ABSTRACT

Marginalisation, discrimination and depersonalisation are some of the negative experiences of children with Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in rural mainstream primary schools in Guyana. This paper presents these experiences from qualitative data gathered over six months of ethnographic research in two primary schools in Guyana. The data were analysed using situational analysis as posited by Adele Clarke and interpreted through a poststructuralist lens with the social model of disability theoretical framework. Children with SEND feel valueless and experience anxiety and loneliness in their placement in rural mainstream schools. This paper forms part one of a series presented to highlight institutional discrimination embedded in the practices and discourses which is fuelled by the dominance of the individual deficit model of disability in mainstream schools. The paper also illustrates how teachers’ beliefs’ that disability is biological and they can not cater for such children who are considered unteachable and challenging. The paper further reflects on the collective conscience of mainstream teachers in rural Guyana who feel unsupported in unsuitable classrooms to meet the needs of children with SEND.

摘要

边缘化、歧视和人格解体是圭亚那农村主流小学中具有特殊教育需要和/或残疾 (SEND) 的儿童的一些负面经历。本文介绍了圭亚那两所小学六个月的人种学研究收集的定性数据的经验。使用阿黛尔·克拉克（Adele Clarke）提出的情境分析对数据进行分析，并通过后结构主义视角和残疾理论框架的社会模型进行解释。患有 SEND 的孩子在农村主流学校就读时会感到毫无价值，并感到焦虑和孤独。本文是一系列文章的一部分，该系列文章旨在强调实践和话语中嵌入的制度性歧视，这种歧视是由主流学校中残障个人赤字模式的主导地位所助长的。该文件还说明了教师如何相信残疾是生物性的，他们无法照顾这些被认为无法教育和具有挑战性的孩子。该文件进一步反思了圭亚那农村地区主流教师的集体良知，他们感到在不合适的教室中无法满足 SEND 儿童的需求。