Education Consultant| Public Speaker | School Development (Africa)| School Leader- U.K. & Ghana
Help! Calling my colleagues from the field of inclusion and advocacy. How are we dealing with problematic labelling such as ‘special educational needs’? As a disabled woman of colour I continue to be determined in unlearning the ableism I have been conditioned with throughout my life. As a professional within the disability and inclusion field I am working at ensuring my content and delivery does not perpetuate ideology that my community have highlighted as harmful. And yet….. I am really struggling to communicate without using these established terms when it comes to formal communication in bid writing for example, cooperate spaces, educational establishments, local authorities etc. Similar to the BAME label. Despite much protest and dialogue explaining how problematic the term is and it’s lack of representation, there hasn’t been an alternative provided and many organisations continue to use it. So, my question is, how do we move away from terms like ‘special educational needs’ and ‘BAME’ still ensure people know what we are talking about? Especially in spaces where this work is very new and the concept of inclusion is emerging. #inclusion #ableism #labeling #ProfessionalDevelopment
Hi Jus, With BAME their is slow more toward alternatives. I tend to use the term minoritised (never minority) as I feel this term encapsulates the process of making one the minority not just numerically but through a process of historical and deliberate exclusion. For UK there's a move toward "UK minoritised" as it would be different from who is considered a minority in a different country. Others refer to groups from the "global majority" but I personally don't like it. I feel it conflates markedly different peoples and experiences under an assumed homogeneity- like BAME/BAMER. Wouldn't be able to comment on the SEN label though. In some places I guess neurodiverse can be used but in education SEN captures a much wider cohort of people. Looking forward to seeing other commentary on this post.