Abstract
To be culturally responsive teachers, we must first have an understanding of other cultures and how students from these cultures differ from one another. As we consider the many cultures represented in our classrooms, we might also consider students with disabilities as a cultural group. Within any main culture are subgroups differentiated by status or factors that functionally unify the group. Culturally responsive teachers understand that students with disabilities may represent a subculture within the classroom—and consequently follow certain guidelines that facilitate their inclusion.
As educators, we are likely familiar with the concept of cultural diversity and the need for students to develop an understanding of their multiethnic world and community. Students must learn to function in environments that include people from many diverse backgrounds. Consequently, many of us understand the challenges of making instruction “culturally responsive.” As increasing numbers of students from diverse backgrounds enter our classrooms each year, the need also increases for instructional approaches that are culturally inclusive. Today’s teachers must educate students varying in culture, language, religious beliefs, as well as many other characteristics (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002).
To meet this challenge, teachers must employ not only theoretically sound but also culturally responsive pedagogy. Teachers must create a classroom culture where all students regardless of their cultural and linguistic background are welcomed and supported, and provided with the best opportunity to learn. (Richards, Brown, & Forde, 2007, p. 64)
To be culturally responsive teachers, we must first have an understanding of other cultures and how students from these cultures differ from one another. Culture is considered the characteristics of a particular group of people, generally defined by language, religion, politics, social habits, and the arts (Zimmerman, 2012). As we consider the many cultures represented in our classrooms, we might also consider students with disabilities as a cultural group. Within any main culture are subgroups differentiated by status or factors that functionally unify the group. Many students with disabilities share a group identity, either because of the physical or cognitive nature of their disability or because, throughout their schooling, they have shared time together in resource rooms or self-contained classrooms. For many years, students were segregated by their disability, and this continues in some educational contexts. To be culturally responsive teachers, we must have an awareness of a group’s history of oppression.
Disability History and Educational Reform
During most of the 1800s, students with disabilities were not considered eligible for public education. By the early 1900s, there were some private programs for students with disabilities, although most students received no public school education. Educational opportunities for students with disabilities increased throughout the 1900s; however, the majority of these students were educated in residential institutions and asylums throughout the first half of the century. This was especially true for students with severe disabilities who were primarily housed in underfunded and sometimes inhumane institutions. During the 1970s, when these students were offered educational services in public schools, but these services were provided in separate and segregated schools and classrooms.
The 1980s brought increased pressure to provide more integrated educational experiences for students with disabilities, limiting the need for segregated special education placements. From this time to the present, different educational models have been developed to provide normalized, inclusive experiences for students with disabilities. In the mid-1980s, the Regular Education Initiative (REI) was introduced as a model to improve educational services for students with disabilities. Proponents of the REI called for a dismantling of the dual system of education (general education and special education) in favor of a unified system. The new unified system would be developed to meet the unique learning needs of all students. This movement challenged educators to reevaluate current educational practices related to at-risk students as well as students with disabilities. The REI served as a catalyst for change, moving education from a segregated system to a more inclusive and integrated system (Adamek & Darrow, 2010).
Disability Culture
All individuals share a culture. Our culture influences our behaviors, shapes how we see the world, and defines how we see ourselves. Likewise, culture also determines how we make sense of disability and respond to people with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are viewed very differently dependent upon the region of the world in which they live. In some countries, people with disabilities are still segregated and lack access to education (Charlton, 2000). Even in the United States, many individuals with disabilities have had to battle discrimination in terms of employment, housing, education, and access to public buildings and services (Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990). As do individuals from many other cultures, persons with disabilities share a common bond of experiences and resilience. This common bond has resulted in what some authors term disability culture (Jones, 2002). Brown (1996, 2002), the most noted author on the topic, shares several perspectives on disability culture:
Those of us working the field of disability culture probably all agree on several basic points. First, disability culture is not the same as how different cultures treat different disabilities. Instead disability culture is a set of artifacts, beliefs, expressions created by disabled people ourselves to describe our own life experiences. It is not primarily how we are treated, but what we have created. Second, we recognize that disability culture is not the only culture to which most of us belong. We are also members of different nationalities, religions, colors, professional groups, and so on. Disability culture is no more exclusive than any other cultural tag. (Brown, 2002, p. 49) People with disabilities have forged a group identity. We share a common history of oppression and a common bond of resilience. We generate art, music, literature, and other expressions of our lives and our culture, infused from our experience of disability. Most importantly, we are proud of ourselves as people with disabilities. We claim our disabilities with pride as part of our identity. (Brown, 1996, p. 30)
Culturally Responsive Teaching and Students With Disabilities
Culturally responsive pedagogy comprises three dimensions: (a) institutional, (b) personal, and (c) instructional. The institutional dimension reflects the administration and its policies and values. The personal dimension refers to the cognitive and emotional processes teachers must engage in to become culturally responsive. The instructional dimension includes materials, strategies, and activities that form the basis of instruction (Richards et al., 2007). Although all three dimensions are important, the second and third dimensions figure most importantly in being culturally responsive teachers to students with disabilities. Teachers who are comfortable examining their instructional practices and their own beliefs about and attitudes toward students with disabilities are most likely to aptly respond to the needs of all students.
To make teaching more culturally responsive, several authors have made suggestions applicable to students with disabilities (Banks & Banks, 2004; Darrow & White, 1998; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Nieto, 1999):
Monitor and address any student’s implicit or explicit alienation within the class social structure. Two factors often associated with disability prejudice and discrimination are the type of disability and its visibility. The more severe or visible a disability, the more likely a student will encounter isolation or other forms of discrimination. Teachers must be vigilant in observing social interactions within the classroom
Use respectful terminology when referring to students with disabilities: As music educators, we can do much to promote the image of students with disabilities in our schools by using appropriate terminology in our teaching and communications with others.
Learn about the history and experiences of students with disabilities: It is important that teachers learn about the lives and experiences of students with disabilities to understand the role history played in their educational outcomes and how society views disability.
Acknowledge students’ abilities as well as their disabilities: Although it is important for teachers to note students’ disabilities, particularly as they relate to instruction, it is equally incumbent that teachers recognize, highlight, and affirm their abilities.
Educate all students about disabilities, particularly those represented in the classroom: When peers do not understand disabilities, there is a greater probability students will experience prejudice and discrimination.
Allow students with disabilities to be “the helper,” not always “the helped”: Because students with disabilities often require assistance in the classroom, they rarely experience the joy of helping others. All students need to feel useful and valuable.
Maintain expectations that are high yet appropriate to a student’s disability: All students have the potential to learn, regardless of their disability. A student’s learning is commensurate with a teacher’s expectations.
Encourage students with disabilities to assume leadership roles: Leadership potential in students with disabilities needs to be recognized and promoted for these students to truly maximize their capabilities. Encourage the empowerment of students with disabilities.
Motivate students with disabilities to self-advocate and to become active participants in their own education: Students with disabilities who learn to self-advocate when they need services will be better prepared for the world that awaits them at graduation.
Challenge stereotypic views of disability played out in the media: As teachers, we must be mindful never to propagate media-driven stereotypes in our teaching, and take advantage of opportunities to highlight realistic and affirming portrayals of persons with disabilities.
Instruction that is culturally responsive addresses the needs of all learners. Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to achieve to the best of their abilities. Teachers who are culturally responsive understand that disability may represent a subculture within the classroom, and consequently demonstrate acceptance and support. By engaging practices and demonstrating values that include rather than exclude students with disabilities, teachers fulfill their responsibility to be culturally responsive to all students.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.