Dreaming of disability-as-possibility as a humanistic STEM education futurity

Abstract

I Dream with and through a positionality that lacks critical theorizing in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education research: Students labeled with disabilities; Disability beyond students’ accommodations. Understanding this marginalized population can push humanistic STEM scholarship to disrupt ableism by design, thereby honoring students’ voices, identities, and Dreams as knowledge-building sources. Engaging purposefully along such a proactive centering of these margins pushes STEM researchers to think beyond past challenges and break away from the free-market value commoditizations of education. I urge we Dream future possibilities of humanistic STEM education where researchers, teachers, and students are aligned to build new cultures of joy and feelings of relational belonging. In this way I seek to nurture the brilliance of students who are historically marginalized, including Disabled people, because of a desire to define their studenthood on their own terms. I argue that STEM education researchers working toward “what if” leveraging intersectionality as a way to critically theorize design can do more than change disciplinary practices: We can help students to Dream beyond “what is.”.