DACTTE

This project examines accountability and commitments to democratic education in teaching and teacher education. The current focus of this project is to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding special education teacher education practices. Over the past ten years in particular, there have been increasing calls for reforms to special education teacher preparation. The field of special education has long been engaged in debate about the best methods to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, influenced by a philosophical “divide” about an agreed-upon method for the direction of special education reform (Andrews et al., 2000).  Scholars have suggested that bridging this gap requires employing ideas from educational philosophy, such as democratic education, to abate theoretical disagreement. Democratic education, which focuses on positioning schools as democratic spaces where diversity and individuality can be enhanced and better understood  has been leveraged to shift special education toward a more socially just orientation of disability (Danforth, 2008).  However, the role of special education teacher preparation in enacting democratic education has been overlooked despite the critical influence of teacher education experiences on teacher identity and the need for educators with community-informed perspectives to realize democratic schools. While special education teacher preparation has been influenced by evolving policy, research, and practice, there is scant research about democratic special education teacher education. Shifting perceptions about disability and the disability rights movement, which offer a more socially just orientation toward disability informed by disabled communities themselves, provide a basis for employing democratic frameworks in special education teacher preparation.