Citizenship In School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

I felt as if this reading had a lot of really good information in it, so I decided to choose three quotes that I felt were important to work off of.

 

"Dewey promoted democracy as a way of life in which community both establishes and is derived from each individual’s recognition of the value of every other individual."

 

This article discusses how students with disabilities are in special education classes, separated from other students, and they aren't offered the same classes. They are generalized as being all the same because they have a disability.  This quote points to the fact that as an individual, we should be recognizing the value in all other individuals. By separating students based on their abilities, we are taking that away from them. I try to look at both sides of this argument, and I understand why students are separated because every student learns differently and there are students who need extra attention from a teacher. The good thing in having special education classes is that those students are given extra attention from a teacher that they might not receive if they were placed in a classroom with more students where the teacher had more students to focus on. However, on the other hand, I think that the most important part of this argument is that students with disabilities need to feel like an equal member of a community. It's impossible to create a sense of community if there are people who are treated as less than other people, and this quote particularly points that out.

 

"Judith Snow holds that the dialogic of democracy is ultimately a set of values based on respect, humility, and creative listening."

 

I selected this quote because it again discusses democracy and what is expected in a democratic society. When we put all individuals in a group based on a disability, it is undermining their abilities. People might see someone with down syndrome and not recognize that there is so much more to an individual that their disabilities. I'm putting in this video of two boys from my high school who have a dream to write a teen zombie movie. They're trying to raise the money to do so, and as of right now have already raised $68,936 dollars! It's amazing what they're doing!

 

 

"Shayne Robbins did not hesitate in her response when asked why she devoted so much energy to creating a classroom community where all were afforded citizenship. “Don’t think,” she told me, “that those special needs kids drain anything. That class would not be half what it is if any one of those kids got segregated. We’re all together in here.”

 

This quote was from Shayne Robbins, the teacher in a school that's goal was community. Their classes aren't segregated and she's supporting this type of classroom environment. It just goes to show that the most important thing in education, and even in every day life should be to not make any individual feel as if they are less than anyone else. Regardless of what their circumstances are, or if they're considered disabled, or anything for that matter, schools should always have a sense of community where everyone feels equal.