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Using Meta-perspectives to Improve Equity and Inclusion

  • META-PERSPECTIVES
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Abstract

Equity for those experiencing disability is a complex real-world issue best studied by cross-disciplinary groups. However, these cross-disciplinary studies are often unsuccessful due to the different perspectives held by members of the cross-disciplinary group. Meta-perspectives have been found to help overcome the issues caused by these different perspectives. This article discusses how a meta-perspective based on a typology of paradigms of disability can be useful to map and explore different paradigms of disability, build common ground, and help facilitate cross-disciplinary understanding and collaboration when studying topics such as equity and inclusion. The article then goes on to introduce a critical realist meta-perspective that transcends the different paradigms and the individual and social divide. This critical realist meta-perspective expands the typology further and allows the disciplines and perspectives to be mapped across a matrix of levels and scales of reality. This mapping of perspectives could shed new light on the issue of developing an equitable, inclusive society for those experiencing disability.

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Budd, J. Using Meta-perspectives to Improve Equity and Inclusion. NZ J Educ Stud 51, 227–244 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-016-0060-1

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