The Cultural Work of Learning Disabilities

Bibliographic Data

ID9733320
AuthorsRay Mcdermott (0000-0002-8952-4315, Stanford University, School of Education, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-3096; . His work includes studies of social interaction and learning in classrooms. He is currently documenting the history of ideas such as genius, intelligence, and literacy, corresponding author), Shelley Goldman (0000-0002-7823-7900, Stanford University, School of Education, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-3096; . Her research interests include issues of access and equity and the use and integration of technology and multi-media for teaching and learning, in formal and informal settings, especially as related to mathematics, corresponding author), Hervé Varenne (Teachers College, Columbia University, 378 Dodge Hall, Box 115, New York, NY 10027; . His scholarly interests include culture and education with special attention to comparative and historical conditions, as well as polity theory, particularly as it applies to families, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume35
Issue6
Pages12-17
Publication date2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Researcher (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-189X • E-ISSN: 1935-102X
PublisherAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3102/0013189x035006012
OpenAlexW2061483089
LanguageEN
Citations received60
References cited11

Culturally and educationally, the United States specializes in the production of kinds of persons described first by ethnic, racial, and linguistic lines and second by supposed mental abilities. Overlaps between the two systems of classification are frequent, systematically haphazard, and often deleterious. An examination of classrooms around the country shows shifting currents of concern and tension that invite the attribution of labels for mental and/or minority-group status. This article introduces a language for a cultural analysis—a language of people interpreting the interpretations of others—and pursues an example from a classroom where both the good sense and the dangers of categories for learning-disabled and minority-group status are on display

Attribution · Cultural diversity · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Learning disability · Linguistics · Sociology · Work (physics · Disability Education and Employment · Education Discipline and Inequality · Education Systems and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology