Session Information
99 ERC SES 04 J, Inclusive Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Individuals with disabilities are entitled to be recognized as experts in their own experiences, therefore they can be considered as the most appropriate research participants to provide reliable information regarding these experiences. Converging to their educational past, these experiences are of utmost importance, as they can reveal oppressive structures within school and society. Considering their descriptions and understandings of their educational past, not only are their voices emancipated, but at the same time proposals are being promoted that may lead to more inclusive educational settings (Vlachou & Papananou, 2015).
In this context, the aim of the research was to explore and reveal the quality of education of women with Deafblindness and the challenges they experienced throughout their school years. Through this study, awareness of Deafblindness as a distinct disability is clearly raised (WFDB, 2018). At the same time, the voice of this doubly marginalized group (both women and disabled) is emancipated, as feminist literature suggests that adult women with disabilities remain largely disregarded in the disability rights movement (Evans, 2019; Ferri & Gregg 1998). Qualitative research was conducted as it was well suited to explore the main research question (Flick, 2018), namely of how these women define and make sense of their school experiences. The main research tool was semi-structured interviews, which were conducted individually with each participant. The participants, who were chosen purposively, were two adult women with acquired Deafblindness, who received their education in Australia but then moved to Cyprus.
Thematic analysis of research data revealed that although the two women were in a mainstream school, alongside their peers, they were not meaningfully included in their school environment. Segregation was clearly evident, as Deaf students had to attend a different class. Moreover, the two participants were included in the so-called classroom of the Deaf, although they were Deafblind, and joined the classroom of hearing students only in certain subjects, such as physical education, art, and carpentry. The main challenge they both experienced was the rejection, not only of hearing students, but also of their Deaf classmates, as they had not fully accepted them due to their intersectionality (Zavos, 2021). Moreover, given that they migrated from Cyprus to South Australia and later on, moved back to Cyprus, they were also discriminated at because of their origin. It therefore becomes evident that this doubly marginalized group of women, actually became multi marginalized because of their gender, their Deafblindness, as well as their origin.
Through this study, it is revealed that different forms of oppression overlap to create complex forms of discrimination. Therefore, the importance of this study, which is still in progress and will evolve to include other doubly marginalized women as participants, lies in that it reveals the complex nature of intersectionality, as used in gender studies. This is, in our opinion, a crucial aspect that needs to be pointed at in multi-country research networks.
Finally, even though the participants of this study graduated from school four decades ago, segregation of children with disabilities is still practiced in schools. It is clear that there is a need to implement inclusive education in order to create diverse classrooms, fostering respect and acceptance. We hold that it is only through the study of the complex nature of segregation, that we can aim to develop a more inclusive society.
Method
Qualitative research was conducted. Through semi-structured interviews, which were used as the main research tool, the participants expressed their personal interpretation of their educational experiences and of their societal surroundings (Cohen et al., 2008). In particular, semi-structured interviews were chosen because they combine the flexible and open questions of the unstructured interview with the predetermined questions of the structured interview. With regard to open-ended questions, these were asked when considered necessary from the course of the interview, in order for the participants to be able to express themselves freely and openly (Pourkos & Dafermos, 2010; Silverman, 2000). Thus, through the natural, but also guided discussion applied to the interview, the main topics were covered (Fontana & Frey, 2005), while at the same time allowing a non-oppressive setting for the voices of participants to be actively listened to. Additionally, to ensure the richness of information (Cohen et al., 2008), purposive sampling was used for this study. The criteria for individuals to participate in this study, were that they must be women and Deafblind, (either congenital or acquired Deafblindness). Hence, two women with acquired Deafblindness were chosen by the researcher. They are sisters and they both have Usher Syndrome Type 1. They were born in Cyprus, but after the division of the island in 1974, they migrated to South Australia and attended school there, while later they moved back to Cyprus. The interviews were carried out at a place and time freely chosen by the participants, in order to enhance the establishment of rapport and familiarity. Specifically, the interviews were conducted in the living room of their parents’ house at midday, when there was ample natural light in addition to the artificial light – a very important feature for these Deafblind women. Simultaneously, it was taken into account that the interview should be conducted in a quiet setting, with a sufficient amount of time allotted. The interview questions were prepared in advance and were based on the theoretical framework. Following the completion of the two interviews—one lasting forty minutes and the other twenty—the researcher noted her observations and the participants’ body language. The interviews were then transcribed and reviewed in order to be better comprehended, before proceeding with the analysis. The three steps of data condensation, data display and conclusion drawing/verification were followed (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 2014; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Expected Outcomes
Results indicate that both Deaf and Deafblind students’ participation in lessons with hearing students in Australia in the early 80s has been mainly passive. For example, the two women were transferred from ‘special’ classroom to mainstream classroom without all the necessary modifications to the environment or teaching methods, which would ensure that their learning process was accessible and meaningful. This was apparent even when they were in the Deaf students’ classroom. Furthermore, the two participants had superficial relationships with hearing children, and they developed negative feelings about school. Indeed, Wauters & Knoors (2008), report that Deaf children attending mainstream schools have few friends, have less interaction with hearing children, they are often rejected and feel isolated. Moreover, both participants were women, which was enough to experience oppression (Nash, 2008). However, they were also refugees, Deafblind and Greek-Cypriot in an English-speaking country, experiencing discrimination such as racism, sexism and toxicity, particularly associated with minority people (Zavos, 2021). It is evident that this doubly marginalized group of women became multi marginalized because of their gender, their Deafblindness, as well as their origin. Through this study, it is revealed that different forms of oppression overlap to create complex forms of discrimination. Therefore, the importance of this study lies in that it reveals the complex nature of intersectionality, a crucial aspect in gender studies that needs to be pointed at in international conferences. Lastly, even though the participants of this study graduated from school four decades ago, segregation of children with disabilities is still practiced in schools. It is clear, that there is a need to implement inclusive education in order to create diverse classrooms, fostering respect and acceptance. We hold that it is only through the study of the complex nature of segregation, that we can aim to develop a more inclusive society.
References
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), pp. 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Cohen, L., Manion L., & Morrison, K. (2008). Educational research methodology. Maetaichmio. Evans, E. (2019). Disability and intersectionality: Patterns of ableism in the women’s movement 1. In Intersectionality in Feminist and Queer Movements (pp. 143-161). Routledge. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/39906/6/external_content-1.pdf#page=154 Ferri, B. A., & Gregg, N. (1998). Women with disabilities: Missing voices. In Women's Studies International Forum. 21(4), pp. 429-439. Pergamon. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(98)00038-7 Flick, U. (2018). An Introduction to Qualitative Research (6th edition). SAGE. Fontana, A., & Frey, J. H. (2005). The interview. In The Sage handbook of qualitative research, 3, pp. 695-727. http://www.iot.ntnu.no/Innovation/Norsi-Common-Courses/Lincoln/Fontana%20&%20frey%20(2000)%20interview.Pdf Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. & Saldaña, J. (2014) Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook (3rd ed.). Sage. Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Sage. Pourkos, M. A. & Dafermos, M. (2010) Qualitative Research in Social Sciences: Epistemological, methodological and ethical issues. Topos [in Greek]. Silverman, D. (2000) Doing qualitative research. Sage. Vlachou, A., & Papananou, I. (2015). Disabled students’ narratives about their schooling experiences. Disability & Society, 30(1), pp. 73-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2014.982787 Wauters, L. N., & Knoors, H. (2008). Social integration of deaf children in inclusive settings. Journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 13(1), pp. 21-36. https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enm028 World Federation of the DeafBlind. (2018). At risk of exclusion from CRPD and SDGs implementation: Inequality and Persons with Deafblindness, pp. 28-30. https://wfdb.eu/wfdb-report-2018/ Zavos, A. (2021). The feminist concept of intersectionality. The Greek Review of Social Research, pp. 55-86. [in Greek]. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7915-5552
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