Exploring Cultures of Exclusion of Children with Disabilities in Greater Bangkok

Autor/innen

  • Michelle Proyer
  • Siriparn Sriwanyong

Schlagwörter:

International research collaboration, culture and disability, inclusion in education in international perspective

Abstract

This paper offers the opportunity to glimpse beyond the scenes of an international research collaboration between Austria and Thailand. The underlying project (CLASDISA) aimed to depict what children with disabilities’ educational everyday lives are like in Bangkok by interviewing children, their parents and teachers. The paper offers insights into the negotiation of a common ground regarding research principles as well as the mutual and participatory development of next steps in research and analysis. By developing a culture-specific approach to answering questions related to the inclusion and exclusion of children with disabilities in education, well established principles around the (western based) perception of disability could be challenged and developed further. The paper will give accounts of our endeavor to seek out culture-specific reasons for exclusion of children with disabilities from mainstream education. Thus, the paper combines a meta-perspective on the research process and some insights into the findings of the research with regards to the question what leads to discrimination and exclusion. This being only two areas of interest that proofed to be far harder to understand than expected. Thereby the submission aims at underlining the need to consider local contexts when developing research tools for exploring cultural impacts on the (educational) environments of persons with disabilities. As well as pointing to the advantages of involving experiences from international research to rethink local conditions and broadening ones perspectives on the manifold environmental realms of persons with disabilities. One of the approaches to get an idea of where the roots of exclusion lie within the researched area, was the engagement in local practices such as the supposedly obvious process of chatting (Thai: kui) in all its facets. Thereby the submission aims at highlighting the need to consider local contexts when developing research tools for exploring cultural impacts on the (educational) environments of persons with disabilities. As well as pointing to the advantages of involving experiences from international research to rethink local conditions and broadening ones perspectives on the manifold environmental realms of persons with disabilities. The latter representing only one of the assets of international research in the field of special needs and inclusive education.

Autor/innen-Biografien

  • Michelle Proyer
    Dr. Michelle Proyer received her PhD in education from University of Vienna. She has been working in two international project focussing on the intersection of disability, culture and education in Thailand and Ethiopia. After working as a research associate at Kingston University London, she is currently working as a senior lecturer and post doc researcher at the Department of Education.
  • Siriparn Sriwanyong
    Assistant Professor Dr. Siriparn Sriwanyong received his B.A. in Linguistics, M.B.A., M.A. in Audiology, and Ed.D. in Special Education. He is currently teaching in the Department of Special Education, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand where he has been working for almost 12 years, Previously, he taught at the Division of Communication Disorders, Mahidol University, Thailand for 15 years. His interests include audiology, speech language-pathology, teaching students with hearing impairment, and teaching students with learning disabilities. He has been involved with the project of “Classification of Disabilties in the Field of Education in Different Societal and Cultural Contexts (CLASDISA)” which was initiated by the University of Vienna. Currently he is working on a project of developing speech and language tests for students with hearing impairment in Myanmar.

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12.02.2016

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Zitationsvorschlag

Exploring Cultures of Exclusion of Children with Disabilities in Greater Bangkok. (2016). Zeitschrift für Inklusion, 4. https://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/322