Disability and Teaching

Book excerpt: Disability and Teaching highlights issues of disability in K-12 schooling faced by teachers, who are increasingly accountable for the achievement of all students regardless of the labels assigned to them. It is designed to engage prospective and practicing teachers in examining their personal theories and beliefs about disability and education. Part I offers four case studies dealing with issues such as inclusion, over-representation in special education, teacher assumptions and biases, and the struggles of novice teachers. These cases illustrate the need to understand disability and teaching within the contexts of school, community, and the broader society and in relation to other contemporary issues facing teachers. Each is followed by space for readers to write their own reactions and reflections, educators’ dialogue about the case, space for readers’ reactions to the educators’ dialogue, a summary, and additional questions. Part II presents public arguments representing different views about the topic: conservative, liberal-progressive, and disability centered. Part III situates the authors’ personal views within the growing field of Disability Studies in education and provides exercises for further reflection and a list of resources. Disability and Teaching is the 8th volume in the Reflective Teaching and the Social Conditions of Schooling Series, edited by Daniel P. Liston and Kenneth M. Zeichner. This series of small, accessible, interactive texts introduces the notion of teacher reflection and develops it in relation to the social conditions of schooling. Each text focuses on a specific issue or content area in relation to teaching and follows the same format. Books in this series are appropriate for teacher education courses across the curriculum.