Tuesday Onsite Presentation Session 2

Education & Difference

Session Chair: Harisankar Anirudhan

11:25-11:50

67456 | Toto Chan: Tetsuko Kuroyonagi, Akira Takahashi and

Harisankar Anirudhan, Indian Institute of Technology, India

Case Studies on Individual Uniqueness

The world of activism, social awareness, and education concerning disability studies has traditionally been primarily divided into a battle between the followers of the individualist model of disability studies and the social model of disability studies. If the flaws of the former model lie in its neglect or unawareness of social structures that restrict the freedom and limit the social participation of disabled people, the flaws of the latter lie in its inadvertent criminalization of the medical profession for attempting to treat physical impairments and making a crude distinction between impairment and disability. Here in this context, it is essential to look at the educational experiments of Koboyashi Master, who founded a school named 'Tomoe' in pre-second World War Japan. Kobayashi Master was an educational visionary and musical aficionado who believed in encouraging a child's natural gifts and interests rather than stifling them with predetermined curriculums. The advocates of the social model of disability, such as Paul hunt and Vic Finkelstein, often criticized society for privileging the notion of normativity. However, Kobayashi's master, through his educational experiments, puts forward the unique proposition that the solution to the privilege of normativity is not a celebration of disability as often stated by theorists of the social model of disability but the celebration of individual uniquenesses that transcend generic notions of normativity and disability. When individuality is encouraged, the dichotomy of normativity and disability dies off by itself.

11:50-12:15

68649 | Qualitative Case Study of the Experiences of Children With Disabilities in Inclusive Child Care Centres in Hong Kong

Eva Yuk Ching Lai, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

An inclusive programme is advocated as the best practice for providing equitable quality education for all children, regardless of their abilities. However, limited research has been conducted on the inclusive programme involving children with disabilities as active participants, especially in Hong Kong. This research is a qualitative case study aimed at listening to children with disabilities as they share their experiences in inclusive classrooms. Three cases recruited from three mainstream child care centres (CCCs) operating the inclusive programme in Hong Kong were employed in this study. Classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and the choice of stickers (e.g. emotional faces and thumbs up/down) were used for data collection. The data was analysed using the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory of human development. Three major themes emerged regarding the experiences of children with disabilities in inclusive CCCs: 1) the characteristics of children with disabilities at a biosystem level, 2) the features of child–child and teacher–child interactions at a microsystem level and 3) the features of learning and home environments of children with disabilities. The findings indicate that children with disabilities felt happy about staying with their groupmates and special education teachers. However, they experienced academic difficulties, resulting in them being rejected by their peers, mainstream education teachers and their families. The implications for cultural and instructional changes were also discussed.

12:15-12:40

66879 | Promoting Student Academic Success through a Multi-Tiers System of Support (MTSS) Approach

Chun Zhang, Fordham University, United States

In many schools in the US., students, educators and family members are innovating support systems using Multi-Tiers System of Support (MTTSS) to address academic and social and emotional difficulties of all students especially for schools where many students are from lowincome and minority backgrounds. The goal from this MTSS model is to use a preventive, collaborative, culturally responsive, and data driven approach through using a student success team (that includes general education teachers, special education teachers, school psychologists, counselors, and family members) for problem identifications and solutions on an ongoing basis. The presentation will highlight a New York City school’s effort in designing and implementing a MTSS system for supporting students and families. Schoolwide and specific classroom wide practices for promoting academic success and social and emotional well-being of all students. As these two pillars of the support system (social emotional and academic tools) interact with and support each other, school becomes a place not just for preventing school failure and supporting student academic success, but also a haven for supporting and nurturing the mental health and social emotional well being of all involved. In this presentation, we will provide with examples and tools for this innovative and comprehensive model for creating a community of teachers, families, and students working together to face the tough challenges from the pandemic and to create the optimal environments for teaching, learning, and succeeding as members of this caring community.