Disability Justice as Pedagogical Practice

Within social work curriculum, the topic of disability is either explicitly absent or medicalized.  The lack of a rich understanding of disability as a cultural experience that intersects with other cultural experiences is concerning given our ethical guidelines of cultural competence and equity.  Additionally, not only are students excluded via this omission, but so are faculty, staff, and social workers working in the field.  Approximately a quarter of the population identifies as having a disability, yet our curriculum barely acknowledges their experiences. I propose creating a disability justice infused pedagogy for social work.   

Disability justice (DJ) is a framework co-created by the performance activist troupe Sins Invalid and its co-founder Patty Berne.  This framework encompasses ten principles that emphasize leadership of those most affected and cross coalitional collaboration.  During the second year of the project, I will facilitate a faculty learning community with SHSSW faculty to discuss how to infuse their current practice with DJ principles using resources gathered during year one of the project.  At the end of the second year, we will propose a Signature Course using DJ pedagogy for year three. project's second year