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Full-Text Articles in Education

Disability, Stigma And Otherness: Perspectives Of Parents And Teachers, Priya Lalvani Jul 2015

Disability, Stigma And Otherness: Perspectives Of Parents And Teachers, Priya Lalvani

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This qualitative study explored the perspectives of parents and teachers in the US with regard to the meaning and implications of disability in the context of schoolling, and of raising a child with a disability. The findings revealed broad conceptual differences in the perspectives of these two groups. Teachers’ beliefs were generally consistent with medical model perspectives on disability as biologically defined. Parents’ interpretations, more aligned with a sociocultural paradigm, were situated in the cultural meanings ascribed to disability and linked with issues of stigma, marginalisation and access. The findings also revealed the existence of master narratives on families of …


"It's A Two-Way Street": Examining How Trust, Diversity, And Contradiction Influence A Sense Of Community, Victoria Puig, Elizabeth Erwin, Tara L. Evenson, Madeleine Beresford Apr 2015

"It's A Two-Way Street": Examining How Trust, Diversity, And Contradiction Influence A Sense Of Community, Victoria Puig, Elizabeth Erwin, Tara L. Evenson, Madeleine Beresford

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

As interest in establishing and maintaining high-quality inclusive early childhood environments continues to grow, the population of children and families being served by these programs is becoming increasingly diverse. In response to these demographic and social trends, this study was conducted to explore how diversity is perceived within an early childhood inclusive environment. This participatory action research study was conceptualized and conducted over a 3-year period. Our collaborative research team, which reflected diversity across culture, race, gender, age, and professional discipline, used qualitative semistructured interviews to examine the question, "What does it mean to be fully inclusive across all aspects …