- Film by Christine Sun Kim
I was so touched when I watched the film by the Christine, it stated ‘let’s hear from our eyes not the ears’. In the positionality of Christine, she experienced the difficulties in communicating with her parents and with other people because of the barrier of sound. It showed how the gap of the miscomprehension, and the inability to transfer someone could feel the same pain in chronically ill. The positionality of the ability status may make the people feel more fatigue and helpless. From the point view of the critical pedagogy, as a teacher, we underestimate the difficulties of the students may have difficulties in understanding or communication because of the illness that we could not actually feel or experience. To bring the more equal to the classroom, the method of teaching, if communicating is more visually, it may help the students to understand more or engage more in the classroom. If we could record the lecture or explain something with more examples or providing the physical items, it could reduce the gap of miscomprehension or miscommunication with the students.
2. UAL Disability Service Webpages
We did some efforts to bring more equality in education at the University. Based on the regulation, any students with dyslexia or other difference could get support from the facilities. For example, the students could have ISAs, which give them additional time to finish the assessment, or it suggests the lecturers to record the sessions. This is what I did and what I am still going to do in the future. As in the teaching experience, some of the students came back to me and talking about their difficulties because of dyslexia in reading long paragraphs in the reference book. As it took them more time to read through the textbook and understanding the concepts. Thus, I think about not only recording the lecture, but it is also helpful if I could show more the videos, pictures in the class rather than the chunk of the texts that the students are asked to read.
3. #DisabilityTooWhite article
It is the first time to bring me more think about the equality about the disability intersectionality with the race. Even though as the same ability status, it would appear the minority neglected of voice or advocate for their own in the society. As refers to the equality, the white privilege still could be observed by the society much easier than the minority groups. To think about the critical pedagogy, it makes me to think about in the class, it not only brings the equality to the students with different ability status, with more supports but with also the concepts of the equality to the same groups of the students in the same ability status. I tried to decolonized the materials I showed as cases in the classroom and pay attention to every student as they should have the equal opportunities to learn and gain the knowledge from the classroom.
4. Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies
The article shows the chronic pain because of the limited resources and showed harsh difficulties in succussing to present themselves to some disability cultures. It is extremely difficult to make other people feel the same pain as she experienced nearly six years and how it is difficult to make people see in this long journey. As a minority in the Western countries, as an artist, she receives trauma induced by healthcare abuse and neglect. It is the conscious bias from people in color, along with the ability status. It brings me to think about how we could bring the equality in the classroom. As an Asian female, tagged with ‘immigrant’, I could share some of the common feeling with the author in the bias for the minority. We are experienced the similar experience in minority model, in raced, in neglect, in unconscious bias because of the color. What we can do to bring the equality in the classroom, is try to standup and speak out ourselves. As a tutor, as a teacher, how I could nurture the students in the classroom to have critical thinking about the things more equally is the topic I still need to explore in the future.
5. Shades of Noir: When disability meets intersectional
The definition of disability was broadened in the last decade and people nowadays are more aware of different disabilities not only physically but also mentally. However, when we refer to the disability, we should not concentrate only on the disability but also, the disability justice. How we could bring the equality in the disability justice when we talk about the race, ethnicity, marriage status. When we recognized the disabilities, we also need to consider the equality regardless of LGBTQ+, women, people of color, working-class, different voices from different groups of people should be heard as well. Sometimes, people in the education system may have the unconscious bias or conscious bias in discrimination even though we are facing the same group of people struggled with the same pains. In this case, we need diverse voices in the education, in the society, to bring the justice.
- My experience and reflection
I have experienced once with the students, for mental disabled in my teaching class. In the beginning of the time, I received a complain letter from my teaching assistant, to complain one of the students constantly went in and went out the classroom, without saying anything, which was quite interrupted and annoyed other students. What we thought we could do is to ask the student to go outside because the student was extremely interrupted for other students in the class. However, when I checked with the student, I found out the student has the problem of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I realized how bias we thought about the decision previously neglect the truth is that the student actually needed more supports. I also realized the student with mentally disabled normally is quite shy to speak out, especially in the classroom as the student was so terrified to be viewed as a ‘special person’ excludes from the class. This also brings me to think about how we can do to reduce the gap in the classroom. I talked with my teaching assistant then we decided to change the teaching methods in the workshops. We asked all the students to write down the ideas and walk to the wall, sticking the notes on the wall and reading others’ comments. Also, we recommended a half-hour break rather than to have a one-hour workshop instead. This experience makes me to think about how we can do to support the student and the reason why the student was quite shy to speak out. It apparently has still, the bias in disabilities and also, when disabilities meet intersectionality as the student is from Asia, in color. We need to advocate for more different voices to the education system, and to review how we could improve to reduce the gap, to bring the true equality in the class.
Bibliography
Barokka, K. (2017). ‘Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill’, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), pp.387-392. doi: 10.1080/13569783.2017.1324778
Shades of Noir. Disabled People: The Voice of Many. Available at: https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/disabled_people
The Selby (2012).Christine Sun Kim. [Online video]. Available from: https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed: 4 May 2022).
Thompson, V. (2016) .‘Confronting the Whitewashing Of Disability: Interview with #DisabilityTooWhite Creator Vilissa Thompson’. Interviewed by Blahovec, S. Huff Post. 28th June. Available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994?guccounter=1