Teaching through an ethics of belonging, care and obligation as a critical approach to transforming education

Abstract

This paper considers the experiences of a New Zealand family and their disabled daughter Clares inclusion and exclusion in her early childhood centre and the implications of these experiences for shifting from a discourse of inclusion to belonging based on an ethics of care and obligation to others. I argue that the meanings and understandings of inclusion for disabled children in education are variable and that they often default to dominant deficit discourses whilst believing themselves to be inclusive. I also argue that we must consciously develop a critical awareness of how exclusionary power operates in society and in our own settings. In this paper, I present ideas drawn from a pedagogy of listening and Te Whaariki - The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum to critically reflect on some of the early childhood education experiences of Clare and her family. I suggest that teachers use of critical reflective childs questions can be used as tools for educational transformation towards the full and meaningful participation of disabled children in education. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.