Critical Issues for the Preparation and Workforce Development of Racialized Special Educators

Journey to the Special Issue

We are scholars of color working in higher education with past careers as SETOC in PK–12 classrooms. Therefore, when initially conceptualizing this issue, we thought deeply about how to communicate the racialized experiences we found ourselves reduced to throughout our professional trajectory. To put this in context, we faced racial discrimination and were consciously active in combating racist and ableist school issues that oppressed students of color with disabilities. Evidence suggests we were not alone, as emerging research findings signal racialized experiences are a critical component of SETOC decision to stay or leave the profession (e.g., Scott et al., 2021). Now as faculty, we are committed to advancing research and practice to institutionalize resistance against systemic racism that has consistently failed to promote equity for SETOC (Boveda et al., 2019; Cormier & Scott, 2021).

We narrowed our focus for the special issue by deliberating on how best to judiciously select papers that documented the theories and lived experiences of racialized special educators in ways that redirect race-evasive conversations in the special education teacher shortage scholarship. To be precise, we decided that our goal was to shift the discourse about preparing special educators away from Whiteness-centered agendas to a dialogue that conceptualizes issues of racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination hindering the preparation of a diverse special education workforce.

As guest editors, we were in the privileged yet challenging position of selecting, among the dozens submitted, five papers to be featured in this special issue. Encouraged by the growing research on SETOC, we made our decisions by returning to an emphasis on the theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches that expose and disrupt structural inequities within educational institutions. In addition, we argue that advancing high-quality, empirically based research about the racialized experiences of SETOC holds promise for the robust development of innovative policies and practices that promote the diversification of the special education workforce. While there have been important conceptual contributions to this conversation (e.g., Campbell-Whatley, 2003; Trainor et al., 2019), at the time of this project, empirical studies directly examining the experiences of recruiting, preparing, supporting, and retaining SETOC were few. For example, Scott and colleagues (2021) examined studies conducted between 2002 and 2020 and found only 4 out of 51 articles about special education teacher attrition and retention were specifically designed to investigate SETOC experiences. All four were qualitative studies, and although findings indicated some insights into racialized experiences of SETOC (e.g., microaggressions in PK–12 schools), there was still far too few empirical studies to draw reasonable conclusions about the SETOC workforce.

Furthermore, we feature papers that captured the lived experiences of racialized special educators across the pipeline—from racialized preservice teachers, to PK–12 educators, to teacher educators. We recognize the need to cultivate the next generation of scholars committed to elevating the voices that disrupt race-evasive narratives regarding special education teacher workforce experiences. As a result, we encouraged authors to include the expertise and experiences of doctoral students and early career scholars who are important contributors to this issue.

We proudly share a range of topics that deconstruct the experiences of SETOC with Teacher Education and Special Education readers. First, Boveda and Weinberg (this issue) examined three Latina teacher educators’ experiences in a predominately White teacher preparation program. The findings promoted an innovative tool, the Intersectionally Conscious Collaboration protocol for teacher educators, intended to honor the sociocultural identity development and awareness of teacher educators–critical for supporting preservice teachers of color. Similarly, two other manuscripts in this special issue emphasized implications for preservice special education preparation and support. Drame et al. (this issue) highlighted barriers associated with Whiteness within predominately White institutions. The authors explored how Black special education teacher educators confronted and addressed deficit perspectives about Black people and provided racial equity changes within a preservice special education program. Kulkarni et al. (this issue) investigated critical racial affinity groups as a means of preparing and supporting SETOC move toward anti-racist and anti-ableism ideology and practice.

Siuty and Atwood (this issue) discussed how one Black novice special education teacher drew upon her life experiences to promote racial and disability justice in her pedagogical practices. Finally, using a framework they coin as “The Glass Escalator Effect,” Cormier et al. (this issue) presented findings from a range of in-service Black male special education teachers that demonstrate how these men are socialized and racialized in PK–12 schools, resulting in role ambiguity and experiences of racial biases. These final two articles of the special issue offer deep insights about the experiences of Black special education in-service teachers.

In addition to their innovative research, foci, and theoretical contributions to our field, the articles include recommendations for research, policy, and practice germane for the recruitment, support, and retention of SETOC. It is our belief that this collection of studies contributes to a necessary discourse scrutinizing how racism, ableism, sexism, and other forms of sociocultural identity-based discrimination present barriers to preparing a diverse special educator workforce. Our hope is that this special issue is just the starting point of an ongoing conversation about the distinctive contributions of racialized special educators and will push other scholars to center the experiences of racialized special educators in their findings.