Dear Sigamoney et al:

The parallels that you suggest with regard to gender would not surprise
anyone who has focussed on some of the feminist issues of the past 20 years.
I had a unique opportunity to think about this and explore it when a decade
ago I was handed the "gender equity" portfolio in the Ministry of Education
following a Royal Commission report on Education.  What I learned in the
subsequent decade was quite an education in itself.

Whether one is speaking of race, gender, or disability, the dynamics of
power are the same.  It's about who has power, how they got it, and what
they do to keep it.  An analysis of what happens when others begin to
challenge the status quo which draws the parallels across groups would be
useful.  I have not gone searching, but I suspect that some of this may
already exist in the Political Science field.   Certainly some of it is in
the Women's Studies literature.

You are not alone in your struggle in thinking about these issues,
Sigamoney.


-----Original Message-----
From: Sigamoney Naicker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>; [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>; [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, September 18, 2000 10:52 PM
Subject: What does inclusive education mean in terms of race andgender?


>** High Priority **
>** Reply Requested When Convenient **
>
>Dear colleagues
>
>I know that most educationists are well intentioned.  I also know that
many academics internationally, whom I have met and interacted with are
truly committed to inclusive education.  However, as a South African who has
been exposed to the apartheid education ideological apparatus and special
education, I am fascinated by the parallels between the racist, sexist
agenda and the disabilist agenda.
>
>I believe it is time to examine  how traditional conservative discourse
impacted on thinking and practices regarding race, gender and disability.
More importantly, I think we need to generate discussion on how we could
produce knowledge and ultimately practices that undermine the status quo.
>
>During the transformation process in South Africa, there has been much talk
about the new human rights culture.  But frameworks of thinking have not
changed.  There seems to be a lack of a sociological imagination.   What
kind of thinking informed the old?  What is this new human rights discourse?
How does it differ from the old?  What theories informed traditional
thinking regarding education?  What were the practices that were consistent
with this thinking?  How do we move to the new?
>
>The major struggle we face relates to changing thinking, perceptions of the
world that was a product of apartheid.  Similarly, special educationists are
struggling with the change to inclusion.  How do we bring about changes that
upset established and set understanding that have been shaped by traditional
conservative discourses?
>
>Some thoughts that I was struggling with
>
>Cheers
>Sigamoney
>
>
>
>



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