- Stanford University
520 Galvez Mall
CERAS 516
Stanford, CA 94305
Subini A Annamma
Stanford University, Graduate School of Education, Faculty Member
Education research increasingly conceptualizes how social interactions and contexts of public schools replicate practices found in prisons. Yet prisonschooling is often left out of education research. Concurrently, prison-schooling is... more
Education research increasingly conceptualizes how social interactions and contexts of public schools replicate practices found in prisons. Yet prisonschooling is often left out of education research. Concurrently, prison-schooling is where we educate a disproportionate amount of multiply marginalized youth, specifically disabled Girls of Color. The lack of attention to prisonschools has limited how teaching in youth carceral facilities can be examined for its challenges and supports of disabled Girls of Color. Centering the girls' words from class observations, field notes, and interviews, this study describes and intervenes in dehumanizing and (de)socializing mechanisms in prisonschool education. We explore attempts and impacts of countering prisonschool education through a sociocritical literacy course infused with an abolitionist praxis. We end with discussion on the limits of countering prisonschool through courses alone, suggesting abolition across multiple scales instead.
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The Crouse decision from 1838 laid precedent to the positioning of prisons as sites where education takes place. With a massive expansion of youth carceral facilities since then, alongside the prison-schools within them, we continually... more
The Crouse decision from 1838 laid precedent to the positioning of prisons as sites where education takes place. With a massive expansion of youth carceral facilities since then, alongside the prison-schools within them, we continually rely on prison-school spaces as places where youth are brought to experience education and punishment. While the wider population of youth who are incarcerated in the United States has significantly reduced since the year 2000, the reduction of incarcerated Girls of Color has not. Many incarcerated Girls of Color are also disabled. Thus, it is within this context that we explore the prison-school space as a site that is intended to provide robust educational opportunities. Focus of Study: In this article, we repositioned disabled incarcerated Girls of Color as knowledge generators and as experts well positioned to describe existing prison-school practices and alternatives to prison-school. Through the conceptual frames of forgotten places and the destructive practices within, we focused on the lived experiences of disabled incarcerated Girls of Color in SYRAD, a Midwestern maximum-security youth prison, to address our main research question: What are the education experiences of disabled Girls of Color in prison-schools? Research Design: Our qualitative study is part of a larger project that included 14 disabled incarcerated Girls of Color. Throughout the year, the girls were enrolled in a credit-bearing course with the principal investigator and research team. Our full corpus of data included interviews with the girls (23) and adults in the youth
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Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As such, behavioral management is about correcting and preventing disruption caused by the “difficult” students and... more
Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As such, behavioral management is about correcting and preventing disruption caused by the “difficult” students and about reinforcing positive comportment of the “good” ones. However, increased classroom diversity and inclusive and multicultural education reform efforts, in the United States and in most Western societies, warrant attention to the ways preservice teachers develop beliefs and attitudes toward behavior management that (re)produce systemic inequities along lines of race, disability, and intersecting identities. Early-21st-century legislation requiring free and equitable education in the least restrictive environment mandates that school professionals serve the needs of all students, especially those located at the interstices of multiple differences in inclusive settings. These combined commitments create tensions in teacher education, demanding that ...
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Linking powerful first-person narratives with structural analysis, The Pedagogy of Pathologization explores the construction of criminal identities in schools via the intersections of race, disability, and gender. Focusing uniquely on the... more
Linking powerful first-person narratives with structural analysis, The Pedagogy of Pathologization explores the construction of criminal identities in schools via the intersections of race, disability, and gender. Focusing uniquely on the pathologization of female students of color, whose voices are frequently engulfed by labels of deviance and disability, a distinct and underrepresented experience of the school-to-prison pipeline is detailed through original qualitative methods rooted in authentic narratives. The book’s DisCrit framework, grounded in interdisciplinary research, draws on scholarship from critical race theory, disability studies, education, women’s and girl’s studies, legal studies, and more. https://www.routledge.com/The-Pedagogy-of-Pathologization-Dis-abled-girls-of-color-in-the-school-prison/Annamma/p/book/9781138696907
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At a time of global neoliberal reforms and rampant austerity measures, education has become a commodity. Within this context of education as a right for the privileged, racial disparities in disciplne and achievement have been normalized... more
At a time of global neoliberal reforms and rampant austerity measures, education has become a commodity. Within this context of education as a right for the privileged, racial disparities in disciplne and achievement have been normalized and accepted as natural at the expense of multiply-marginalized students of color, those at the intersection of multiple oppressions. Consequently, educators feel increasingly powerless and unequipped to reduce such systemic inequities. This chapter refutes the assumption of disparities along the lines of race, disability, and intersectional identity as unavoidable, by advancing a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) approach to classroom and behavior management for educators. Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As a result, behavioral management has been conceptualized as correcting and preventing disruption caused by the 'difficult' students and about reinforcing positive comportment of the ‘good’ ones. DisCrit shifts the questions that are asked from “How can we fix students who disobey rules?” to “How can pre-service teacher education and existing behavioral management courses be transformed so that they are not steeped in color-evasion and silent on interlocking systems of oppression?”. DisCrit provides an opportunity to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from "fixing" the individual–be it the student or the teacher–and shifting toward justice. When teachers understand 1) ways students are systemically oppressed; 2) how oppressions are (re)produced in classrooms; and 3) what they can do to resist those oppressions in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and relationships, they can build solidarity and resistance with students and communities. DisCrit has the potential to prepare future teachers to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interactions, active engagement in learning focused on creating solidarity in the classroom instead of managing. This results in curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships that are rooted in expansive notions of justice. The chapter illustrates how DisCrit, as an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework, can enrich existing pre-service teachers’ beliefs about relationships in the classroom and connect these relationships to larger projects of dismantling inequities faced by multiply-marginalized students. Consequently we are writing about DisCrit Solidarity as theory informed practice, or praxis.
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ABSTRACT Traditional conceptualizations of parent involvement are applied in paradoxical ways to Black families – schools ostensibly seek families’ participation in schooling, while positioning multiply-marginalized Black families as... more
ABSTRACT Traditional conceptualizations of parent involvement are applied in paradoxical ways to Black families – schools ostensibly seek families’ participation in schooling, while positioning multiply-marginalized Black families as deficient and disregarding their contributions. This article explores the experiences of Black families of Black girls using a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) framing. Our exploration reveals how Black families experience and resist racism and ableism imbued in traditional conceptualizations of parent involvement grounded in white, middle-class families' norms. We describe ways Black families (1) relocated the problem from Black girls’ behavior to schools’ expectations and actions; (2) shifted schools’ priorities from a focus on disciplining dis/abled Black girls to a focus on their support needs; (3) initiated dialogue to support Black girls; and, (4) assisted Black girls in recognizing, processing, and responding to racism and ableism. Through this discussion, we address ways to reconceptualize parent involvement to center multiply-marginalized Black families’ priorities and contributions.
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ABSTRACT This article serves as the introduction to a special edition of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Education (REE) dedicated to Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit). We begin by sharing the seven tenets of in DisCrit,... more
ABSTRACT This article serves as the introduction to a special edition of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Education (REE) dedicated to Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit). We begin by sharing the seven tenets of in DisCrit, acknowledging our indebtedness to scholars of color who originally developed theories of intersectionality. Next, we discuss ways in which, from its original publication in REE (2013), DisCrit has gained traction as a theoretical tool that is increasingly used in research and practice. Then, we briefly summarize and comment upon the eight featured articles in this special edition. Each article has been purposefully selected to reflect a broad scope of interests – from empirical research to theoretical papers seeking changes within schools, communities, teacher education programs, research practices, and global connections. All contributions are from the USA as a way to consider ways in which DisCrit is being utilized in one country, while encouraging further intra-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and global conversations.
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Calls for justice-centered education approaches have gained traction over the years. Yet given the entrenched inequities that disproportionately harm multiply-marginalized students of color, it is evident that they remain incomplete.... more
Calls for justice-centered education approaches have gained traction over the years. Yet given the entrenched inequities that disproportionately harm multiply-marginalized students of color, it is evident that they remain incomplete. Using a specific incident as our launching point, we explore current conceptualizations of justice through a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) contrapuntal reading of four prolific intellectuals whose work is often not in conversation: Nancy Fraser, Iris Marion Young, Mia Mingus, and Talila Lewis. We query, (a) How does the author conceptualize justice? (b) How does the author consider difference in relationships to justice? and (c) How does the author (re)imagine potential ways to remedy injustice? By recognizing connectedness and maintaining tensions framed within DisCrit, this article enumerates expansive conceptualizations of justice through centering multiply-marginalized communities of color.
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Abstract In this short paper, I will give examples of critiques of the new US administration members, including Devos, that are either practical critiques that highlight rights without justice or single axis critiques that hinge on one... more
Abstract In this short paper, I will give examples of critiques of the new US administration members, including Devos, that are either practical critiques that highlight rights without justice or single axis critiques that hinge on one marginalized identity, both of which are necessary but not enough on their own. I conclude by calling for these arguments to address the underlying ideology that difference is deficit and naming the need for an intersectional approach to justice.
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This article provides an innovative critical qualitative method framed in Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) that mapped the experiences of those at the margins through a sociospatial dialectic. I first applied a sociospatial... more
This article provides an innovative critical qualitative method framed in Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) that mapped the experiences of those at the margins through a sociospatial dialectic. I first applied a sociospatial dialectic to the school–prison nexus. Next, I introduced Education Journey Mapping, a critical qualitative method that centered students of color with dis/abilities in the research process, as one way to rupture notions of normalcy in research. Finally, I analyzed a set of Education Journey Maps that incarcerated girls of color with dis/abilities created to highlight the multidimensional value of these counter-cartographies in understanding consequential geographies.
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In this review, we explore how intersectionality has been engaged with through the lens of disability critical race theory (DisCrit) to produce new knowledge. In this chapter, we (1) trace the intellectual lineage for developing DisCrit,... more
In this review, we explore how intersectionality has been engaged with through the lens of disability critical race theory (DisCrit) to produce new knowledge. In this chapter, we (1) trace the intellectual lineage for developing DisCrit, (2) review the body of interdisciplinary scholarship incorporating DisCrit to date, and (3) propose the future trajectories of DisCrit, noting challenges and tensions that have arisen. Providing new opportunities to investigate how patterns of oppression uniquely intersect to target students at the margins of Whiteness and ability, DisCrit has been taken up by scholars to expose and dismantle entrenched inequities in education.
Research Interests: Sociology, Gender Studies, Education, Special Education, Disability Studies, and 8 moreCritical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Inclusive Education, Disability Studies in Education, Intersectionality and Social Inequality, Intersectionality, Disability, and Special Education Needs and Inclusive Practice
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Abstract The School-to-Prison Pipeline is an alarming trend of funneling children of color out of schools and into incarceration. Yet the focus on the Pipeline neglects the ways society is imbued with a commitment to criminalizing... more
Abstract The School-to-Prison Pipeline is an alarming trend of funneling children of color out of schools and into incarceration. Yet the focus on the Pipeline neglects the ways society is imbued with a commitment to criminalizing unwanted bodies. In this empirical article I foreground a spatial analysis, making connections to the socio-spatial dialectic, exploring the nature of the Pipeline within a carceral state, and establishing who is vulnerable to state violence. Next I frame the work through Disability Critical Race Theory and the methodological tool of Education Journey Mapping, investigating both the social and spatial processes through the dimensions of mapping. Finally I document findings, making visible the socio-spatial education trajectories of incarcerated young women of color. The purpose of this article then, is to explore the social and spatial mechanisms that funneled girls of color with disabilities into the carceral state, and ways the girls resisted the state violence.
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Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism as guiding conceptual frameworks, this mixed-methods empirical study examines Black girls’ exclusionary discipline outcomes. First, we examined disciplinary data from a large urban... more
Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism as guiding conceptual frameworks, this mixed-methods empirical study examines Black girls’ exclusionary discipline outcomes. First, we examined disciplinary data from a large urban school district to assess racial group differences in office referral reasons and disparities for Black girls in out-of-school suspensions, law enforcement referrals, and expulsions. Next, we used a multivariate analysis to determine whether these patterns held after accounting for other identity markers. Finally, we used Critical Discourse Analysis to consider whether office referrals for Black girls were for subjective or objective behaviors and whether they aligned with dominant narratives.
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Using data collected from a larger qualitative study that explored the educational trajectories of young women of color with disabilities through the School to Prison Pipeline, this empirical case study focuses on how one student’s... more
Using data collected from a larger qualitative study that explored the educational trajectories of young women of color with disabilities through the School to Prison Pipeline, this empirical case study focuses on how one student’s undocumented status impacted her education in juvenile justice. Research has begun to provide us with statistics about the Pipeline; however, there is still very little known about the actual experiences of students. Using a combination of interviews, observations, and document analysis, I collaborated with an undocumented Latina labeled with an emotional disability to share how her intersectional identities impacted her experiences juvenile justice.
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Abstract In order to understand the social construction of racial identity in adoptees, this paper utilizes the analysis of counter-narratives from Critical Race Theory to examine competing messages sent to adoptees by the adoptive family... more
Abstract In order to understand the social construction of racial identity in adoptees, this paper utilizes the analysis of counter-narratives from Critical Race Theory to examine competing messages sent to adoptees by the adoptive family and society at large. By analyzing counter-narratives collected from both adoptees and adoptive parents, this study explores how the family and larger society influence racial identity development. The findings suggest a contrast in how the adoptee and adoptive parents define racism, which manifests in how they discuss race. Ulti mately, each adoptee was able to take the messages the adoptive parent sent along with messages society provided and transform them into a personally meaningful racial identity.
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One of the field’s most enduring problems is the overrepresentation of students of color in special education. A less acknowledged challenge is the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in juvenile incarceration. Quantitative... more
One of the field’s most enduring problems is the overrepresentation of students of color in special education. A less acknowledged challenge is the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in juvenile incarceration. Quantitative studies have documented the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in juvenile justice. Yet, little is known about the education they receive once they become incarcerated. This qualitative study examined the education of 10 young women of color labeled with emotional disabilities in the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Through in-depth interviews and observations, this study explored the following questions: (a) What processes and practices impact juvenile incarceration education for students with historically marginalized identities (e.g., disability, gender, race, culture)? (b) How is the education of young women of color with disabilities affected by these processes and practices? Findings illustrate how socializing processes and practices ai...
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ABSTRACT In this article, we build on Brantlinger's work to critique the binary of normal and abnormal applied in US schools that create inequities in education. Operating from a critical perspective, we draw from Critical Race... more
ABSTRACT In this article, we build on Brantlinger's work to critique the binary of normal and abnormal applied in US schools that create inequities in education. Operating from a critical perspective, we draw from Critical Race Theory, Disability Studies in Education, and Cultural/Historical Activity Theory to build a conceptual framework for examining the prevailing ideology of normal found in US schools. We use our conceptual framework to deconstruct the current, westernised, static ideology of normal. Once deconstructed, we explore current iterations of the ideology of normal in schools. Finally, we suggest using the conceptual framework as a tool to reconstruct the ideology of normal as something more dynamic and inclusive.
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Black girls’ experiences with sexual harassment in schools remain critically understudied. To mediate this void, this study explored the role of educators and school policy as disrupting or perpetuating racialized sexual harassment toward... more
Black girls’ experiences with sexual harassment in schools remain critically understudied. To mediate this void, this study explored the role of educators and school policy as disrupting or perpetuating racialized sexual harassment toward them. Using a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) framework, we argue educator response and education policy create a nexus of subjugation that makes Black girls increasingly vulnerable to experience racialized sexual harassment at the hands of adults and peers, while largely failing to provide protection from or recourse for such harassment.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the dangers of the juvenile legal system; this should make it harder to look away from the societal inequities that are exacerbated by youth incarceration. Indeed, the current moment, including the... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the dangers of the juvenile legal system; this should make it harder to look away from the societal inequities that are exacerbated by youth incarceration. Indeed, the current moment, including the unprecedented nationwide protests in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in summer 2020, has illuminated the power of social movements working to abolish the prison industrial complex, and, as legal scholars have argued, lawyers and law professors should engage with these movements and their calls for abolition and transformative change. Yet conversations on abolition are mainly centered on adult prisons. While appreciating and supporting the call for abolishing adult prisons, the absence of youth incarceration from abolitionist movements and discourse is concerning given the violence and disparities that are reflected in youth incarceration. Furthermore, despite earlier calls to consider abolishing the juvenile legal system, a sustained engagement with abolitionist theory and the juvenile punishment system has not featured in the legal scholarship. This Article discusses the urgent need to abolish youth incarceration in the context of a global pandemic, surveys arguments for abolition generally, and sets forth an abolitionist critique of youth incarceration using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) as a lens for analysis. Applying a DisCrit lens, we discuss how COVID-19 demonstrates the urgency of addressing the harms facing incarcerated youth, particularly Youth of Color and disabled Youth of Color. Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University. Associate Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law. We would like to thank Barbara Fedders and Jyoti Nanda for their thoughtful feedback on the article, as well as Amanda Farrish for excellent research assistance. Thanks also to the editors of the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change for their careful editing and helpful feedback.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the dangers of the juvenile legal system; this should make it harder to look away from the societal inequities that are exacerbated by youth incarceration. Indeed, the current moment, including the... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the dangers of the juvenile legal system; this should make it harder to look away from the societal inequities that are exacerbated by youth incarceration. Indeed, the current moment, including the unprecedented nationwide protests in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in summer 2020, has illuminated the power of social movements working to abolish the prison industrial complex, and, as legal scholars have argued, lawyers and law professors should engage with these movements and their calls for abolition and transformative change. Yet conversations on abolition are mainly centered on adult prisons. While appreciating and supporting the call for abolishing adult prisons, the absence of youth incarceration from abolitionist movements and discourse is concerning given the violence and disparities that are reflected in youth incarceration. Furthermore, despite earlier calls to consider abolishing the juvenile legal system, a sustained engagement with abolitionist theory and the juvenile punishment system has not featured in the legal scholarship. This Article discusses the urgent need to abolish youth incarceration in the context of a global pandemic, surveys arguments for abolition generally, and sets forth an abolitionist critique of youth incarceration using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) as a lens for analysis. Applying a DisCrit lens, we discuss how COVID-19 demonstrates the urgency of addressing the harms facing incarcerated youth, particularly Youth of Color and disabled Youth of Color.
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This study explores how an ideology of color-evasive racism (i.e., color evasiveness; Annamma et al., 2017) imbued white educators' discourse surrounding intersectional inequities in schools for Girls of Color in the U.S. Our analysis of... more
This study explores how an ideology of color-evasive racism (i.e., color evasiveness; Annamma et al., 2017) imbued white educators' discourse surrounding intersectional inequities in schools for Girls of Color in the U.S. Our analysis of interview and focus group data addresses a gap in educational research identifying color-evasive racism in discourse by in-service educators, specifically for white educators making sense of inequities in schools. We draw from Bonilla-Silva's (2018) application of color-blindness to discourse to identify three specific discursive frames that white educators employ, namely 1) centering self, 2) claiming white racial innocence, and 3) employing progressive notions, and the
discursive tools within each. This focus on white educators' discourse expands understandings of how color-evasivene racism is employed, (re)producing intersectional inequities in education. Given that each
of these educators was nominated because of their strengths working with Girls of Color, we believe this paper's significance captures the complexities of teaching in a system of white supremacy and identifies underlying ideologies animating discourse that can be disrupted through a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) lens.
discursive tools within each. This focus on white educators' discourse expands understandings of how color-evasivene racism is employed, (re)producing intersectional inequities in education. Given that each
of these educators was nominated because of their strengths working with Girls of Color, we believe this paper's significance captures the complexities of teaching in a system of white supremacy and identifies underlying ideologies animating discourse that can be disrupted through a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) lens.
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Context Girls of Color are overrepresented in school disciplinary actions based on subjectively judged, minor infractions. Studies have consistently shown that this exclusionary discipline has long-lasting impact on Girls of Color and... more
Context Girls of Color are overrepresented in school disciplinary actions based on subjectively judged, minor infractions. Studies have consistently shown that this exclusionary discipline has long-lasting impact on Girls of Color and their educational outcomes, including increased risk for pushout and involvement in the criminal legal system. Focus of Study We sought to uncover the processes that animate the statistics of overrepre-sentation of Girls of Color in disciplinary actions. Said differently, we sought to understand where, how, and why Girls of Color were being disciplined in schools. Using a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) lens and centering the voices of Girls’ of Color, this empirical study was guided by the question, What mechanisms propel and dispel disciplinary inequities for Girls of Color? Research Design The qualitative research took place in a suburban school district in the Midwestern United States marked by increasing racial, cultural, and linguistic ...
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Black girls' experiences with sexual harassment in schools remain critically understudied. To mediate this void, this study explored the role of educators and school policy as disrupting or perpetuating racialized sexual harassment toward... more
Black girls' experiences with sexual harassment in schools remain critically understudied. To mediate this void, this study explored the role of educators and school policy as disrupting or perpetuating racialized sexual harassment toward them. Using a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) framework, we argue educator response and education policy create a nexus of subjugation that makes Black girls increasingly vulnerable to experience racialized sexual harassment at the hands of adults and peers, while largely failing to provide protection from or recourse for such harassment.
Calls for justice-centered education approaches have gained traction over the years. Yet given the entrenched inequities that disproportionately harm multiply-marginalized students of color, it is evident that they remain incomplete.... more
Calls for justice-centered education approaches have gained traction over the years. Yet given the entrenched inequities that disproportionately harm multiply-marginalized students of color, it is evident that they remain incomplete. Using a specific incident as our launching point, we explore current conceptualizations of justice through a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) contrapuntal reading of four prolific intellectuals whose work is often not in conversation: Nancy Fraser, Iris Marion Young, Mia Mingus, and Talia Lewis. We query, (a) How does the author conceptualize justice? (b) How does the author consider difference in relationships to justice? and (c) How does the author (re)imagine potential ways to remedy injustice? By recognizing connectedness and maintaining tensions framed within DisCrit, this article enumerates expansive conceptualizations of justice through centering multiply-marginalized communities of color.
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Context: Girls of Color are overrepresented in school disciplinary actions based on subjectively judged, minor infractions. Studies have consistently shown that this exclusionary discipline has long-lasting impact on Girls of Color and... more
Context: Girls of Color are overrepresented in school disciplinary actions based on subjectively judged, minor infractions. Studies have consistently shown that this exclusionary discipline has long-lasting impact on Girls of Color and their educational outcomes, including increased risk for pushout and involvement in the criminal legal system. Focus of Study: We sought to uncover the processes that animate the statistics of overrepresentation of Girls of Color in disciplinary actions. Said differently, we sought to understand where, how, and why Girls of Color were being disciplined in schools. Using a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) lens and centering the voices of Girls' of Color, this empirical study was guided by the question, What mechanisms propel and dispel disciplinary inequities for Girls of Color? Research Design: The qualitative research took place in a suburban school district in the Midwestern United States marked by increasing racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity. This was part of a larger two-year study that Conclusions/Recommendations: Our analysis revealed the ways in which discipline disparities were animated by inequitable academic and behavioral responses of teachers to classroom interactions, which we name debilitating practices. Further, Girls of Color embodied repositioning as ways of maintaining their integrity and individuality when experiencing academic and behavioral injustices. We conclude with major implications for school personnel: (a) academically, educators must reflect on how ability is distributed and withheld in the classroom along racialized and gendered lines, and (b) behaviorally, positive behavior supports should be imagined and implemented through a race and gender conscious lens. Though we focus on classroom interactions, we also understand that public schools, schools of education, and society all have a role to play in dismantling the school-prison nexus. However, classroom interactions continue to be identified as the source of disciplinary disparities in both quantitative and qualitative studies. Consequently, teachers have an opportunity to change their classroom practices to academically and behaviorally support Girls of Color.
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Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As such, behavioral management is about correcting and preventing disruption caused by the “difficult” students and... more
Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As such, behavioral management is about correcting and preventing disruption caused by the “difficult” students and about reinforcing positive comportment of the “good” ones. However, increased classroom diversity and inclusive and multicultural education reform efforts, in the United States and in most Western societies, warrant attention to the ways preservice teachers develop beliefs and attitudes toward behavior management that (re)produce systemic inequities along lines of race, disability, and intersecting identities. Early-21st-century legislation requiring free and equitable education in the least restrictive environment mandates that school professionals serve the needs of all students, especially those located at the interstices of multiple differences in inclusive settings. These combined commitments create tensions in teacher education, demanding that educators rethink relationships with students so that they are not simply recreating the trends of mass incarceration within schools. Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) shifts the questions that are asked from “How can we fix students who disobey rules?” to “How can preservice teacher education and existing behavioral management courses be transformed so that they are not steeped in color evasion and silent on interlocking systems of oppression?”
DisCrit provides an opportunity to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from “fixing” the individual—be it the student or the teacher—and shifting toward justice. As such, it is important to pay attention not only to the characteristics, dispositions, attitudes, and students’ and teachers’ behaviors but also to the structural features of the situation in which they operate. By cultivating relationships rooted in solidarity, in which teachers understand the ways students are systemically oppressed, how those oppressions are (re)produced in classrooms, and what they can do to resist those oppressions in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and relationship, repositions students and families are regarded as valuable members. Consequently, DisCrit has the potential to prepare future teachers to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interactions and active engagement in learning focused on creating solidarity in the classroom instead of managing. This results in curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships that are rooted in expansive notions of justice. DisCrit can help preservice teachers in addressing issues of diversity in the curriculum and in contemplating how discipline may be used as a tool of punishment, and of exclusion, or as a tool for learning. Ultimately, DisCrit as an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework can enrich existing preservice teachers’ beliefs about relationships in the classroom and connect these relationships to larger projects of dismantling inequities faced by multiply marginalized students.
DisCrit provides an opportunity to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from “fixing” the individual—be it the student or the teacher—and shifting toward justice. As such, it is important to pay attention not only to the characteristics, dispositions, attitudes, and students’ and teachers’ behaviors but also to the structural features of the situation in which they operate. By cultivating relationships rooted in solidarity, in which teachers understand the ways students are systemically oppressed, how those oppressions are (re)produced in classrooms, and what they can do to resist those oppressions in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and relationship, repositions students and families are regarded as valuable members. Consequently, DisCrit has the potential to prepare future teachers to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interactions and active engagement in learning focused on creating solidarity in the classroom instead of managing. This results in curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships that are rooted in expansive notions of justice. DisCrit can help preservice teachers in addressing issues of diversity in the curriculum and in contemplating how discipline may be used as a tool of punishment, and of exclusion, or as a tool for learning. Ultimately, DisCrit as an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework can enrich existing preservice teachers’ beliefs about relationships in the classroom and connect these relationships to larger projects of dismantling inequities faced by multiply marginalized students.
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Teacher education programs often focus on developing teaching professionals and leaders committed to advocating for students, yet pervasive deficit mindsets reinforce and (re)produce societal inequities. In this paper, we outline why and... more
Teacher education programs often focus on developing
teaching professionals and leaders committed
to advocating for students, yet pervasive
deficit mindsets reinforce and (re)produce societal
inequities. In this paper, we outline why and how
a turn towards justice in teacher education is an
appropriate strategy to reduce harm and marginalization
in contexts of K-12 schooling. We argue that a justice-grounded teacher education mission
must be aligned with the individual oath teachers
take, and introduce four pedagogical stances
through which intersectional justice can be integrated
as a critical lens for – and key component
of – teacher education. Finally, we share examples
of how an intersectional justice mission for
teacher education looks in practice.
teaching professionals and leaders committed
to advocating for students, yet pervasive
deficit mindsets reinforce and (re)produce societal
inequities. In this paper, we outline why and how
a turn towards justice in teacher education is an
appropriate strategy to reduce harm and marginalization
in contexts of K-12 schooling. We argue that a justice-grounded teacher education mission
must be aligned with the individual oath teachers
take, and introduce four pedagogical stances
through which intersectional justice can be integrated
as a critical lens for – and key component
of – teacher education. Finally, we share examples
of how an intersectional justice mission for
teacher education looks in practice.
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In this critical theoretical conceptualization situated in Disability Critical Race Theory (Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013), we identify the current education system as a series of dysfunctional education ecologies. We next analyze how... more
In this critical theoretical conceptualization situated in Disability Critical Race Theory (Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013), we identify the current education system as a series of dysfunctional education ecologies. We next analyze how dysfunctional education ecologies are maintained through implicit bias, consider how these biases may impact classroom interactions, and reframe bias as dysconscious racism (King, 1991). Finally, we explore how school personnel can use transformative praxis (Freire, 1970) to actively dismantle these dysfunctional education ecologies through a shift in both their epistemological and axiological commitments to develop functional ecologies of learning by enacting a DisCrit Classroom Ecology.
Research Interests:
In this review, we explore how intersectionality has been engaged with through the lens of disability critical race theory (DisCrit) to produce new knowledge. In this chapter, we (1) trace the intellectual lineage for developing DisCrit,... more
In this review, we explore how intersectionality has been engaged with through the lens of disability critical race theory (DisCrit) to produce new knowledge. In this chapter, we (1) trace the intellectual lineage for developing DisCrit, (2) review the body of interdisciplinary scholarship incorporating DisCrit to date, and (3) propose the future trajectories of DisCrit, noting challenges and tensions that have arisen. Providing new opportunities to investigate how patterns of oppression uniquely intersect to target students at the margins of Whiteness and ability, DisCrit has been taken up by scholars to expose and dismantle entrenched inequities in education.
Education is a system of dysfunctional education landscapes for Students of Color. Framed in Disability Critical Race Theory, we conceptualized DisCrit Classroom Ecology. We explore the constructs of DisCrit Curriculum, Pedagogy, and... more
Education is a system of dysfunctional education landscapes for Students of Color. Framed in Disability Critical Race Theory, we conceptualized DisCrit Classroom Ecology. We explore the constructs of DisCrit Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Solidarity. Using praxis, each construct is animated through a DisCrit Resistance. Implications change the focus of the classroom and thus, pedagogical practice. a b s t r a c t Using a critical conceptual analysis, we theorize a DisCrit Classroom Ecology to counter current dysfunctional education ecologies. We begin by exploring the lineage of Critical Race Theory, through both its intellectual forerunner Gift Theory and a more recent sibling, DisCrit. Next, we explore the three interrelated constructs of DisCrit Classroom Ecology; Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Solidarity, and the strand that animates them, DisCrit Resistance. Finally, we discuss the deep implications and trans-formative possibilities of using praxis to (re)organize classrooms through a DisCrit Classroom Ecology.
Research Interests:
In this short paper, I will give examples of critiques of the new US administration members, including Devos, that are either practical critiques that highlight rights without justice or single axis critiques that hinge on one... more
In this short paper, I will give examples of critiques of the new US
administration members, including Devos, that are either practical critiques that highlight rights without justice or single axis critiques that hinge on one marginalized identity, both of which are necessary but not enough on their own. I conclude by calling for these arguments to address the underlying ideology that difference is deficit and naming the need for an intersectional approach to justice.
administration members, including Devos, that are either practical critiques that highlight rights without justice or single axis critiques that hinge on one marginalized identity, both of which are necessary but not enough on their own. I conclude by calling for these arguments to address the underlying ideology that difference is deficit and naming the need for an intersectional approach to justice.
Research Interests:
This article provides an innovative critical qualitative method framed in Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) that mapped the experiences of those at the margins through a sociospatial dialectic. I first applied a sociospatial... more
This article provides an innovative critical qualitative method framed in Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) that
mapped the experiences of those at the margins through a sociospatial dialectic. I first applied a sociospatial dialectic to the
school–prison nexus. Next, I introduced Education Journey Mapping, a critical qualitative method that centered students
of color with dis/abilities in the research process, as one way to rupture notions of normalcy in research. Finally, I analyzed
a set of Education Journey Maps that incarcerated girls of color with dis/abilities created to highlight the multidimensional
value of these counter-cartographies in understanding consequential geographies.
mapped the experiences of those at the margins through a sociospatial dialectic. I first applied a sociospatial dialectic to the
school–prison nexus. Next, I introduced Education Journey Mapping, a critical qualitative method that centered students
of color with dis/abilities in the research process, as one way to rupture notions of normalcy in research. Finally, I analyzed
a set of Education Journey Maps that incarcerated girls of color with dis/abilities created to highlight the multidimensional
value of these counter-cartographies in understanding consequential geographies.
Research Interests:
Color-blind racial ideology has historically been conceptualized as an ideology wherein race is immaterial. Efforts not to ‘see’ race insinuate that recognizing race is problematic; therefore, scholars have identified and critiqued... more
Color-blind racial ideology has historically been conceptualized as an
ideology wherein race is immaterial. Efforts not to ‘see’ race insinuate that
recognizing race is problematic; therefore, scholars have identified and
critiqued color-blindness ideology. In this paper, we first examine Gotanda’s
(1991) identification and critique of color-blind racial ideology, as it was
crucial in troubling white supremacy. We then explore literature in both
legal studies and education to determine how scholars have built upon
Gotanda’s intellectual theoretical foundations. Finally, using a Dis/ability
Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) framework, we end by expanding to a racial
ideology of color-evasiveness in education and society, as we believe that
conceptualizing the refusal to recognize race as ‘color-blindness’ limits the
ways this ideology can be dismantled.
ideology wherein race is immaterial. Efforts not to ‘see’ race insinuate that
recognizing race is problematic; therefore, scholars have identified and
critiqued color-blindness ideology. In this paper, we first examine Gotanda’s
(1991) identification and critique of color-blind racial ideology, as it was
crucial in troubling white supremacy. We then explore literature in both
legal studies and education to determine how scholars have built upon
Gotanda’s intellectual theoretical foundations. Finally, using a Dis/ability
Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) framework, we end by expanding to a racial
ideology of color-evasiveness in education and society, as we believe that
conceptualizing the refusal to recognize race as ‘color-blindness’ limits the
ways this ideology can be dismantled.
Research Interests:
The School-to-Prison Pipeline is an alarming trend of funneling children of color out of schools and into incarceration. Yet the focus on the Pipeline neglects the ways society is imbued with a commitment to criminalizing unwanted bodies.... more
The School-to-Prison Pipeline is an alarming trend of funneling children of
color out of schools and into incarceration. Yet the focus on the Pipeline
neglects the ways society is imbued with a commitment to criminalizing
unwanted bodies. In this empirical article I foreground a spatial analysis,
making connections to the socio-spatial dialectic, exploring the nature of the Pipeline within a carceral state, and establishing who is vulnerable to state violence. Next I frame the work through Disability Critical Race Theory and the methodological tool of Education Journey Mapping, investigating both the social and spatial processes through the dimensions of mapping. Finally I document findings, making visible the socio-spatial education trajectories of incarcerated young women of color. The purpose of this article then, is to explore the social and spatial mechanisms that funneled girls of color with disabilities into the carceral state, and ways the girls resisted the state violence.
color out of schools and into incarceration. Yet the focus on the Pipeline
neglects the ways society is imbued with a commitment to criminalizing
unwanted bodies. In this empirical article I foreground a spatial analysis,
making connections to the socio-spatial dialectic, exploring the nature of the Pipeline within a carceral state, and establishing who is vulnerable to state violence. Next I frame the work through Disability Critical Race Theory and the methodological tool of Education Journey Mapping, investigating both the social and spatial processes through the dimensions of mapping. Finally I document findings, making visible the socio-spatial education trajectories of incarcerated young women of color. The purpose of this article then, is to explore the social and spatial mechanisms that funneled girls of color with disabilities into the carceral state, and ways the girls resisted the state violence.
Research Interests:
Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism as guiding conceptual frameworks, this mixed-methods empirical study examines Black girls' exclusionary discipline outcomes. First, we examined disciplinary data from a large urban... more
Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism as guiding conceptual frameworks, this mixed-methods empirical study examines Black girls' exclusionary discipline outcomes. First, we examined disciplinary data from a large urban school district to assess racial group differences in office referral reasons and disparities for Black girls in out-of-school suspensions, law enforcement referrals, and expulsions. Next, we used a multivariate analysis to determine whether these patterns held after accounting for other identity markers. Finally, we used Critical Discourse Analysis to consider whether office referrals for Black girls were for subjective or objective behaviors and whether they aligned with dominant narratives.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Special Education, Disability Studies, Critical Disability Studies, Critical Race Theory, Disability History, and 3 moreCritical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Disability, and Critical Race Theory (CRT & LatCrit) Educational Access & Equity Campus Racial and Gender Climate Critical Media Literacy Racial and Gender Microaggressions
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Special Education, Disability Studies, Critical Disability Studies, Critical Race Theory, and 4 moreCritical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Disability, LatCrit Theory, and Critical Race Theory (CRT & LatCrit) Educational Access & Equity Campus Racial and Gender Climate Critical Media Literacy Racial and Gender Microaggressions
At a time of global neoliberal reforms and rampant austerity measures, education has become a commodity. Within this context of education as a right for the privileged, racial disparities in disciplne and achievement have been normalized... more
At a time of global neoliberal reforms and rampant austerity measures, education has become a commodity. Within this context of education as a right for the privileged, racial disparities in disciplne and achievement have been normalized and accepted as natural at the expense of multiply-marginalized students of color, those at the intersection of multiple oppressions. Consequently, educators feel increasingly powerless and unequipped to reduce such systemic inequities. This chapter refutes the assumption of disparities along the lines of race, disability, and intersectional identity as unavoidable, by advancing a Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) approach to classroom and behavior management for educators. Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As a result, behavioral management has been conceptualized as correcting and preventing disruption caused by the 'difficult' students and about reinforcing positive comportment of the ‘good’ ones. DisCrit shifts the questions that are asked from “How can we fix students who disobey rules?” to “How can pre-service teacher education and existing behavioral management courses be transformed so that they are not steeped in color-evasion and silent on interlocking systems of oppression?”. DisCrit provides an opportunity to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from "fixing" the individual–be it the student or the teacher–and shifting toward justice. When teachers understand 1) ways students are systemically oppressed; 2) how oppressions are (re)produced in classrooms; and 3) what they can do to resist those oppressions in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and relationships, they can build solidarity and resistance with students and communities. DisCrit has the potential to prepare future teachers to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interactions, active engagement in learning focused on creating solidarity in the classroom instead of managing. This results in curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships that are rooted in expansive notions of justice. The chapter illustrates how DisCrit, as an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework, can enrich existing pre-service teachers’ beliefs about relationships in the classroom and connect these relationships to larger projects of dismantling inequities faced by multiply-marginalized students. Consequently we are writing about DisCrit Solidarity as theory informed practice, or praxis.
Research Interests:
Linking powerful first-person narratives with structural analysis, The Pedagogy of Pathologization explores the construction of criminal identities in schools via the intersections of race, disability, and gender. Focusing uniquely on the... more
Linking powerful first-person narratives with structural analysis, The Pedagogy of Pathologization explores the construction of criminal identities in schools via the intersections of race, disability, and gender. Focusing uniquely on the pathologization of female students of color, whose voices are frequently engulfed by labels of deviance and disability, a distinct and underrepresented experience of the school-to-prison pipeline is detailed through original qualitative methods rooted in authentic narratives. The book’s DisCrit framework, grounded in interdisciplinary research, draws on scholarship from critical race theory, disability studies, education, women’s and girl’s studies, legal studies, and more.
https://www.routledge.com/The-Pedagogy-of-Pathologization-Dis-abled-girls-of-color-in-the-school-prison/Annamma/p/book/9781138696907
https://www.routledge.com/The-Pedagogy-of-Pathologization-Dis-abled-girls-of-color-in-the-school-prison/Annamma/p/book/9781138696907
Research Interests:
How does space illuminate educational inequity? Where and how can spatial analysis be used to disrupt educational inequity? Which tools are most appropriate for the spatial analysis of educational equity? This book addresses these... more
How does space illuminate educational inequity?
Where and how can spatial analysis be used to disrupt educational inequity?
Which tools are most appropriate for the spatial analysis of educational equity?
This book addresses these questions and explores the use of critical spatial analysis to uncover the dimensions of entrenched and systemic racial inequities in educational settings and identify ways to redress them.
The contributors to this book – some of whom are pioneering scholars of critical race spatial analysis theory and methodology – demonstrate the application of the theory and tools applied to specific locales, and in doing so illustrate how this spatial and temporal lens enriches traditional approaches to research.
The opening macro-theoretical chapter lays the foundation for the book, rooting spatial analyses in critical commitments to studying injustice. Among the innovative methodological chapters included in this book is the re-conceptualization of mapping and space beyond the simple exploration of external spaces to considering internal geographies, highlighting how the privileged may differ in socio-spatial thinking from oppressed communities and what may be learned from both perspectives; data representations that allow the construction of varied narratives based on differences in positionality and historicity of perspectives; the application of redlining to the analysis of classroom interactions; the use of historical archives to uncover the process of marginalization; and the application of techniques such as the fotonovela and GIS to identify how spaces are defined and can be reimagined.
The book demonstrates the analytical and communicative power of mapping and its potential for identifying and dismantling racial injustice in education. The editors conclude by drawing connections across sections, and elucidating the tensions and possibilities for future research.
Contributors
Benjamin Blaisdell
Graham S. Garlick
Leigh Anna Hidalgo
Mark C. Hogrebe
Joshua Radinsky
Daniel G. Solórzano
William F. Tate
Verónica N. Vélez
Federico R. Waitoller
https://sty.presswarehouse.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=467834
Where and how can spatial analysis be used to disrupt educational inequity?
Which tools are most appropriate for the spatial analysis of educational equity?
This book addresses these questions and explores the use of critical spatial analysis to uncover the dimensions of entrenched and systemic racial inequities in educational settings and identify ways to redress them.
The contributors to this book – some of whom are pioneering scholars of critical race spatial analysis theory and methodology – demonstrate the application of the theory and tools applied to specific locales, and in doing so illustrate how this spatial and temporal lens enriches traditional approaches to research.
The opening macro-theoretical chapter lays the foundation for the book, rooting spatial analyses in critical commitments to studying injustice. Among the innovative methodological chapters included in this book is the re-conceptualization of mapping and space beyond the simple exploration of external spaces to considering internal geographies, highlighting how the privileged may differ in socio-spatial thinking from oppressed communities and what may be learned from both perspectives; data representations that allow the construction of varied narratives based on differences in positionality and historicity of perspectives; the application of redlining to the analysis of classroom interactions; the use of historical archives to uncover the process of marginalization; and the application of techniques such as the fotonovela and GIS to identify how spaces are defined and can be reimagined.
The book demonstrates the analytical and communicative power of mapping and its potential for identifying and dismantling racial injustice in education. The editors conclude by drawing connections across sections, and elucidating the tensions and possibilities for future research.
Contributors
Benjamin Blaisdell
Graham S. Garlick
Leigh Anna Hidalgo
Mark C. Hogrebe
Joshua Radinsky
Daniel G. Solórzano
William F. Tate
Verónica N. Vélez
Federico R. Waitoller
https://sty.presswarehouse.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=467834
Research Interests:
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity... more
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity gaps from both historical and contemporary perspectives, as well as
the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters
also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included (and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited) opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.”
the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters
also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included (and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited) opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.”
Research Interests:
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity... more
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity gaps from both historical and contemporary perspectives, as well as the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included (and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited) opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.”
Research Interests:
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity... more
This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and
Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars
examine the achievement/opportunity gaps from both historical and contemporary perspectives, as well as
the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters
also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the
capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included
(and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited)
opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.”
Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars
examine the achievement/opportunity gaps from both historical and contemporary perspectives, as well as
the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters
also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the
capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included
(and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited)
opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.”