Anti-oppressive pedagogies emerged through the discussion of how the field of education, and primarily the curriculum (Armstrong, 1999; Erevelles, 2005) normalizes the oppression of some children, that, based on certain characteristics (e.g. gender, lower socioeconomic status, with minority background, disability) portray the Other in schools (Kumashiro, 2000; Beckett & Buckner, 2012; Beckett, 2015; Symeonidou & Chrysostomou, 2019). Three pedagogical practices (or four, according to the original presentation by Kumashiro, 2000) constitute the anti-oppressive pedagogies. Firstly, education about the other, involves ‘studying the Other and celebrating difference’ (Beckett, 2015, pp.79). Secondly, education that is critical of privileging and othering aims to highlight oppressive practices, while the third pedagogy, education that changes students and society concerns the education where oppresion can be challenged (Beckett, 2015, Symeonidou &; Chrysostomou, 2019).

However, even though sexism and racism are acknowldeged as the underlying cause of oppression against people of different race, social status and/or gender, and efforts are made to minimize them (e.g. Mulvay et al, 2020, Sutton et al, 2023), disablism is far from being realized as a fundamentaly oppressive way of thinking and acting against people with disabilities (Vlachou, 2023) for key holders in schools. Teachers, themselves, report their ignorance on how their practice can oppress people with disabilities (Symeonidou & Chrysostomou, 2019). Thus, the concept of disability in schools continues to be constructed in a negative manner. People with disabilities are presented as tragic persons and passive recipients of charity (Shakespeare, 2007, Skar, 2010). In the rare case that a children’s book on disability is used in school, it usually presents children with disabilities as odd, tragic persons, persons who are marginalized because of their impairment, or as persons that need to be super humans to be accepted (Beckett, Ellison, Barrett & Shah, 2010, Monoyiou & Symeonidou, 2016). To add to this, people with disabilities are deliberately silenced since their narratives and work are absent from the national curriculum and school textbooks.

It has been proposed (Favazza et al, 2022), and documented longidudinally through research, though, that informed teachers applying anti-oppressive pedagogies in their school practice, focusing on people with disabilities as the Other, may change the disabling narrative and promote positive attitudes.  For example Ostrosky et al, (2013) and Vasileiadou (2022) utilized children’s literature to make disability positively present in the classroom and minimize stereotypes towards people with disabilities with encouraging results. Further researh is needed, though, in order to understand how the practice of implementing anti-oppressive pedagogies may affect children’s understanding and attitudes towards disability. 

Hence, the aim of this study is to explore how the organization of teaching practice based on anti-oppressive pedagogies can influence how children interprete disabilty and/or react towards people with disabilities. Specifically, my research question was:

(a)   How children’s understanding of disability and people with disabiities changes, if it does, after in the implementation of anti-oppressive pedagogies?     

A convenience sample was chosen from a public early childhood setting in Cyprus, in which I had easy access. Twenty-three children (4 to 6 years old) from the same class participated in the study. Both the children and their parents were informed about the purpose of the study, the process of data collection, and provided their consent to the study. The children’s anonymity was ensured and their right to withdraw from the study any time they wished was explained. Employing a qualitative approach, I used focus groups, children’s work, and classroom observations to gather qualitative data. The data collection will be completed in three phases. During the first phase, at the beginning of the school year, children, in groups of four, participated in focus groups to gain insight on how they understand disability and how they view people that are disabled. Children were given pictures portraying human diversity (including disability) and were left alone to interact and observe the material. Then, based on a pre-defined set of questions, I asked children to describe what they saw and what their thoughts were after seeing these pictures. During the last part of the focus groups, children were asked to draw or explain what comes to mind when they hear the word ‘disability’. During focus groups children were video recorded. The same procedure will be replicated during the third phase of the project, at the end of the school year using a different set of pictures. For the second phase (ongoing) whole class activities are organized, based on the education about the other pedagogical practice. Disability is positively presented and/or discussed in the classroom either directly (e.g. watch a children’s story “narrated” by a sign language user), or indirectly (e.g. reading of children’s books where a child with a disability is included, carefully chosen not to promote negative and/or stereotypical representations). Whole class activities are also video recorded. The transcript from the focus groups and the whole class activities will be analyzed through constant comparative method (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994) in order to make meaning and examine how children understood disability in the absence of anti-oppressive practice and whether and how children changed their views on disability through time in its presence. Children’s work will be compared through time, vertically (for each child) and horizontally (among children).

The study is expected to finish in May. Based on a preliminary analysis of the focus group data, though, it seems that there is an inconsistency between children’s understanding of the term ‘disability’ and their views on people with disabilities. Children, in their vast majority reported that they had never heard the term ‘disability’ before. Consequently, when asked to explain or draw what comes to their mind when they hear this term no coherent pattern emerged. Rather children used typical children’s drawings like hearts, children playing, trees, flowers etc. Nonetheless, their narrative, when presented with a picture portraying a person with a disability tended to be disabling (e.g. narrative of helplessness, narrative of pity and charity towards people with disabilities).Moreover, in accordance with previous research (Vasileiadou, 2022) and some initial examination of the data from the whole class activities organized during the first trimester it is expected that, longitudinally, a positive change will occur. It is expected that children’s targeted participation in practices stemming from anti-oppressive pedagogies, will have a positive impact on how they understand, talk, and react towards disability and people with disabilities. The findings are expected to add to the discussion on how schools and specifically early childhood education settings can become more inclusive and less oppressive towards people with disabilities. This in return will have implications for curriculum design and teacher education.

Armstrong, F. (1999). Inclusion, curriculum and the struggle for space in school. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 3(1), 75-87. doi:10.1080/136031199285200 Beckett, A. E. (2015). Anti-oppressive pedagogy and disability: possibilities and challenges. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 17(1), 76-94. doi:10.1080/15017419.2013.835278 Beckett, A. & Buckner, L. (2012) Promoting Positive Attitudes Towards Disabled People: Definition of, Rationale and Prospects for Anti – Disablist Education, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33 (6), 873 – 891. Erevelles, N. (2005). Understanding curriculum as normalizing test: Disability studies meet curriculum theory. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37(4), 421-439. doi:10.1080/0022027032000276970 Favazza, P., Ostrosky, M., de Boer, A., & Rademaker, F. (2022). How do we support the peer acceptance of children with disabilities? In M. H. Jones (Ed.), Peer Relationships in Classroom Management: Evidence and Interventions for Teaching (pp. 77-94). Routledge Kumashiro, K. K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. Review of educational research, 70(1), 25-53. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1170593 Maykut, P., & Morehouse , R. (1994). Beginning Qualitative Research: A Philosophical and Practical Guide. London: The Falmer Press. Monoyiou, E. & Symeonidou, S. (2016). The Wonderful World of Children’s Books? Negotiating Diversity Through Children’s Literature. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(6), 588-603. Mulvey, K. L., Miedema, S. T., Stribing, A., Gilbert, E., & Brian, A. (2020). SKIPing together: A motor competence intervention promotes gender-integrated friendships for young children. Sex Roles, 82, 550-557. doi:10.1007/s11199-019-01079-z Ostrosky, M.M., Mouzourou, C. & Dorsey, E.A. (2013) Pick a book, any book: Using children’s books to support positive attitudes toward peers with disabilities, Young Exceptional Children, 8(1), 30-43. Shakespeare, T. (2007). Cultural representation of disabled people: Dustbin for disavowal? Disability and Society, 9(3), 283-299. Skar, L. (2010) Children’s conceptions of the word “Disabled”: A phenomenographical study, Disability and Society, 25(2), 177-189. Sutton, D. Kearney, A. & Ashton, K. (2023) Improving educational inclusion for refugee-background learners through appreciation of diversity, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 27:6, 671-688, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2020.1867377 Symeonidou, S., & Chrysostomou, M. (2019). 'I got to see the other side of the coin': Teachers' understandings of disability-focused oppressive and anti-oppressive pedagogies. International Journal of Educational Research, 98, 356-365. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2019.09.012 Vasileiadou, M. (2022) The contribution of inclusive education on children’s friendships in early childhood education [PhD Thesis, University of Cyprus]. Vlachou, A. (2023) (in greek) Introductory note: Issues of inclusive education, In Graham, L. J. (ed.) Inclusive education for the 21st century. Theory, policy and practice, Athens: Pedio.