316P
Disability, Stigma and Kindness in School: Children with Disabilities and Their Typically-Developing Peers in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
This study examined educators’ perspectives of the experiences of children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers in general education classrooms. Social workers have played important roles in advocating for access to educational and social opportunities for children with disabilities, a culturally widespread social justice issue. For children, special education services can be invaluable bridges providing access to school learning and becoming responsible adults. Receiving such services, however, can mark them as different from their typically-developing peers and become a source of stigma (Minow, 1990). Indeed, children with disabilities express challenges from teasing and feelings of being isolated and different (e.g., Goodfellow, 2012). Although stigmatization is a universal phenomenon, cultural groups vary in the extent to which stigmatization affects individuals’ everyday lives. East Asian schools are important contexts from which we can learn, because educators generally are exquisitely sensitive to stigma (Authors, 2012). Our research question is: What are the perceptions of U.S., Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese educators on the experiences of children with disabilities and their peers, and practices to reduce stigmatization?
Methods:
As part of a larger ethnographic study, in-depth, semi-structured, audio-recorded individual interviews were conducted in participants’ languages. Participants were 18 U.S., 26 Japanese, 43 Korean and 20 Taiwanese educators from public elementary schools. Schools were selected based on our professional connections and their conformity to national policies regarding special education. We focused on elementary schools because early intervention for children’s struggles is critical to positive outcomes (Saito, 2009). Participants were selected purposely for their experience in a variety of roles, including general and special education teachers, and administrators. They discussed their practices with children with disabilities and typically-developing peers, and strategies for minimizing stigma.
All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in their original languages. Using analytic induction techniques, researchers from each cultural community interpreted participants’ beliefs through repeated readings of the transcribed interviews (Schwandt, 2007), contextualized by their cultural insider knowledge. Focusing on issues commonly identified across cultures, our cross-cultural analysis examined variations across four countries (Shweder & Sullivan, 1993). Peer reviews, member checks and negative case analyses were used to expand and revise initial interpretations.
Results:
Educators from all sites indicated typically-developing peers’ reactions to disabilities can be a source of stigma, but also described the presence of children with disabilities as supporting the development of empathy/kindness in all children. Educators employed culturally based socialization practices to minimize stigmatization and encourage positive attitudes towards children with disabilities. U.S. and South Korean educators taught peers about disability through explicit discussions. Japanese and Taiwanese educators preferred implicit strategies, e.g., by creating social ecologies in which children cooperate on a variety of academic and daily activities.
Conclusions/Implications:
Results suggest a variety of strategies to minimize stigma and maximize the benefits of inclusion for all children. These strategies reflect cultural diversity in sensitivity to stigma. They provide social workers in various fields with new perspectives from which to reflect on their own policies/practices with children with disabilities and develop new programs for children from culturally diverse communities.