Teaching through an ethics of belonging,care and obligation as a critical approach to transforming education |
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| Authors: | Bernadette Christine Macartney |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Educational Studies and Human Development , University of Canterbury , Wellington , New Zealand bernadette.mac@paradise.net.nz |
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| Abstract: | This paper considers the experiences of a New Zealand family and their ‘disabled’ daughter Clare’s ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ in her early childhood centre and the implications of these experiences for shifting from a discourse of ‘inclusion’ to ‘belonging’ based on ‘an ethics of care and obligation to others’. I argue that the meanings and understandings of ‘inclusion’ for disabled children in education are variable and that they often default to dominant deficit discourses whilst believing themselves to be ‘inclusive’. I also argue that we must consciously develop a critical awareness of how exclusionary power operates in society and in our own settings. In this paper, I present ideas drawn from a ‘pedagogy of listening’ and Te Whaariki – The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum to critically reflect on some of the early childhood education experiences of Clare and her family. I suggest that teachers’ use of critical reflective ‘child’s questions’ can be used as tools for educational transformation towards the full and meaningful participation of disabled children in education. |
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| Keywords: | assessment curriculum and instruction disability inclusive pedagogy ethics and politics of education |
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