A multiple perspective case study of a young adult with intellectual disabilities participating in a pre-service teacher education class

Abstract

For adults with intellectual disabilities, the opportunity to attend a postsecondary institution is increasingly becoming reality. Although there is a growing body of literature documenting examples of inclusive postsecondary education, there is a lack of information detailing the experiences of pre-service teacher candidates (TCs) who are enrolled in inclusive courses. The purpose of this interview study using case-study methods was to describe the challenges and benefits of an inclu-sive class in a 1-year, after-degree professional teacher education program from the perspectives of 5 TCs enrolled in a course audited by a young woman with an ID, as well as from the perspective of the course instructor. The classmates and course instructor provided positive responses regarding their experiences in the inclusive class, such as seeing inclusion in practice. Negative responses con-cerned whether or not a curriculum class in the teacher education program was the right fit for the student with ID.