Discourses of Disability, the Idea of Fitness to Practise and the Negotiation of Identity

1
Discourses of Disability, the Idea of Fitness to
Practise and the Negotiation of Identity
Elisabet Weedon Sheila Riddell
2
Overview

• Background Discourses of disability and
  negotiation of identity
• Disability and fitness standards in the
  professions with special focus on teaching
• Our project 4 year longitudinal study
• Two case studies Jean and Andrew
• Identification of disability
• Disability and identity
• Experiences of teaching and learning
• Work placement future work
• Conclusion

3
Tensions within discourses of disability impact
on identity

• Disability and stigma disability as a deficit
• Disability as a political movement started by
  disabled people. Disability seen as a result of
  barriers in the environment disability as
  difference not deficit
• Disability and allocation of resources
  disclosure essential for access to resources,
  e.g. incapacity benefit, or in HE DSA

4
Disability, fitness to practise and disclosure of
disability

• DRC formal investigation into fitness to
  practise standards (autumn 2007)
• Medicine and social work professional bodies
  operate fitness standards teaching in England
  does but not in Scotland
• Disclosure discrepancies 3 of education
  students in Scotland disclose disability there
  are only around 1 of disabled teachers in the
  workforce

5
Enhancing the quality and outcome of disabled
students learning in HE

• 4 year longitudinal (2004-2007) ESRC/TLRP
• Collaboration between four UK universities
• Student survey interviews with key informants
  and academics
• Main emphasis case studies of up to 14 students
  in each institution interviews observations
• Data presented here from one pre-92 university

6
The institution

• Most undergraduate students study full-time and
  are young entry from school via gap year
• High proportion from advantaged background (incl.
  independent/public schools) varies in subject
  areas
• Competitive entry

7
Issues to be explored

• How is fitness to practise understood formally
  and informally in initial teacher training?
• How do students understand their impairment and
  how has this evolved?
• At what point do students disclose an impairment
  to the university and in a workplace?
• Do notions of fitness to practise impact on
  students decision to disclose?
• What has been the effect of disclosure (or lack
  of it) on the individuals access to resources,
  reasonable adjustments and identity in the
  university and on work placement?

8
Case studies background

• Jean
• Mature, married working class
• Access course prior to entering university

• Andrew
• Single, lived at home with disabled mother,
  working-class
• NC/HNC route to university

9
Identification of disability

• Jean
• Reading, writing but mainly spelling difficulties
  at school
• Not identified as dyslexic until entry to
  university

• Andrew
• Cerebral Palsy from birth which impacted on
  mobility
• School supportive aware of disability

10
Disability and identity Jean

• Reading and writing difficulties carry stigma (so
  being identified as dyslexic was problematic)
• I come from a generation where it was looked on
  very badly and you were regarded as stupid I
  didnt tell my mum for ages.
• Disability is a negative term
• I dont like the word not able, because of the
  dis I still wont class myself as disabled.

11
Disability and identity Andrew

• Impairment not defining feature but recognises
  its impact
• I know that I am impaired to a certain extent
  it means you take longer to do things and I
  can do it e.g PE to a certain extent you do
  it to your limit
• Does not wanted to be seen as different or
  treated differently
• I dont want people to say oh look at him, hes
  getting extra time

12
Teaching, learning and academic support Jean

• Staff were generally supportive and sympathetic
  but not all were aware of her dyslexia. Some
  adapted their teaching style
• If she put up an overhead she would either take
  another blank piece of paper and cover part of
  it and she would read it out as well it was
  very much you know, you hear one, see one, do
  one, teach one if that makes sense.
• Andrew did not require any specific adjustments
  to teaching style

13
Reasonable adjustments at university Jean and
Andrew

• DSA which provided computer and IT support
• Extra time in exams
• In principle they could ask for extensions to
  coursework but neither of them used it

14
Lecturers understanding of the impact of
disability 1

• The teaching courses are slightly different from
  the average academic course in that these people
  are all trained to be teachers. They cant be too
  disabled or the question would arise about what
  they are going to do in the classroom (Lecturer
  1)

15
Lecturers understanding of the impact of
disability 2

• There are people teaching on the social justice
  and inclusion course who have no awareness of
  some of the issues around or preferences of
  people with particular disabilities just
  shocking that a course on social justice and
  inclusion is staffed by people who do not know
  (Lecturer 4)

16
Experience of work placement Jean

• Did not disclose in year 1 and 2 but in year 3
  (and later on in year 4)
• Very concerned about other teachers attitude to
  dyslexia
• Very negative response from teacher she was
  working with when she disclosed (yr3)
• Mixed advice on disclosure from staff at
  institution
• Decided not to disclose on job application

17
Experience on work placement Andrew

• No problems year 1 and 2
• Major problems in year 3, triggered by mothers
  hip operation led to stress and was advised to
  take time off by doctor. School not supportive
• His experience in 3rd year led him to disclose
  his disability on his job application form.

18
Contradictory discourses

• Disability as a label of administrative
  convenience justifying exclusion from (mainly)
  labour market
• Disability as spoiled identity
• Disability as a political category difference
  rather than deficit

19
Impact of legislation (driven by disability as a
political category)

• Universities responded by taking positive
  action BUT
• Staff within universities do not necessarily
  accept this interpretation or lack awareness
  and understanding of the impact of different
  impairments

20
Disclosure to disclose or not

• Hidden impairments present particular problem for
  students
• Students generally do not want to be classed as
  disabled but have to in order to gain
  reasonable adjustments
• Setting impacts on disclosure There are approx
  3 of students on ITA courses that have disclosed
  a disability only approx 1 of teachers disclose
  a disability

21
To summarise

• The notion of fitness to practise has been
  discarded as anachronistic and discriminatory
  however, it clearly continues to exist in
  peoples minds, reinforcing the idea of
  disability as individual deficit and the disabled
  individual as unworthy of full social inclusion