Benjamin Ostiguy applies the concept of “Deep Ecology” to argue that everyone and everything has an intrinsic value. However, many societies only measure value by how it contributes to the economy. Students with disability are considered as “outliers” and as persons who must “transcend” their perceived impairments if they are to belong.
Ostiguy argues that valuing disability can lead to the “identification of novel veins of inquiry, bolster critical analyses, and help facilitate meaningful change in uncertain times”. The title of the paper is, The Inherent Value of Disability in Higher Education.
Deep Ecology Thinking
1. Employ accessible and inclusive pedagogies, methods, technologies, and research instruments;
2. Avoid adherence to rigid standards and traditional practices absent of “intrinsic value” or unrelated to “fundamental goals”;
3. Before adopting a new technology, method, or instrument, first consider if SWDs will find it accessible and inclusive;
4. Recognize and value the diverse identities, perspectives, strengths, and challenges represented among college SWDs.
5. SWDs are a heterogeneous demographic with identities, priorities, expectations, opinions, and access requirements.
6. Employ the concept of universal design in all aspects of your work;
7. Develop research questions that account for SWDs and accurately represent/address their perspectives, needs, and sense of dignity;
8. When faced with apparent pedagogic/epistemological dilemmas, err on the side of accessibility and inclusion;
9. Speak out against campus policies, procedures, and traditions that are not universally inclusive, or stigmatize SWDs;
10. Reject the idea that a student’s value to an academic discipline is proportional with their apparent potential to contribute toward the economy.
From the abstract:
College students with disabilities (SWDs) continue to encounter attitudinal and physical barriers while institutions endeavor to offer reasonable supports. These are mainly in the form of accommodations and modifications. Most colleges administer measured allowances, while managing to avoid change. However, as we proceed into the 21st century, very little seems assured, least of all the status quo.
Under the dominant neoliberal regime, virtually everything and everyone is valued in proportion with their perceived economic utility. Higher education is no longer widely embraced as a public good. There is increased scrutiny of learning from the perspective of “value-add”.
Viewed through this narrow hegemonic lens, SWDs must assimilate or transcend their perceived impairments if they are to belong. I introduce key concepts from the environmental philosophy/theory of Deep Ecology to the scholarship of disability in higher education. I assert that disability in academe has an “intrinsic value”, irrespective of expected economic utility. The deep valuing of disability can lead to the identification of novel veins of inquiry, bolster critical analyses, and help facilitate meaningful change in uncertain times.