Making disabled people’s voices vulnerable

This paper attempts to utilise creative writing to contribute to discourse in the fields of critical disability studies and inclusive education. Twelve semi-structured interviews were carried out with young disabled adults with different physical and/ or sensorial disabilities who followed or were following courses at further and higher education levels. Research findings that show day-to-day experiences that disabled persons live are presented in short poems to reveal their presumed struggles. The evidence espoused that inclusive education is a process and a way of living. Support from parents, peers, administrators and lecturers are key to individual and community building. Self-help strategies are crucial in developing agency which, with a washback effect would transform society into a more democratic one. However, disabled persons need to be given the opportunity by eradicating the deficit mentality in society towards disability and disabled persons. The discussion unveils how society makes the voices of disabled persons disempowered and vulnerable. It is suggested that in Malta, wider opportunities for disabled persons to pursue their education at further and higher education levels and to enter the employment sector are needed to promulgate inclusive communities. Entities need to emulate a positive and proactive attitude towards social inclusion and cohesion. The contribution of this paper is to create awareness about the dire need for social praxis in fostering emancipation and social justice from a rights-based standpoint in favour of disabled people.peer-reviewe

The values of inclusive education : a political debate

The ontology of lived experiences of young people with physical and sensorial disabilities was used to understand the experience of inclusive education (IE) within further education (FE) and higher education (HE) institutions in Malta. The inquiry problematised the environmental, social and educational disabling and enabling factors. Underlying values of inclusion and exclusion that promoted social cohesion or social conflict emerged from the discourse. This research paper focuses on the accounts of four disabled young people. Seven semi-structured interviews were carried out per participant over two years while they were attending a course at FE and HE level. Narrative analysis was utilised to understand the underlying themes of the stories. The analysis indicates that successful stories of inclusion are influenced by the extent to which disabled and non-disabled persons practise values that promote social cohesion within a community. Virtues of social cohesion affect the extent to which environmental and educational disabling barriers are challenged and changed. The evidence from this study contributes to the debate that active participation of disabled young people, valuing the voice of others, embracing values of inclusion, and the appreciation of individual’s variations inculcate growth in the quality of IE. Social transformation affects the environmental and educational milieu within FE and HE institutions.peer-reviewe

The struggle of adolescents with physical and sensorial disabilities at further and higher education levels

The Maltese anti-discrimination legislation stipulates that it is unlawful that an educational authority would discriminate against a person on the grounds of disability. The experience of young disabled persons with physical and sensorial disabilities attending further and higher educational institutions in Malta (and Gozo) was explored to understand the disabling barriers and enabling factors of inclusive education. The study stemmed from Dewey’s theory of experience. Pragmatism was utilised as the main philosophical paradigm since lived experiences where considered essential for critical reflection on the experienced (the what) and the experiencing (the how) of experience. This paper focuses on the findings obtained from a narrative inquiry that was developed over two years with four female adolescents while attending a course at a further education institution and the University of Malta. The findings indicated that inclusive education is a social construct. The participants experienced an acceptable level of inclusive education. However, they unveiled an underlying struggle to overcome environmental, social and educational disabling barriers. It is recommended that in implementing quality inclusive education, the principles of democracy and social justice would stem from a rights-based rather than a charity-based approach.peer-reviewe