Decommissioning normal: COVID‐19 as a disruptor of school norms for young people with learning disabilities
Journal article
Authors | Beaton, Mhairi C., Codina, Geraldene N. and Wharton, Julie C. |
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Abstract | To slow the spread of COVID-19, on 20 March 2020, nurseries, schools and colleges across England were closed to all learners, apart from those who were children of key workers or were considered “vulnerable.” As young people with learning disabilities, families, professionals and schools become acquainted with the Erfahrung of the new horizon brought about by COVID-19, the negativity of altered social inclusion is becoming the “new normal.” Capturing this transitory moment in time, this paper reflexively analyses the curiously productive variables of altered ecological pathways to social inclusion for people with learning disabilities. Taking a hermeneutic stance, this paper draws on Gadamer's construction of the nature of new experiences. Focussed on the experience of social inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six key stakeholders. As the phenomenon in question was new, an inductive approach to thematic analysis was applied. The critical tenet of this paper is that the Erfahrung of COVID-19 has created the conditions for a “new normal” which have afforded children with learning disabilities altered opportunities for social inclusion, whether that be through increased power/agency for them and their families and/or new modes of connectedness leading to enhanced relationships. Whilst the impact of COVID-19 has been a negative one for many aspects of society, application of Simplican and Gadamer's theories on social inclusion and the nature of new experiences has permitted the surfacing of new possibilities for the social inclusion of children with learning disabilities. |
Keywords | inclusive education; Learning (intellectual) disabilities; teaching and learning |
Year | 2021 |
Journal | British Journal of Learning Disabilities |
Journal citation | 49 (4), pp. 1-10 |
Publisher | Wiley |
ISSN | 1354-4187 |
1468-3156 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12399 |
Web address (URL) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bld.12399 |
hdl:10545/625832 | |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | 02 Jun 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 18 Jun 2021, 15:00 |
Accepted | 11 May 2021 |
Contributors | University of Derby, University of Winchester and Leeds Beckett University |
File | File Access Level Restricted |
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