Literate Citizenship: The Culture of Literacy in Inclusive Middle School Social Studies Classrooms and Students with Intellectual Disabilities

As more and more students with intellectual disabilities are included in the general education middle school setting, the culture and context of the literacy instruction they are receiving is severely limited in the existing literature. In this study, the researcher employed an ethnographic research design to observe the literacy culture of two middle school general education social studies teachers in the context of a district and school that had focused on more inclusive practices over the past five years. The learning environment and the general education teachers* perceptions and expectations of the nature of literacy for students with intellectual disabilities in the general education setting were observed over a nine week period using two theoretical frameworks; the culture of inclusion (Giangreco, Cloninger, Dennis, & Edelman, 1994) and socio-cultural literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 1998). The data gathered is reflective of the literacy practices used with the four students with intellectual disabilities who agreed to participate in the in-depth analyses, though nine were enrolled in the three general education classes. The themes of socialization for students with intellectual disabilities in general education classes, and the immersion in and isolation from literacy practices within the general education social studies literacy culture emerged and are discussed in detail. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research for students with intellectual disabilities in general education middle school settings are provided.

Author dc:creator

• Becht, Kathleen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dieker, Lisa

• Inclusion; intellectual disabilities; literacy; social studies; middle school; general education
• Education
• Dissertations, Academic -- Education and Human Performance; Education and Human Performance -- Dissertations, Academic

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

CFE0005763

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1649