what i’m thinking now…

i had a really good time giving a talk in an inclusive education class that was comprised of many in-service teachers. in preparing for the class, i took a moment to think about some of the differing reasons as to why ‘inclusive education‘ as a philosophy does not seem to be, for lack of a better word, recognized and accepted (ok, that was two words). it’s very easy to finger point and blame; but what about asking the hard questions that connect inclusive education to human rights discussions? what about discussions and practices that equate inclusive education to civic engagement? what about discussions and practices that use the inclusive education framework (and the other movements that it draws upon-feminist movements, disability rights movements, civil rights movements, critical theory movements, to name a few) to call into question the idea that the exclusion of people with disabilities is a default normalcy?

this exclusion can take many shapes-shapes that we may not even have considered. one of those shapes is within the technology realm. i got to talk with the teachers about what it is exactly we are expecting technology to do and be for people with disabilities. just writing that sentence was such a struggle. the cause for pause lies in the preposition “for”. more on that very soon…

we also talked about web 2.0 and the idea of disability, participatory culture, digital teachnologies, digital literacies and inclusive education.

i’m curious…what are you thoughts on these issues?

Link for thought: Web2.0 and the Classroom Teacher-great resource for teachers, students, parents, community organizations, after school programs. Many good ‘how to’ resources.

but again, what is the connections between what you see in this link and the initial thoughts i wrote at the beginning of this post? who is included and who is excluded? how? why? and what can we do about it?