scholarship
This article highlights ways in which disability studies in education (dse) and professional development school (pds) partnerships can be used to provide students with disability labels more access to inclusive classrooms. The authors of this qualitative exploratory case study interviewed 16 teacher and administration pds steering committee members to better understand how students with disability labels could be supported through the development and implementation of dse-informed inclusive practices. The findings indicate that instituting proactive communication structures, providing ongoing dse-informed professional development to teachers, administration, and staff, and teachers taking inclusive action increased the number of students with disability labels accessing …
Going To School For The First Time: Inclusion Committee Members Increasing The Number Of Students With Disabilities In Primary Schools In Kenya, Brent Elder, Bernard Kuja
Going To School For The First Time: Inclusion Committee Members Increasing The Number Of Students With Disabilities In Primary Schools In Kenya, Brent Elder, Bernard Kuja
College of Education Faculty Scholarship
This paper is an extension of a prior research project where Kenyan primary school teachers began using inclusive education strategies that proved beneficial for meeting the needs of diverse primary school students. Specifically, this paper highlights a project where these inclusive practices were expanded to a second region of western Kenya. This expansion of teacher training on inclusive education and critical disability studies promoted sustained school- and community-based discussions on inclusive education and sensitisation on issues related to disability. These practices also led to the development of inclusion committees, co-teaching practices, and stimulated the partial dissolution of the physical boundaries …
Multiple Methodologies: Using Community-Based Participatory Research And Decolonizing Methodologies In Kenya, Brent C. Elder, Kenneth O. Odoyo
Multiple Methodologies: Using Community-Based Participatory Research And Decolonizing Methodologies In Kenya, Brent C. Elder, Kenneth O. Odoyo
College of Education Faculty Scholarship
In this project, we examined the development of a sustainable inclusive education system in western Kenya by combining community-based participatory research (CBPR) and decolonizing methodologies. Through three cycles of qualitative interviews with stakeholders in inclusive education, participants explained what they saw as foundational components of how to create more inclusive primary school classrooms utilizing existing school and community resources. The combination of CBPR and decolonizing methodologies, along with other project factors ultimately led to more inclusive placements for primary students with disabilities. We highlight this increase enrollment of students with disabilities in primary schools with excerpts from qualitative interviews with …
Writing Strength-Based Ieps For Students With Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms, Brent Elder, Carrie R. Rood, Michelle L. Damiani
Writing Strength-Based Ieps For Students With Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms, Brent Elder, Carrie R. Rood, Michelle L. Damiani
College of Education Faculty Scholarship
Throughout this practitioner-oriented paper, we provide a rationale, framework, and supporting materials to promote the development and implementation of personalized, contextualized, and holistic individualized education plans (IEPs) with a strength-based orientation. We believe that adopting strength-based IEP writing practices is vital to reconstructing students with disabilities as capable contributors to their inclusive classrooms. The use of strengths-based approaches is not necessarily new, however supporting individuals’ needs in a strength-based model has been largely overlooked in special education. Despite their growing application, inclusive pedagogical approaches are largely absent in the development of strength-based IEPs for students with disabilities. IEPs remain largely …
Tangible First Steps: Inclusion Committees As A Strategy To Create Inclusive Schools In Western Kenya, Brent C. Elder, Michelle L. Damiani, Theophilus O. Okongo
Tangible First Steps: Inclusion Committees As A Strategy To Create Inclusive Schools In Western Kenya, Brent C. Elder, Michelle L. Damiani, Theophilus O. Okongo
College of Education Faculty Scholarship
This paper provides one example of forming an inclusion committee in Kenya toward the vision of creating inclusive primary school campuses. We suggest the development of inclusion committees as a potential innovative strategy and a critical element of community reform toward disability awareness, and to increase access to primary school education for students with disabilities. The formation of the inclusion committee followed a member-driven process for identifying barriers to educational access for students with disabilities, prioritizing the needs within their local context, determining a plan of action to address these needs within existing community resources, and gaining access to new …