radical inclusive pedagogy

367 Pages·2013·4.18 MB·English

RADICAL INCLUSIVE PE DAGOGY
CONNECTING DISABILITY, EDUCATION AND ACTIVISM

Anat Greenstein

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Psychology
Manchester Metropolitan University
2013
In loving memory of my father
ריני
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ABSTRACT
This thesis combines ideas from disability studies and inclusive education debates, as well as
critiques of mainstream schooling from critical pedagogy (e.g. Freire, 1972a; McLaren, 2009)
and progressive education approaches (e.g. Darling & Nordenbo, 2002; Holt, 1983) to
suggest a framework of radical inclusive pedagogy. The imperative for developing this
framework is based on two main arguments; firstly, I argue for the understanding of
education as a political process that can serve to reify or challenge the social order (Freire,
1972b; Giroux, 1981; McLaren, 2009). This view shifts debates about (inclusive) education
from technical issues of resources and teaching methods to political and value-laden
questions about the goals and aims of education (Slee, 1997). Secondly, adopting the social
model assertion that disability is not an individual trait but rather the result of social processes
of disablement (Oliver, 1990a; Thomas, 1999), I argue that educational theories and practices
that are geared towards social justice and inclusion need to recognise and value the diversity
of human embodiments, needs and capacities, and to foster pedagogical practices that
promote rhizomatic relations of interdependency (Allan, 2008; Goodley, 2007a; Kittay,
Jennings, & Wasunna, 2005), rather than focusing on independence and rationality.
A key aspect of the thesis is its prefigurative approach, which stresses the need to
simultaneously resist the social order and build alternatives from within (Gordon, 2008). This
leads to the argument that the disabled people’s movement is in itself a site of radical
inclusive pedagogy, as it supports disabled people in analysing social structures in order to
resist their oppression. Further, the insistence on prefigurative research meant looking for
ways to engage with disabled students in ways that resist the adult-child hierarchies of the
school. The use of playful creative methods (including art, drama and comics) in workshops
that were aimed at designing “the best school in the world” allowed for more flexible power
relations, and provided an accessible context to foster participants’ engagement in reflexive
discussions about social norms and values, thus transgressing the primacy of language and
rationality in educational research.
Findings from interviews with activists in the disabled people’s movement and from the
ethnographic work in a “special needs unit” within a mainstream school were synthesised to
suggest four key aspects of radical inclusive pedagogy: the need to value difference and resist
practices that seek to make all students follow a uniform, linear and predefined educational
path; the need to understand education as a complex and on-going relational process that
values interdependence rather than independence; the need to contextualise learning in
diverse aspects of experience as a way of supporting conscientization and accessibility; and
the need to promote dialogue between teachers and students and resist authoritarian school
practices.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For the opportunity to write this thesis I am thankful to many people.
First and foremost I would like to thank all the participants in this research, both
adults and youth, for sharing with me their experiences, views and analysis. Your ideas have
been an inspiration. Second, I am thankful to my dedicated team of research supervisors, Dan
Goodley, Katherine Runswick Cole and Erica Burman for their insightful comments,
suggestions, patience and support; I couldn’t have done it without you. The peer support and
critical debates among fellow students and researchers at the Research Institute for Health
and Social Change and at the Theorizing Normalcy and the Mundane conferences had been
instrumental to this work. In particular I would like to thank Jenny Slater, Chine Mills, Shaun
Grech, Amanda Hynan, Lani Parker, Damian Milton, Liz Ellis and Adi Moreno. I am
thankful to Craig Blyth and Rohhss Chapman, my colleagues at the Learning Disability
Studies programme at the University of Manchester, for allowing me the time and space to
complete this thesis.
Last but not least, I am thankful to my family, for their on-going love, concern, and
encouragement, without which I could not have gone through with this project. Of those I’m
especially thankful to my mum, Nurit Greenstein, and to my partner, Steve Graby, who have
always been there for me and extended endless material and emotional support. I love you all
very much.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .………………………………………………………………………………….............…….2
Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………….............…………. 3
List of figures and tables……………………………………….............……………………………….7
List of outputs and dissemination……………………………….............………………….………..…8
Chapter 1 – Introduction………………………………………............……………………..………... 9
Introduction …………………………………………………............……….……………..….9
Radical pedagogy – Thinking with critiques of mainstream education ….............……….….13
Inclusive pedagogy– thinking with disability studies ...…………………….............………..16
The structure of the thesis ……..…………………………………….............…………….…19
Outline of chapters ......……………………………………............………....……....20
Chapter 2 – Interrogating disability and normalcy …….…............…………………………..….…...27
Introduction ……………………….............…………………….…………….……….……..27
The ‘norm’ and a professional model of disability ……….......……..……….……......……..28
De-biologising disability: the emergence of ‘the social model’ and the discipline of
disability studies .………..…………………………………........…………….………....…...39
Materialist perspectives on disability ....………………….......………………..........41
Feminist perspectives on disability- the role of subjectivity ……..…................……43
A sociology of impairment: poststructuralist and phenomenological approaches to
disability …….……………………………………………………........………...…..47
Developing a ‘dis-ability’ perspective on social theory .......……………........……………...54
Conclusion ……..…………………………………………………………........……….……62
Chapter 3 – Reading schools through a disability perspective: Arguing for the need to develop radical
inclusive pedagogy………………………………………………………........……………………….65
Introduction ………..……………………………………………….…………….............…..65
Comprehensive schooling as a modern phenomenon ………………….............………...…..67
Constructing school failure as an individual pathology ……………….............……………..73
Constructing citizens for the 'Knowledge Economy' – Neo-Liberal education reforms .........78
Radical pedagogies …………………………………………………………............………..86
Conclusion ……………………………………………………..………............…………….96
Chapter 4 – Learning in movements and learning from movements: The place of activism in radical
inclusive pedagogy ……………………………………………..........................……………………..98
Introduction ………………………………………….............…………………………….....98
What movements know ………………………………………………….............…………...99
The disabled people’s movement: Ideologies, tactics and structures ………........................104
Ideology and goals ……………………………............……………………………107
Tactics …………………………………………………………............…………...112
Structures of organisation …………………….……………............………………126
Conclusion …………………………………………………………............……………….129
Chapter 5 – Methodology ………………………………………………………..............………….132
Introduction ……………………………………………………………............…………...132
Section 1: Epistemological and methodological frameworks …………...........……...……136
Research as a process of co-construction ……………………..........……………..136
Research as politics – commitment to social change …………..........……………141
A stance of inspiration ………………………………………..........……………...145
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Section 2: Methods and ethical dilemmas in data collection ……….........……...…………148
Procedural ethics ………………………………………………...........…………...149
Researching with activists …………………………………….......……....……….150
The school research …………………………………………......……….....……...157
Analysis ………………………………………………………......……….....…….177
Analysis of interviews and school ethnography ….....……………....……177
Prefigurative analysis ……………………………….....………….....……179
Conclusion ………………………………………………………….......………….....…….182
Chapter 6 – Activists’ visions of education and how they may inform radical inclusive pedagogy
..............................................................................................................................................................184
Introduction ............................................................................................................................184
The politics of difference in radical inclusive pedagogy .......................................................185
Contextualising learning and resisting hierarchies ................................................................197
Education as a relational process of becoming ......................................................................206
Conclusion: Unity, diversity, and the politics of education ...................................................212
Chapter 7 – Reading one school through the perspective of radical inclusive pedagogy....................217
Introduction ............................................................................................................................217
The politics of difference ......................................................................................................219
Approaches to learning ..........................................................................................................227
Stage not age approach .............................................................................................229
Topic based curriculum ............................................................................................231
Belonging ...............................................................................................................................234
Belonging as a space .................................................................................................234
Belonging as an ongoing relational process .............................................................238
Power and authority ...............................................................................................................247
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................254
Chapter 8 – Prefigurative research: Playful methodology as a site of radical inclusive pedagogy
..............................................................................................................................................................256
Introduction ............................................................................................................................256
Playing critically – using play to ‘imagine otherwise’ ..........................................................259
Groups and rhizomes .............................................................................................................265
Multi- method: Transgressing the verbal-rationale bias of research methods .......................272
Sharing power and the ‘adult role’ .........................................................................................280
Distinguishing relations of power – power to, power with, and power among ........281
Play and the ‘least – adult role’ ................................................................................283
Sharing adult privileges.............................................................................................285
Adult responsibilities, ethical and political commitments .......................................288
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................291
Chapter 9 – Discussion .......................................................................................................................294
Introduction ............................................................................................................................294
Making the case for radical inclusive pedagogy: What have we learnt so far .......................295
A vision of radical inclusive pedagogy: Rethinking education from a dis-ability perspective
.................................................................................................................................................301
Rethinking the “subject” from a dis-ability perspective: The need for rhizomatic
relational understanding of education and development ..........................................302
Rethinking community from a dis-ability perspective: Valuing difference, affirming
identity ......................................................................................................................306
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Rethinking power from a dis-ability perspective: Developing relational autonomy and
valuing resistance ......................................................................................................311
Rethinking knowledge from a dis-ability perspective: Supporting access and
conscientization ........................................................................................................315
Prefiguring radical inclusive pedagogy – implications for research and practice .................319
Key messages .........................................................................................................................323
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................325
Appendices .........................................................................................................................................348
Appendix 1a: Activists’ information and consent form ........................................................349
Appendix 1b: Head teacher information and consent form ...................................................352
Appendix 1c: Teacher information and consent form ...........................................................355
Appendix 1d: Parent information and consent form ..............................................................357
Appendix 1d: Student information and consent form ............................................................359
Appendix 2a: Interview guide for activists ............................................................................362
Appendix 2b: Interview guide for parent activists .................................................................363
Appendix 2c: Interview guide for teachers in the SNU .........................................................364
Appendix 2d: Interview guide for middle management in the SNU .....................................365
Appendix 3a: Full list of rules used in session 3 sorting task ................................................366

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Illustration from Dense & Pirson, 1993 p.5................................................31
Figure 2: Board, pawn and dice................................................................................168
Figure 3: A model of the ideal teacher......................................................................170
Figure 4: Model of the ideal student..........................................................................170
Figure 5: Model of the ideal friend............................................................................171
Figure 6: A model of the best school in the world....................................................172
Figure 7: A play of the best school in the world........................................................173
Figure 8: A play of the school from hell....................................................................174
Figure 9: Thematic network of Approaches to Learning based on interviews with activists
......................................................................................................................................180
Figure 10: Individual and environmental problems and solutions...............................221
Figure 11: A model of the best school in the world with the special unit behind reception
......................................................................................................................................223
Figure 12: The best friend loves everyone and doesn’t want to fall out......................242
Figure 13: Wedding ring and knuckle duster...............................................................242
Figure 14: Sharing space in the ideal school................................................................252
Figure 15: Fighting over space in the school from hell.................................................253
Figure 16: The best school in the world - participation through “opting out”...............279

Table 1: Summary of research questions and methods of answering them....................134
Table 2: Informed consent...............................................................................................150
Table 3: List of participants and interview modes...........................................................154
Table 4: Summary of methods in the school research......................................................159
Table 5: The “best school in the world” workshop as a site of radical inclusive pedagogy
...........................................................................................................................................258

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LIST OF OUTPUTS AND DISSEMINATION
PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS
Greenstein, A. (2013). Is this inclusion? Lessons from a very “special” unit, International
Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI:10.1080/13603116.2013.777130.
Greenstein, A. (2013). “Today’s learning objective is to have a party”: Playing research with
students in a secondary school SEN unit, Journal of Research in Special Educational
Needs, DOI: 10.1111/1471-3802.12009.
BOOKS
Greenstein, A. (Forth coming, Aug, 2014). Radical Inclusive Pedagogy: An Interdisciplinary
Approach to Education, Disability and Liberation. London: Routledge.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS
2010- Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane, MMU Whose law? Whose order?
Negotiating the role of speech and language therapy
2010 -Disability Studies Conference, Lancaster University Children and vulnerable
adults: Risk, responsibility and exclusion in the life of disabled people
2011- Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane, 2nd International conference, MMU
Keynote presentation: ‘Ideal world full of freaks and unusual women’: playing with
contradictions in “special” education research.
2011- Transformative Difference: Disability, Culture and the Academy, Liverpool Hope
University Including or Belonging? Moral conflicts in the ‘Special Needs’ Unit
2011- RIHSC Conference, MMU Making space for place: The role of the physical
environment in educational relationships
2012- Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane, 3nd International conference, University
of Chester Burning the blackboard: the important role of conflict and resistance in
inclusive education
2013 – Time for Change? Child, Youth, Family and Disability Conference, MMU The
“best ever” future worlds workshop, presented by Anat Greenstein and Jenny Slater.

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A long time ago in a place far far away...
All good stories start like that and so does this one. It was June 2002 in Israel/Palestine and I
was about to complete my first year as a speech and language therapist. From a very young
age, I have always wanted to change the world and make it a better place. In my youth that
commitment had translated into political activism in anti-occupation, anti-militarist and
feminist movements, but when the time came to choose a professional career path, I did not
want to make activism the source of my livelihood. Choosing to work with disabled children
seemed like a good option for having a “practical” profession, while still making the world a
better place and supporting people to live a full life.
Yet, a year into my practice in a mainstream school with an “inclusion” programme
for students with the label of autism, I was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Initially I
was impressed with the level of service available in the school to facilitate students’
participation in mainstream education. A special educational needs (SEN) teacher and a
teaching assistant (TA) were constantly available to support autistic students during lessons,
as well as a special after school provision dedicated to developing students’ social, cognitive
and communication skills. On top of the SEN teachers and TAs the staff also included a
speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and a psychologist. One day during
an arithmetic lesson, the teacher asked the students to skip over some pages in their work
books, and answer the questions on page 65. Jonathan, one of the autistic students in the
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