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What’s Wrong with ‘Special’? Thinking Differently in New Zealand Teacher Education About Disabled Children and Their Lives

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The Palgrave Handbook of Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies

Abstract

  1. 1.

    The ideology and discourse of ‘special education’ can still be found in thinking, policy and practice in education despite almost 50 years of critique in relation to the arbitrary nature of the term and its negative impact on disabled children and young people.

  2. 2.

    Neoliberal ideologies and the rationalization of some teacher education programmes mean that disability can be left out of discussions in teacher education about social justice.

  3. 3.

    Initial teacher education (ITE) and postgraduate (PG) teacher education programmes can be designed and taught in ways that interrupt students’ received truths, and trouble normative thinking and deficit ideologies inherent in ‘special’ education.

  4. 4.

    Teacher education programmes that work at the nexus of disability studies and childhood studies can support students to challenge ideas about ‘special’ and uphold children’s agency, competence and rights as a foundation for teaching and learning.

  5. 5.

    Inclusive pedagogies and approaches such as Learning Without Limits (LWL) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) turn teachers’ attention to the use of teaching approaches that are designed for all students.

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Acknowledgements

Gill and Jude: We wish to acknowledge the thoughtful work of our students. We value your contributions, and we celebrate the good work you are doing in school communities. Thank you for your contribution to this chapter. We learn from you.

Jude: I wish to acknowledge the hard work and support of the staff at Massey University and the University of Canterbury who have developed and/or teach on the Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching. In particular, Associate Professors Mandia Mentis and Alison Kearney, Wendy. Holley-Boen and Dr Laurie McLay who have developed content in the area of ‘complex educational needs’ with me. You all sit behind part of this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Gill Rutherford

  2. Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Jude MacArthur

Authors
  1. Gill Rutherford
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  2. Jude MacArthur
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Education, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Katherine Runswick-Cole

  2. Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Tillie Curran

  3. The School of Education, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Kirsty Liddiard

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Rutherford, G., MacArthur, J. (2018). What’s Wrong with ‘Special’? Thinking Differently in New Zealand Teacher Education About Disabled Children and Their Lives. In: Runswick-Cole, K., Curran, T., Liddiard, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54446-9_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54446-9_24

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-54445-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-54446-9

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