Abstract
In this chapter, we present DisCrit-informed person-centered strategies to reframe inclusive education tools used in Italian public schools. It draws on findings from a qualitative case study we previously carried out in Rome, Italy, to advance practices that inform the design and implementation of Individualised Education Programs (IEPs) and Personalized Teaching Plans (Piano Didattico Personalizzato [PDP]), through non-deficit, intersectional, and culturally relevant approaches. The chapter highlights the challenges that teachers face in including students at the intersections of race, ability, language, and citizenship, in the context of Italy. As such, through this chapter, we intend to create a dialogue between practitioners and scholars, to advance critical thinking about the use of inclusive tools, and the importance of reframing them through the DisCrit framework, rooted in indigenous theory (Annamma & Morrison, DisCrit classroom ecology: Using praxis to dismantle dysfunctional education ecologies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 73, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.008, 2018). Ultimately, through this chapter, we show the practical applications of an intersectional understanding of inclusive education, which hopefully will inspire practitioners and educators globally.
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Notes
- 1.
Report on Teacher Shortage in OECD Countries: https://www.oecd.org/education/research/oecdreportwarnsofgrowingriskofteachershortagesinoecdcountries.htm
- 2.
Information on the new recruitment system of special education teachers put in place by the Italian Ministry of Education:https://www.orizzontescuola.it/docenti-di-sostegno-oltre-13-mila-assunti-in-ruolo-2400-con-la-call-veloce-per-le-supplenze-si-va-verso-i-100-mila-posti-in-deroga/
- 3.
Petition against the fast-tracking of special education and general teachers: https://www.orizzontescuola.it/no-al-reclutamento-dei-docenti-senza-verificare-che-conoscano-la-loro-disciplina-lappello-degli-intellettuali/
- 4.
A list of the participants for this case study can be found in Table A.3, Appendix A.
- 5.
The medical model of disability is driven by the imperative to “healthy normalcy,” whose defining characteristic is the location of disability within the individual with biological impairments, ignoring macro-socio political contexts of racism, ableism, and other intersecting systems of oppression.
- 6.
With the passing of the Interministerial Decree n. 182/2020, the old procedure that required local health authorities to issue a Dynamic Functional Profile (originally passed in 1994) has been substituted with the writing of a functioning profile based on new identification and assessment criteria resulting from the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (World Health Organization, 2001). However, a court ruling passed last September 2021 has canceled the decree 182/2020. Consequently, the Italian Ministry of Education has passed new guidelines for the writing and implementation of the IEP. The new IEPs will become compulsory starting in the school year 2021–2022. Despite the Ministry of Education’s clear attempt to focus more on environmental barriers to participation and less on individual functioning (MIUR, 2009), the International Classification of Functioning is nevertheless still used to boost the medical perspective of disability (D’Alessio, 2007, 2011).
- 7.
The seven tenets of DisCrit are: (1) DisCrit focuses on ways that racism and ableism circulate interdependently; (2) DisCrit values multidimensional identities; (3) DisCrit emphasizes social constructions of race and ability; (4) DisCrit privileges the voices of marginalized populations; (5) DisCrit considers legal and historical aspects of disability and race; (6) DisCrit recognizes whiteness and ability as property; (7) DisCrit requires activism (Annamma et al., 2013).
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Migliarini, V., Elder, B.C. (2023). Moving Forward: DisCrit-Informed Person-Centered Strategies for Inclusive Education. In: The Future of Inclusive Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49242-6_6
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