A Narrative for Special Education: A Personal Perspective

This article presents a proposed narrative for thinking about special education. This narrative stresses the interconnectedness of special education with the overall public education system. The narrative posits that the purpose of public schools in a democracy should be to: 1) to enculturate youth into social and political democracy, 2) ensure excellent and equitable educational outcomes for all youth, 3) use a caring pedagogy to achieve these ends, and 4) all educators should be stewards of the public schools. Special education must be part of this overall narrative and special educators need to take seriously their role of steward of the public schools. Part of this role is for special educators to view themselves as public scholars, with an ethic that emphasizes the entire community.