A growing number of schools have implemented inclusion programs for students with disabilities. Yet, there is hardly any acknowledgment of the presence of minorities in the inclusion implementation literature. This article uses ethnographic data to examine the experiences of one Black family in an urban middle school inclusion program. The study revealed that the school and the family held quite different worldviews regarding (a) academics versus social growth, (b) physical safety versus psychological safety, and (c) roles of the family, the child, and the school. In addition, the study revealed that the family's reactions were influenced by the inclusion program directly and by the school's desire to create an overall inclusive environment and that these parental reactions were further shaped by cultural lens and the power differential that existed between the family and the school. This article points to the critical importance of expanding the circle of current discourse on the realization of inclusion to include culturally diverse families, particularly because the data suggest that the longstanding power differential between the school and these families may intensify in inclusive settings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllanJ. (2003). Productive pedagogies and the challenge of inclusion. British Journal of Special Education, 30, 175—179.
2.
ArtilesA. J. (2003). Special education's changing identity: Paradoxes and dilemmas in views of culture and space. Harvard Educational Review, 73, 164—202.
3.
ArtilesA. J., RuedaR., SalazarJ. J., and HigaredaI. (2002). English-language learner representation in special education in California urban school districts. In LosenD.J., and OrfieldG. (Eds.), Racial inequity in special education (pp. 117—136). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
4.
AtkinK. (1991). Health, illness, disability and black minorities: A speculative critique of present day discourse. Disability, Handicap and Society, 6, 37—47.
5.
BaxterC., PooniaK., WardL., and NadirshawZ. (1990). Double discrimination: Issues and services for people with learning difficulties from black and ethnic minority communities. London: Kings Fund Centre.
6.
BursuckW., PollowayE. A., PlanteL., EpsteinM. H., JayanthiM., and McConeghyJ. (1996). Report card grading and adaptations: A national survey of classroom practices. Exceptional Children, 62, 301—318.
7.
CarrM. N. (1993). A mother's thoughts on inclusion. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26, 590—592.
8.
ComerJ. (1993). School power: Implications of an intervention project. New York: Free Press.
9.
CreswellJ. W., and MillerD. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory Into Practice, 39, 124—130.
Darling-HammondL. (1997). The right to learn: A blueprint for creating schools that work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12.
DelpitL. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children. Harvard Educational Review, 58, 280—298.
13.
DelpitL. (1995). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.
14.
DenzinN. K. (Ed.). (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
15.
DuhaneyL. G., and SalendS. J. (2000). Parental perceptions of inclusive education placements. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 121—128.
16.
EricksonF. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In and and WittrockM. (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 119—161). New York: Macmillan.
17.
FeliceJ. P., and CarolanP. J. (1987). Tune in to health (4th ed.). Newton, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
18.
FergusonP. M. (2002). A place in the family: An historical interpretation of research on parental reactions to having a child with a disability. The Journal of Special Education, 36, 124—130, 147.
19.
FierrosE. G., and ConroyJ. W. (2002). Double jeopardy: An exploration of restrictiveness and race in special education. In LosenD.J., and OrfieldG. (Eds.), Racial inequity in special education (pp. 39—70). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
20.
GarciaE. (1991). The education of linguistically and culturally diverse students: Effective instructional practices. Santa Cruz, CA: The National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning.
21.
GarciaS. B., Mendez PerezA., and OrtizA. (2000). Mexican American mothers’ beliefs about disabilities: Implications for early childhood intervention. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 90—100, 120.
22.
Gersten, R., Baker, S., & Pugach, M. (with Scanlon, D., & Chard, D.). (2001). Contemporary research on special education teaching. In RichardsonV. (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (4th ed., pp. 695—722). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
23.
GlesneC., and PeshkinA. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. White Plains, NY: Longman.
24.
GliedmanJ., and RothW. (1980). The unexpected minority: Handicapped children in America. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
HarryB. (1992). Making sense of disability: Low-income, Puerto Rican parents’ theories of the problem. Exceptional Children, 59, 27—40.
27.
HarryB. (2002). Trends and issues in serving culturally diverse families of children with disabilities. The Journal of Special Education, 36, 131—138.
28.
HarryB., AllenN., and McLaughlinM. (1995). Communication versus compliance: African-American parents’ involvement in special education. Exceptional Children, 61, 364—377.
29.
HarryB., and RuedaR. (1997, January). Working with families in the zone of proximal development. Paper presented at the meeting of the Symposium on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners, New Orleans, LA.
30.
HarryB., RuedaR., and KalyanpurM. (1999). Cultural reciprocity in sociocultural perspective: Adapting the normalization principle for family collaboration. Exceptional Children, 66, 123—136.
31.
HendricksonJ., and GableR. A. (1997). Collaborative assessment of students with diverse needs: Equitable, accountable, and effective grading. Preventing School Failure, 41, 159—163.
32.
KavaleK. A., and FornessS. R. (2000). History, rhetoric, and reality: Analysis of the inclusion debate. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 279—296.
33.
KeoghB. K. (1994). What the special education research agenda should look like in the year 2000. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 9, 62—69.
34.
KohlH. (1991). I won't learn from you! The role of assent in learning. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.
35.
LamoreyS. (2002). The effects of culture on special education services: Evil eyes, prayer meetings, and IEPs. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(5), 67—71.
36.
LeCompteM. D. (2000). Analyzing qualitative data. Theory Into Practice, 39, 146—154.
37.
LernerJ. W. (2003). Learning disabilities: Theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies (9th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
38.
LosenD. J., and OrfieldG. (Eds.). (2002). Racial inequity in special education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
39.
LosenD. J., and WelnerK. G. (2002). Legal challenges to inappropriate and inadequate special education for minority children. In LosenD.J., and OrfieldG. (Eds.), Racial inequity in special education (pp. 167—194). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
40.
MagoldaP. (2000). Being at the wrong place, wrong time: Rethinking trust in qualitative inquiry. Theory Into Practice, 39, 138—145.
41.
McCrayA. D., and GarciaS. B. (2002). The stories we must tell: Developing a research agenda for multicultural and bilingual special education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 15, 599—612.
42.
McLeskeyJ., HenryD., and HodgesD. (1999). Inclusion: What progress is being made across disability categories?Teaching Exceptional Children, 31(3), 60—64.
43.
MilesM. B., and HubermanA. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
MunkD. D., and BursuckW. D. (2001). Preliminary findings on personalized grading plans for middle school students with learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 67, 211—234.
45.
NavarreteL. A., and WhiteW. J. (1994). School to community transition planning: Factors to consider when working with culturally diverse students and families in rural settings. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 13(1), 51—56.
46.
OgbuJ. U., and SimonsH. D. (1998). Voluntary and involuntary minorities: A cultural-ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 29, 155—188.
47.
OrensteinP. (1994). School girls: Young women, self-esteem, and the confidence gap. New York: Doubleday.
48.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
49.
RitchieJ., and SpencerL. (2002). Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research. In HubermanA.M., and MilesM.B. (Eds.), The qualitative researcher's companion (pp. 305—329). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
50.
RoseM. (1989). Lives on the boundary: The struggles and achievements of America's underprivileged. New York: Free Press.
51.
SalendS. J., and DuhaneyL. G. (1999). The impact of inclusion on students with and without disabilities and their educators. Remedial and Special Education, 20, 114—126.
52.
SalendS. J., and DuhaneyL. G. (2002). Grading students in inclusive settings. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(3), 8—15.
53.
SkrticT. M., SailorW., and GeeK. (1996). Voice, collaboration, and inclusion: Democratic themes in educational and social reform initiatives. Remedial and Special Education, 17, 142—157.
54.
TaylorD., and Dorsey-GainesC. (1988). Growing up literate: Learning from inner-city families. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
55.
U.S. Department of Education (2001). Twenty-third annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
56.
VaughanD. (1992). Theory elaboration: The heuristics of case analysis. In RaginC.C., and BeckerH.S. (Eds.), What is case? Exploring the foundations of social inquiry (pp. 173—202). New York: Cambridge University Press.
57.
WeinerH. M. (2003). Effective inclusion: Professional development in the context of the classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children, 35(6), 12—18.
58.
WellsA. S., HirshbergD., LiptonM., and OakesJ. (1995). Bounding the case within its context: A constructivist approach to studying detracking reform. Educational Researcher, 24(5), 18—24.
59.
WolcottH. F. (1994). Transforming qualitative data: Description, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
WoodJ. (2002). Adapting instruction to accommodate students in inclusive settings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
61.
XuJ. (1994). Doing homework: A study of possibilities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
62.
XuJ. (2004). Worldviews of one mixed heritage family in an urban middle school: An ethnographic study. School Community Journal, 14(2), 77—103.
63.
XuJ., and CornoL. (1998). Case studies of families doing third-grade homework. Teachers College Record, 100, 402—436.
64.
ZigmondN. (2003). Where should students with disabilities receive special education services?Is one place better than another?. Journal of Special Education, 37, 193—199.
