Abstract
Adequate policies for faculty training in diversity continue to be pending on the agendas of many universities. This paper presents the recommendations of 44 university students with disabilities not only for adequate faculty training, but also on informing them on both matters of the disability itself and how to respond to the needs derived from it. A biographical narrative methodology was used and the university-life histories of the students were compiled.
Theoretical Framework
Moving toward a university model based on the principles of inclusive education is a challenge for higher education (HE). Only one decade ago, the reality in classrooms was much different than today. The explanation for this change cannot be sought only in terms of differences in today’s students, but also in the transformations that have taken place in the classroom. Furthermore, a first glance attracts attention to an obviously more diversified student body. In fact, it is a proven reality that the number of university students with disabilities is slowly increasing (Debram & Salzberg, 2005).
This increase in students with disabilities in university classrooms has doubtlessly been influenced by declarations and regulations passed over the last years. In 1998, the UNESCO World Declaration on HE, underscored the right of every person to an education and equal rights of access to higher studies for all, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006) stated that persons with disabilities must be ensured access to HE, professional training, adult education and life-long learning.
However, the existence of such declarations and legislation are not enough to guarantee the right of these students to an education based on the principles of inclusive education. In this sense, many authors (Fuller, Bradley & Healey, 2004; Tomlinson 1996), claim the need for HE to be inclusive, and its responsibility for responding to the needs of the entire student body. A substantial number of discourses have arisen around this subject, and in this context, it is recommended that the social model of disability (Oliver, 1990) is the best way to respond to student needs.
A line of research which studies the barriers and aids that students with disabilities come up against in HE emerged at the end of the nineties, and has gradually been consolidating (Fuller, Bradley, & Healy, 2004; Moriña, López, & Molina, 2014; Shevlin, Kenny, & Mcneela, 2004). All these studies coincide in condemning the continual barriers they must confront, whether in the macro-institutional environment (inaccessible buildings and virtual environments, unending bureaucracy, unapplied regulations, etc.) or in the classroom environment (negative attitudes and uninformed faculty members, strict, non-inclusive curricula, etc.).
Many studies reviewed conclude that many staff has not been sufficiently sensitive or have shown a complete lack of training in how to handle disability in the classroom (Moswela & Mukhopahdyay, 2011). This is an especially important point, as some of the key factors to success of students with disabilities include knowing the professors, and professors’ attitudes or willingness to adapt curricula (Burgstahler, 2005).
These studies likewise reflect the need for training and informing faculty members in matters referring to disability. In fact, most of the studies done to date on HE and students with disabilities have reached the same conclusion.
Therefore, faculty members must be made aware and have an opportunity for training to understand the advantages of inclusion. As Hurst (2006) says, training in disability should be obligatory for the entire staff.
Finally, it is fundamental to consider the use of the new technologies inside and outside of the classroom to favor inclusion of students with disabilities (Pearson & Koppi, 2006).
