Researching disability and inclusive education: participation, construction and interpretation

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  • KBKeith Ballard
    Keith Ballard
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Abstract
Drawing on research with parents and teachers, this paper addresses issues of values and metatheory as central to the construction and analysis of inclusive education and disability. People without experience of disability interpreted difference as to be feared and controlled. Experiences of disability and support for inclusion were associated with alternative constructions opposing disabilist policies and practices. It is suggested that methodological strategies that distance researchers from the people and issues they study may limit what they can know and understand. Participatory approaches to research are explored as ways of thought and practice that acknowledge research as a personal and social activity in which interpretations and constructions reflect social, cultural, ideological and emotional contexts.

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