Liberatory Pedagogy and Special Education

Abstract

Liberatory theory, related to critical theory, postmodern thought, and constructivism, forms the backdrop of this article, which suggests that the way in which we have conceptualized students with disabilities as the “other” has come from a distorted modernist view that encourages us to distance ourselves from one another. It is suggested that some of our most vehement debates in special education are indicative of our attempts to “nibble at the edges of postmodern thinking.” Liberatory pedagogies developed throughout the world have used education as a means for oppressed peoples to define for themselves their situations and to define action that will be liberating. Thus liberation pedagogy calls on even more action from students or participants than constructivism. Here we are called on to apply these principles to analyze our field.