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ERIC Number: EJ931606
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0017-8055
EISSN: N/A
"Doing Right by": Teacher Aides, Students with Disabilities, and Relational Social Justice
Rutherford, Gill
Harvard Educational Review, v81 n1 p95-119 Spr 2011
In this article, Gill Rutherford seeks to understand, from the perspectives of teacher aides, the influence of their work on the school experiences of New Zealand students with disabilities. Rutherford contributes to a growing body of international research regarding the role of teacher aides that documents the complex and ambiguous nature of their work. Ironically, given the injustice of assigning unqualified teacher aides to students whose learning support requirements (through no fault of their own) often challenge teachers, the findings of the study suggest that aides may contribute to the development of a more just education by virtue of their relationships with students with disabilities. Teacher aides' knowing and caring about students in terms of their humanity and competence resulted in their recognizing and addressing injustices experienced by students. In acting on students' behalf, in "doing right by" each student, these aides enabled students to enact their formal right to education. The study findings, interpreted within a framework of relational social justice, add another dimension to what has already been documented in research literature about the paradoxical nature of teacher aides' work. (Contains 2 notes and 1 table.)
Harvard Education Publishing Group. 8 Story Street First Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. Tel: 617-495-3432; Fax: 617-496-3584; e-mail: hepg@harvard.edu; Web site: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hepg/her.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Zealand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A