Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

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Teaching and Teacher Education

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Does physical disability affect the construction of professional

identity? Narratives of student teachers with physical disabilities*
Nurit Dvir
The Kibbutzim College of Education, The School of Professional Development in Mofet Institute, Israel

h i g h l i g h t s
 This article examines the construction of personal-professional identities among student teachers with physical disabilities.
 Based on their life stories, identity formation includes exclusion; a turning point; and professional self-efcacy.
 Student teachers with disabilities can contribute to the school system and teacher training.

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 5 April 2015
Received in revised form
25 August 2015
Accepted 4 September 2015
Available online xxx

This article uses case studies of student teachers with physical disabilities to examine their attitudes
toward teaching students with disabilities, and the construction of their professional identity. Narrative
analysis of their life stories shows a process of identity formation that begins with a sense of failure and
exclusion early in life, continues through a turning point, and concludes with a sense of professional selfefcacy and ability to empower their students, whether with or without disabilities. The article also
highlights the unique contribution of student teachers with physical disabilities to their colleagues,
teacher-training institutions, and the professional community of educators.
2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords:
Life stories
Student teachers with physical disabilities
Professional identity construction
Inclusion/exclusion

1. Introduction
The aim of this article is twofold: to explore the views and ideas
of student teachers with disabilities regarding the inclusion of
disabled students in the school/classroom context, and to address
ways in which student teachers with physical disabilities construct
their personal-professional identity, as reected in their life stories.
Three such narratives will be studied, involving different physical
conditions: a disability of the leg, deafness, and scoliosis. The purpose of the article is to examine the formative experiences of the
participants as a result of their physical disability, and how these

*
There is a lot to be learned from investigations of how students experience
school that could be used to inform policy and practice. For instance, a study that
used life history to explore the inclusion in mainstream schools of students with
various kinds of special need could yield information that other approaches would
not provide: information that could help individual schools, parents and teachers
plan and work more effectively in this area and information that could inform local
and national policy.
E-mail address: nurit.dvir@smkb.ac.il.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.09.001
0742-051X/ 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

experiences shaped their professional identity. The article will also

focus on the added value of student teachers with disabilities in
teacher-training institutions and as future teachers in the school
system.
1.1. Literature review
In recent decades, the notion of inclusion has gained increasing
momentum, with diversity issues challenging school systems in
multicultural societies around the world. To address these concerns, school systems have established various policy guidelines on
inclusion of students with diverse needs and abilities that teachers
and lecturers are required to implement in their curricula and
practices (Crul & Holdaway, 2009; Leeman & Reid, 2006;
Ramaekers, 2010; Sang-Hwan, 2011; Vogel & Sharoni, 2009).
Gal, Schreur, and Engel-Yeger (2010) have identied child-based
factors (i.e., physical, cognitive, or emotional limitations) as well as
environmental factors (attitudinal, architectural, administrative,
and programmatic) that can challenge the success of inclusion.
These elements are reected in every aspect of teaching (goals,

N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

learning materials, didactics, and assessment), and form part of the

inclusion policy known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL),
which has been implemented in several countries (Spencer, 2011).
But despite government mandates (in the U.S., for example) to
educate students in the least restrictive environment, teachers
continue to have mixed feelings about their own preparedness to
educate students with disabilities in a general education setting
(Taylor & Ringlaben, 2012). It has been found that implementing
inclusion with (physically and otherwise) different students is
dependent on teachers' professional identity as shaped by their life
experiences (Woodcock, 2013) and formed through their narratives
about themselves (Connelly & Clandinin, 2000). Teachers' professional identity has been described as standing at the core of the
teaching profession (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009, p. 178), a
framework through which they develop their self-perceptions,
values, attitudes, practices, educational approaches and discourse.
As such, the narratives that emerge from their experiences of inclusion or exclusion (or of disability) have a decisive effect on their
perceptions and practices with regard to inclusion of students with
differences or disabilities. For example, teachers who have experienced exclusion of any kind as members of a minority group, or
those from rst- or second-generation immigrant families, are
more willing to teach children from different cultures and display
greater empathy and commitment toward them (Crul & Holdaway,
2009). Further, they tend to encourage greater involvement in
learning and to adopt multicultural educational methods in their
classrooms when minority students come from an ethnic background similar to their own (Leeman & Reid, 2006). Similarly,
teachers who have experienced exclusion as a result of physical
difference show empathy, sensitivity, and a desire to embrace the
needs of children with physical and/or learning disabilities. They
feel capable of integrating them socially, emotionally, and scholastically (Burns & Bell, 2010; Gal, Schreur, & Engel-Yeger, 2010;
Vogel & Sharoni, 2009). Likewise, teachers who have visual impairments, as compared with those who do not, feel that they
possess unique strategies and methods that can help teach students
with visual impairments while also seeing themselves as role
models who can empower their students (Lewis, Corn, Erin, &
Holbrook, 2003).
The attitude of normative teachers without physical disabilities to special-needs students is also inuenced by the teachers'
past encounters with signicant gures with special needs. In their
2010 study, Gal, Schreur, and Engel-Yeger found three categories of
such gures: (a) children with disabilities in their immediate
environment during their formative years, (b) friends with disabilities, and (c) family members with disabilities. Teachers who
had known children with disabilities in close proximity showed
mixed attitudes: on the one hand, they indicated less worry about
their health and their perceived tendency to give up than did
teachers who had had no close contact with such children; yet on
the other, they stated that children with disabilities were less
successful than typical children. Teachers who had friends with
disabilities in their immediate environment showed a signicantly
more positive attitude than those without such friends. However,
teachers with family members with disabilities in close proximity
did not differ signicantly in their attitudes from those who did not
have disabled family members, though the former group expressed
greater awareness of the need for accommodation of children with
disabilities.
According to Block & Obrusnikova (2007), attitudinal barriers
are at the root of all environmental obstacles, and are the most
difcult to change. These are reected in misconceptions, stereotypes, stigmatization, fear of the unknown, resistance, lack of
clarity regarding the rights and opportunities of the disabled, and
isolation of children with disabilities.

57

With respect to teachers' attitudes to difference, they reported

more positive feelings toward students with social or physical
limitations than those who were academically or behaviorally
challenged. More specically, teachers were more receptive to
including students with sensory and physical impairments than
those with other disabilities (Woodcock, 2013).
At the same time, it was found that students with disabilities are
perceived much less favorably by longtime teachers who are
without disabilities themselves. Such students make them uncomfortable, and are seen as slow, loud, and less outgoing, but also
as vulnerable individuals who require protection, warmth, and
concern (Gal et al., 2010; Hutzler, 2003). Everhart (2009) found that
many student teachers in the U.S. have little or no experience in
working with students with special needs, and as a result feel
inadequately prepared for their future classrooms. This limited
exposure and preparation increases their anxiety and fear of students with disabilities. Woodcock and Vialle (2011) also cite lack of
experience as one of the reasons for negative opinions toward
learning-disabled students among student teachers in elementary
schools in Australia, with a tendency to see such students as lacking
academic competence in comparison with normative students.
Such attitudes are even more pronounced among student teachers
in secondary schools (Woodcock, 2013). But as shown by Taylor and
Ringlaben (2012), student teachers who have been trained to work
with different students develop a more positive attitude to inclusion and are more likely to adjust their teaching and curriculum
to meet the individual needs of their students. They also attest that
they have the skills, professional condence, and knowledge to
work with special-needs students. The narratives of student
teachers in a course on teaching in multicultural classrooms similarly demonstrate the tools they have acquired to adapt their
teaching to the diverse needs of their students as well as their
ability to create an atmosphere in the classroom that respects differences (Kang & Hyatt, 2010).
Nonetheless, it was found that positive attitudes toward students in diverse classrooms are contingent on their physical or
cognitive limitations not holding back the progress of the other
students. Student teachers noted the scholastic, social, and personal
benets of inclusion along with their fears of disciplinary problems
and difculties adapting the curriculum (Kodish, Kulinna, Martin,

Pangrazi, & Darst, 2006; Konza, 2008; Martin & Kudla
cek, 2010;
Nonis & Jernice, 2011; Sharma, Forlin, & Loreman, 2008).
To summarize, the literature indicates that perceptions of
teachers and student teachers regarding students with disabilities
are inuenced by several factors: their own experiences of inclusion or exclusion, and those of people close to them; ideologies,
stereotypes, and social constructs regarding difference; and the
quality of the diversity education they receive. Yet despite the
abundant research in this area, few studies have been conducted on
attitudes toward difference among student teachers who themselves have physical disabilities. The purpose of the present study is
to expand the professional knowledge in the eld of diversity education, in particular regarding student teachers who themselves
have physical disabilities, by exploring their attitudes on inclusion
of students with disabilities, and examining the ways in which
student teachers with physical limitations construct their professional identity with respect to inclusion of disabled students. The
teachers' personal experiences of exclusion in childhood are highlighted, along with critical turning points in their lives.
2. Methodology
2.1. Research method
This study employs a narrative inquiry approach based on three

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N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

life stories. In his theory of the narrative turn, Bruner (1987)

emphasized that identity is constructed subjectively from the
meaning that individuals assign to their reality. Based on Erikson's
work, Baddeley and Singer (2007) suggested a tapestry of personal
(biological, psychological), social-cultural, and professional identities that change and develop throughout one's lifetime. The
meaning ascribed to one's physical-biological identity is formed in
more than one context: At the personal level, body image is inuenced by visual and sensory-motor self-perception, attitudes toward the bodies of others, attitudes of meaningful gures to the
individual's body and disabilities, and formative life experiences
(Hancock, 2009; Spector-Mersel, 2010; Yair, 2009). On a broader
level, social and cultural embodimentdwhich is a product of power
relations that change over time and from one culture to anotherdaffects the perceptions of outward appearance, beauty, and
body in the society where the individual grows up, dening
normalcy, difference, and attractiveness (Lindblom & Ziemke,
2007).
Narrative research is relevant to this study for several reasons:
First, in recent years, there has been growing recognition of the
contribution of life-stories research to the study of professional
identity (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). Second, the essential
quality of narratives is not their factualitydthat is, the actual historical events they recountdbut their role in the process of identity
construction and transformation, in exploring beliefs, conceptions,
professional goals, and the best ways to accomplish them (Chan,
2012). This article will therefore be addressing the life stories of
people with physical disabilities to better understand their unique
physical disability identity and its formation.
2.2. Study population
This article is based on the life stories of three student teachers
with physical limitations: Michal (all pseudonyms) is a student
teacher in an elementary school, who has a disability of the leg;
Shai, who is deaf, is a student teacher training to work with students with disabilities; and Anna is a student teacher in a disability
studies program, who has scoliosis.
2.3. Data collection
The three participants were students at a teacher-training college in Israel for both regular and special-education settings. As
part of a Qualitative Research Methods course, they were asked to
write their life stories in a professional context, relating to their
choice of teaching as a profession. The story was written in stages,
and went through several drafts until its nal form.

theoretical conceptualization. The structural analysis of the stories

focused on an introduction, plot development, and shaping of the
characters.
2.5. Ethical considerations
A year after the course was completed and grades were
assigned, the students were asked to submit their life stories for
research purposes and publication. In that call it was explained
both the proposed research and the implications of participation in
it (HREC, 2007, p. 16). Twelve different stories were received, from
which three were chosen that dealt with the identity of students
with physical disabilities.
A range of relationships between participants and researchers
may develop as a result of the duration and nature of the interaction in qualitative research (HREC, 2007, p. 25). In this research, the
participants read this article, reacted to it, and gave their written
approval for the nal version of their life stories (HREC, 2007, p. 26),
with the assurance that ethical principles of research would be
upheld, including anonymity and the removal of any identifying
information (HREC, 2007, p. 27). In this way, they were given
control over the nal product, and any content they felt uncomfortable with was altered or deleted. This collaboration was
important for maintaining the integrity of the narratives, ensuring
that they were a reection of the participants' voices.
3. Findings
The ndings were divided into three sections based on an
analysis of the participants' experiences: (a) past exclusion based
on physical difference, (b) a signicant turning point, and (c) construction of an educational approach to difference.
3.1. Past exclusion based on physical difference
The life story of each of the three students was marked by
exclusion as a result of their physical disability. These feelings
affected the course of their lives.
Born deaf, Shai recounts with obvious pain the experiences of
his childhood:
When I was little, I didn't have deaf friends living nearby or in
my neighborhood. I spent time only with my family or walking
through the elds. Once a month, a classmate who was deaf
would sleep over from Friday to Sunday . Most days, I had to
read a book or play games at home, or play by myself outside
with a ball and imagine that I had friends around.

2.4. Narrative analysis and interpretation

Qualitative narrative analysis was employed, based on the
interpretive (hermeneutic) approach (Josselson, 2006) and a thematic, holistic examination of content and structure (Lieblich,
1998). The analysis began with repeated readings of the stories,
and the identication and extraction of four major recurring elements: experiences of exclusion during childhood based on physical difference; a signicant turning point that inuenced, or
stemmed from, the decision to go into teaching; professional
empowerment; and construction of an inclusive educational
approach. Though each individual is unique, the focus of the
narrative analysis was to understand not only the experiences that
distinguished each story but also the common threads (Josselson,
2006). The narratives were coded by theme, reexive interpretation (based on the author's life experiences as the daughter of a
physically disabled mother-teacher), restructuring of reality, and

Shai felt lonely as a child, and longed for the company of other
children. His social interactions were very limited, involving only
one deaf friend. With this friend, he experienced a sense of
belonging, and felt that he was like him. But when he tested his
deaf identity against that of a group of hearing children, his physical
limitation excluded him, turning him against his will into someone
who did not belong:
On the Sabbath, I saw a bunch of children dressed in khaki
uniforms walking in a certain direction, and then coming back
in the evening with their clothes dirty, and it piqued my curiosity. I wanted to be a Scout like them.
The difference between him and the hearing children stands out
in his description of the Scouts uniform, which symbolized his
exclusion from the rituals and activities shared by other children.

N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

Forming friendships and playing with hearing children was, for

Shai, a mission impossible, due also to his mother's fears:
My mother told me that it was dangerous because of the
violence, and it was only for hearing kids, and that it would be
hard for me to t in there. I gave up on the idea, and wanted to
join a karate club instead.
His mother's need to protect him made it difcult for him to
form ties with hearing children. She may have feared that he would
be hurt by them whether physically or emotionally. Dunn and
Burcaw (2013) study on the social adjustment of deaf and
hearing-impaired children found that they feel condent among
other deaf children but experience loneliness and exclusion in the
company of hearing children, since children tend to connect with
others like them. Shai blames himself for his isolation and exclusion, but at the same time holds his mother responsible for his
social situation. Accusations of this type are typical of the rst stage
of identity formation in individuals with physical disabilities,
referred to by Gibson (2006) as passive awareness.
Shai is aware of his difculty communicating, and does not
blame hearing society: Hearing people can't really understand my
feelings and thoughts, so I prefer to be among deaf or hearingimpaired people. It emerges from his account that the exclusion
of the physically different takes place not only at the micro level
(the physical limitation) but also at the macro level (membership in
a separate culture, in this case the deaf culture). At the same time,
hearing people, who are the dominant, normative group, are
inuenced by the medical model with its attitudes toward the body
(Lindblom & Ziemke, 2007). Their understanding of deafness often
deters them from including, or becoming close to, a deaf or hearingimpaired person, since communication with him is impractical or
cumbersome. The power relations between hearing individuals and
the hearing impaired are expressed in the form of exclusion, stigmatization, and alienation. Such behavior reects an unwillingness
to take responsibility for accepting those who are physically
different, and underscores the message that the responsibility for
integrating into society lies with the individual with disabilities
(Block & Obrusnikova, 2007; Parasuram, 2006).
Similar experiences emerge from the story of Michal, who has a
disability of the leg. Her story, which she titled The Girl With the
Cane, opens with a passage from the Hebrew song Barba'aba,
which talks about a strange, ridiculed, unpopular creature,
attesting to her poor self-image. Later on in her story, she describes
a traumatic experience that she underwent at the age of ten, which
led to her disability and changed her life:
I was a ten-year-old who went into a simple operation on my leg
as an ordinary girl and came out a deformed, ruined person
with a short leg, a huge shoe and a cane, relearning how to walk,
and waddling like a duck.
Michal denes herself in terms of her physical disability, seeing
herself as a duck. She observes herself through her body, comparing
herself to normal children. The meaning that she ascribes to her
entire life is focused on her injury and the narrow perspective of
her limitations. Her entire being is reduced to her perception of her
disability, to which she attaches social and emotional meaning:
I overheard some kids from my class talking about how our class
always learns on the ground oor, and it's really a bummer that
the teachers arrive so quickly, right after the bell. And I thought
to myself: It must be because of me. They know it's my fault, and
they curse me to themselves.

59

She blames the school for her social difculties. From her
perspective, the means of access provided to adapt to her physical
disability only made things harder for her socially. Her description
suggests that the school adopted a humanistic educational
approach, according to which it is the responsibility of society (in
this case, the school) to include people with disabilities and limitations as whole individuals, and to develop and offer access to
services so that they can maximize their potential (Spencer, 2011).
But interestingly, she feels that this approach, and the accessibility
provided to her, actually magnied her disability in her own eyes
and those of the people around her. This raises another point,
inasmuch as the school is expected to offer a solution to children
with physical disabilities and to create an environment without
obstacles that limit their movement (during recess, dancing, class
trips, etc.). Inclusion aims to provide full access to schools and facilities, and equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their
level of ability or disability, together in one educational environment, while meeting the needs of each individual (Leyser, 2011;
Reiter & Schalock, 2008).
Michal attempts to cope with these feelings in an inner dialogue
that she conducts with herself, during which she imagines herself
as normative and as someone who can alter her disabilities:
In gym class, I really wanted to be like Forrest Gump, who was
born with a crooked spine and walked with a bridge on his
legs from a young age, and in the end, while running from the
school bullies, broke the brace and didn't have to wear it
anymore.
Michal's physical disability stands out even more than usual
during gym class, and she imagines herself as Forrest Gump, who,
despite his crooked spine and low IQ, integrated into a regular
school. Her ights of fancy serve as an escape of sorts from a painful
reality. But her inner conict, which arises from the clash between
imagination and reality, leaves her hurting due to her difference
from the other students.
Michal also has difculty reconciling herself to her limitations in
encounters with friends outside of school: At class parties, I always
felt like the one with the cane and the special shoes with the raised
sole, whose friends took turns staying on the side with her because
she couldn't dance. Coping with her disability was difcult for
Michal. She tends to blame not only the school for her sense of
exclusion but also her friends, in whose company she felt different.
She recounts that she was hurt when she heard them talking about
her, and at times she understood things that were not actually said,
as a result of her own feelings. From this perspective, it was difcult
for her to accept the friendly gesture when they stood by her side at
parties so that she would not feel alone and different. She found it
hard to feel the embrace of her friends due to her difculty
accepting herself as different. The major emphasis in her words is
on her limitations and difculties with movement and dancing.
While she did try to integrate with the normal children, in
practice she invested the bulk of her energies in running away
from herself and in efforts to deny her different-ness: I always
tried to show that I could do everything like everyone else, despite
the fact that it was not always easy, or even possible . I wasted a
lot of energy on being like everyone Her words contain echoes of
the medical model, which places responsibility on the person with
disabilities to act normatively despite his or her physical state; yet
at the same time, her story embodies the humanistic approach,
which stems from the overt and covert ideologies concerning disabilities that were prevalent in the society and school system where
she grew up (Spector-Mersel, 2010).
Her social and emotional difculties are a salient aspect of her

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N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

story:
Despite all those attempts [to include her], I did feel different,
like someone who messes up the neat impression of cute,
healthy children, athletes and hikers, beautiful Israelis who
can do anything and for whom the sky's the limit. In their eyes,
and in my own, I was always Barba'aba whom they made fun
of because of his strange appearance, and whom they felt sorry
for.
Michal describes how difcult the experience of being different
was for her, and how much her personal and social identity was
shaped by her bodily self-perception, already during childhood. At
that point in her life, she focused on her disability and her physical
limitations, which affected her social ties. She found it hard to
recognize her own uniqueness and strengths (as posited by the
humanistic approach), and discounted the possibility that she had
something to offer to others, and that she could be as good as they
were, or even better. Her efforts to be like them came from a place
of weakness, of struggle with/about herself, and not just in relation
to others.
Like many adolescent girls, Michal was troubled by questions of
body image and identity (Clay, Vignoles, & Dittmar, 2005), and was
preoccupied with outward appearances, body size, body boundaries, and her on limitations. Her bodily identity is created, and
frequently changed, in accordance with her psychological strengths
and the inuence of collective social and cultural forces (Lindblom
& Ziemke, 2007).
Her experience was similar to that of Anna, who underwent an
operation during adolescence for scoliosis. Early in her life story,
she writes:
I've asked myself more than once: What led me to decide to be a
special education teacher? To answer this question, I would
have to go back in time (about ten years) and try to see where it
all began. At age 17, I was found to have severe scoliosis that
required an urgent operation and several months of rehabilitation. Up until the moment that they diagnosed me with scoliosis, I was a regular girl, a dancer, an athlete, someone exible.
Despite the hump that, in hindsight, stood out, I didn't notice it,
and didn't feel abnormal. But the minute they diagnosed me and
labeled me, I began to feel different.
Anna (training to work with students with disabilities) identies
an initial turning point in her life, when scoliosis was discovered in
her back and she needed an operation. Her life changed; instead of
a vibrant young woman, an athlete, a dancer, she was transformed
into a girl with disabilities. The scoliosis affected her self-image:
I understood that from now on I would be a different person.
From that moment, the path that I had planned for my life was
going to change. I wasn't drafted into the army like all my girlfriends. My sense of self-worth began to deteriorate, and along
with it, came depression. After the operation, I hated every part
of my body that had changed as a result. True, I got up every day
for school, and outwardly, everything looked great. The operation had been a success, and now I could get back to life as usual.
But when I returned home, I closed myself up in my room and
wallowed in self-pity, asking myself: What did I do to deserve
this? Every passing glance in the mirror was accompanied by
weeping. Time passed, and the depression remained.
Like the other study participants, Anna describes loneliness,
depression, damage to her body image, which in turn harmed her

self-perception. She felt that her world had been destroyed, with
the change in her body shaping her life as a disabled person. She
tried to carry on as usual, but in fact cut herself off from her peers,
became depressed, and descended into self-condemnation.
The three story tellers recount similar experiences related to
their body image that occurred between childhood and adolescence and had sweeping effects on their lives. All three viewed their
entire identity through their physical being, their limitations and
weaknesses, and found it hard to attach meaning to other aspects of
their identity. They blamed themselves, or their surroundings
(school, society, or family members), for their situation.

3.2. Signicant turning point

The turning point in their life stories stands in contrast to the
harsh feelings that the narrators experienced in the past. For each
of them, this change took place at a different point in their lives (in
some cases, prior to choosing teaching, and in others, following the
decision). It is highly signicant to them, but is described only in
brief.
Shai's turning point emerged from a recognition of the strengths
that he does have despite his limitations:
I used to not have the tools to obtain information, and I was
dependent on others to provide me with it. So I always made an
effort to integrate into hearing society. I had moments of conict
between the desire to be independent and the dependence on
hearing people for information. By contrast, today I am able to
nd information on the Internet. When I get most of my own
information, I have the ability to decide what's good for me.
The shift depicted by Shai was made possible, in his view, by
technological developments and increased access to information,
which encouraged him to reexamine his connections with those
around him. This process was accompanied by inner conict
around his dependence-independence in relation to others. The
information he received, and the exposure to new concepts
regarding his disability, enabled him to interpret his reality in more
complex ways. The change grew out of his inner strength, and the
realization of his independence and ability to be the master of his
fatedto run his own life and make decisions in an autonomous
fashion, without depending on hearing individuals. The conict
between dependence and independence that Shai felt as a child
with disabilities played an important role in constructing his
identity as a deaf person. In the course of this process, he realized
that he could not change his physical limitations, but the ways of
dealing with the consequences of his disability were up to him. The
moment that he ceased blaming those around him for his fate (his
mother, deaf children, hearing children), he managed to free himself of his dependence on others and to understand that he is his
own person. The power to be who he chooses to be helped him to
see his relations with the hearing world in a new light, and to
recreate his identity:
My view of hearing people is now grounded on reciprocity,
partnership, mutuality. Not being dependent as in the past, and
not conducting my life out of lack of choice. This already changes
-vis hearing people.
the balance of power vis-a
The internal process that Shai underwent inuenced his interpersonal relations. His turning point was his acknowledgment and
acceptance of himself as disabled. He is aware of the power relations in society, and positions himself as someone with power
who can give and receive based on a reciprocal relationship with

N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

his surroundings.
A similar insight emerges from Michal's story, in which she refers to a turning point that she experienced in adolescence, prior to
her decision to become a teacher. She alludes to an inner journey,
but does not go into detail about the process. It can be understood
that the shift occurred when she recognized her own inner
strengths:
At the place where I'm at emotionally and socially, I don't feel
different from other people, and I don't make allowances for
myself because I'm disabled, nor do the people around me. The
change took place when I came to the understanding that
physical disability does not make the person, and that in most
cases I can do exactly what a healthy person can do, and can help
others no lessdand perhaps moredthan they can help me.
Michal's turning point came when she made peace with her
limitations, accepted herself as she is, and learned to maximize her
strengths. As she asserts, her discovery of her own sources of
strength, and of new insights concerning her bodily difference and
difference in general, boosted her self-esteem. The change enabled
her to rebuild her identity and, instead of focusing solely on her
physical limitations, to recognize her unique skills and abilities and
draw upon them to better integrate in society. Nonetheless, the
term healthy person stands out in Michal's narrative as a reection of the prevailing perceptions of beauty and physical health,
which serve as the macro context of the stories (Spector-Mersel,
2010). Despite the changes that have taken place in recent years
in society's views on accepting difference, attitudes of exclusion
and the hegemony of dominant groups still exist.
In Anna's story as well, the turning point involved testing her
limitations in relation to othersdexcept that in her case, their
disabilities were greater than hers:
I wasn't drafted like all my girlfriends because of my disability,
but I served in the army as a volunteer for one year. On my rst
day, I got to the place where 100 volunteers from around the
country were gathered. They included deaf people, disabled,
amputees, people with deformities, and other kinds of handicaps. I sat in the room and looked at everyone who came in and
asked myself: What am I doing here? How am I, a normal girl,
connected with all these handicapped people? This was a
turning point in my life. I remember that I decided that day that
instead of letting my disability bring me down, make me
miserable, and cause me to feel abnormal or limited, I would
allow my disability to be part of me and to feel that this is what
makes me special and strengthens me
Another turning point in my life came after the army, when I
decided to study special education. I sat down with myself and
thought about my future. At that point, I understood that by
choosing teaching as a profession, I could channel my disability
in a positive, empowering, evolving way. Today I understand
that I did this out of strength and a sense of self-efcacy, and
that it was important to me to convey this message to children
with disabilities.
The encounter with other disabled people caused Anna to
observe her body in relation to their physical disabilities. Like the
others study participants, Anna too decided to take responsibility
for her life and steer herself in a positive direction where she can
realize her strengths and serve as a meaningful model for others.
From her perspective, teaching is a profession that can inuence
the lives of children with disabilities.

61

In all three stories, it is evident that the turning point in the

speakers' lives was made possible due to an awakening that they
experienced which spurred them to take responsibility for their
lives and relationships. Gibson (2006) refers to the second stage of
identity formation in individuals with disabilities as realization. It
is the result of a dening moment in which they recreate
themselves.
This theme of a turning point marks the structure and plot of
all three stories, which include descriptions of events both before
and after the moment of change. The shift is presented following
a description of exclusion and of internal and interpersonal processes that they experienced during a particular period in their
lives. Such episodes can constitute opportunities for self-discovery
and personal transformation. Yair (2009) described key experiences that actors subjectively dene as the most important events
in their lives. They causally link these incidents to various outcomes, and regard them to be the most decisive events in their
socialization.
In each of the three stories, the turning point altered their selfimage and helped them see their disabilities in a new light. It was
not a sudden, key moment, nor a brief, one-time encounter with a
certain person or a powerful, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The
change in self-image was a process that was recognized only in
retrospect, but that presumably inuenced their choice of career. In
a study by Hancock (2009) on career change, he distinguished
between three types of turning points that affect the choice of
teaching as a career: breeze, gale, and hurricane. Using this typology, the shift experienced by the participants in this study can best
be described as a hurricane, whose effects are described by
Hancock as powerful and enduring. The ability to view their lives
and identities in a new and totally different light was the result of a
process during which they accepted themselves, made peace with
their physical limitations, and succeeded in recasting their
disability as a strength. This is reected in the structure of their life
story: a narrative of victimhood in their youth, which led them (at
least indirectly) to choose teaching as a career, where they found a
practical expression of their new identity and of the strengths they
had discovered in themselves. In some cases, they were unaware
that they possessed these skills, or did not realize that they could
act on them. The shift that they experienced in their lives gave them
the opportunity to engage in reection and reevaluate their
strengths and self-efcacy. Moreover, it prompted them to discover
their uniqueness, and, at the same time, to feel accepted by the very
group where they had previously felt excluded and estranged.
According to Spector-Mersel (2010), the change in identity
generally takes place via three parallel processes: personal (internal), interpersonal, and intercultural. On the personal level, the
identity construction of persons with physical disabilities can be
seen as a confrontation between various conicting parts of the
inner self: their identity as weak, excluded, fragile, oppressed, and
helpless, which merges, clashes, and changes as a result of their
acceptance of themselves and their self-worth as individuals with
mental, physical, and emotional strengths. On the interpersonal
level, their identity is constructed in relation to the people around
them whom they perceive as normative and healthy, or in
comparison with others with the same or more severe disabilities.
This process allows them to discover their uniqueness and their
added value. From an intercultural perspective, their identity is
constructed based on self-examination in relation to ideologies,
stereotypes, and perceptions in the society and culture where they
were raised and where they function at present. The intercultural
aspect of identity construction also embraces public discourse and
policy-making in education systems with regard to the acceptance
of diversity along multiple axes of difference (Crul & Holdaway,
2009; Leeman & Reid, 2006; Ramaekers, 2010; Sang-Hwan, 2011).

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N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

3.3. Construction of an educational approach to difference

The third chapter in the life stories of all three participants is
devoted to their decision to become teachers. The common thread
in all the narratives is exclusion stemming from their physical
differences during childhood and youth as a decisive factor in their
choice of teaching as a profession. Based on these experiences, they
adopted various approaches to difference in their work with their
students.
In Michal's words:
I decided to become a teacher in general education because I
have tremendous ability to accept the other, in particular to
support him from a place of genuine understanding of his situation. Based on the place where I once was, and where I felt my
own difference, I can guide normative students in how to
behave toward the other, and perhaps most importantly, how
not to behave toward him.
Michal's choice of teaching stemmed from her need to create
improvement by empowering the weak and generating social
change in relation to the other. In her perception, this process
entails encouraging acceptance of those who are different, integration with other children, and self-realization based on respect.
The discrimination and exclusion that Michal experienced in
childhood served as a springboard to professional strength, which
is reected not only in the empowerment of children with disabilities but in the awareness of the need to teach their friends to
accept students with differences and include them respectfully in
their group.
As Shai likewise attests:
I wanted to be a teacher because, in the education I received
when growing up, the focus was primarily on the goal of being
normal. They thought that if a deaf person would be able to
speak with hearing people around him, he would be seen as
normal. On the other hand, a deaf person who wasn't able to
communicate with his surroundings was considered problematic. I wanted to be a different kind of teacher, one who accepts
the deaf person as he is, and gives him the tools to integrate in
society.
Anna writes similarly:
Where I once used to look in the mirror and cry, today I look in
the mirror and accept the operation, the scar, the brace, and the
disability with total peace. They are part of me, and it is these
things that shaped my personality. One of the key messages
from this whole story is to accept yourself the way you are from
the day you are born, with all the changes that life holds in store
for you. Today I feel that I've found my place in the eld of
special education. I don't presume to be a savior, but it is
important to me to convey the message that I learned through
personal experience, to love yourself and make peace with who
you are.
For Shai and Anna, their choice of disability studies represents
an empowering form of self-improvement and proof to themselves
of their unique strengths and skills in this role. They feel that the
experiences they underwent with their disabilities help them inuence the lives of children, particularly those in need of
empowerment, such as students in special-education settings. At
the same time, however, Anna's words emphasize humility and a
sense of proportion: I don't presume to be a savior. She

understands that her power is limited, and that her major contribution is in transmitting a message and being able to serve as a role
model.
In all three cases, the decision to become teachers honed the
narrators' sense of purpose, enhanced their self-efcacy and professionalism, and enabled them to reexamine and reshape their life
stories as ones of empowerment rather than victimization. Their
professional identities were thus affected by their life narratives
and by the exclusion they experienced as a result of being different
(Burns & Bell, 2010). The intensity of this exclusion left its mark on
their teaching approach, helping them to build their educational
philosophy. Likewise, recounting their story enabled them to
reexamine their values and motivated them to utilize their
strengths and life experience to work in diverse classrooms, and
specically, to integrate students with disabilities. The survival
skills that they developed in coping with their physical limitations
empower them in adulthood, while their sense of professional efcacy pushes them to seek ways to help those who are different.
These processes can be viewed as the third stage of identity
construction in individuals with disabilities, which Gibson (2006)
referred to as acceptance. This stage calls for self-acceptance,
identication of strengths, and reconciliation with limitations.
The steps that the subjects went through in building their physical
identity helped them turn weakness into power and aided them in
constructing their professional identity. Teachers are seen by all of
the participants as playing a central role in the empowerment and
inclusion of students. It is the teacher's task to help them accept
themselves as different, and to encourage the other students to
include them socially, while serving as a signicant adult gure and
solid anchor for the students with disabilities. Echoes of these
narratives can be found in studies of attitudes toward special-needs
students among student teachers who do not themselves have
cek,
disabilities (Kodish et al., 2006; Konza, 2008; Martin & Kudla
2010; Nonis & Jernice, 2011; Sharma et al., 2008).
The type of educational approach depicted in the three stories
focuses on the emotional and social aspects of inclusion of students
with disabilities. Shai, for instance, refers to inequality in the power
relations between deaf and hearing individuals. He criticizes the
pressure exerted on children with disabilities in a one-sided
attempt by the system to include them in the classroom while
ignoring their special needs and, especially, their identity as people
with physical limitations. His educational philosophy attaches
importance to creating a dialogue stripped of power relations, in
which hearing children learn the deaf identity and become familiar
with the culture of the different child:
The most important thing is to integrate deaf people into the
hearing public in the sense of accepting them, and not changing
them based on the needs and convenience of hearing people. It
is important that there be dialogue and not dependence between them.
But Shai's narrative is unique in that it is the only one that also
contains pedagogical and didactic insights about teaching hearingimpaired children. He has a clear plan of what should be done at
each stage in the educational system to enhance the dialogue between student with disabilities and their peers:
I think that people should be introduced to the deaf identity and
our language, and start doing this as early as preschool . At
elementary school age: deepening the familiarity with the deaf
identity; grammar, language, cultural codes of deaf and hearing
people (I and the other); and familiarization with the technological equipment and the use of sign-language
interpretation.

N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

At junior high school age, the points to be worked on are

communication, the shattering of myths and resolving of frustrations, and familiarization with the deaf culture and community, including an introduction to the history of deaf people and
to famous deaf personalities (such as Helen Keller, Thomas
Edison, who became deaf, and leaders who established and
contributed to the deaf community).
And in high school, there should be a course in leadership for
deaf and hearing students so that they develop a personal
commitment to the deaf community. They'll get to know the
history of the deaf community and their struggles to alter stereotypes, and be exposed to technological solutions that help
the deaf, relevant laws and rights, and mediation and education
to correct misconceptions about deaf people. The hearing
community will receive material to raise their awareness so as
to encourage integration, and the deaf population will be given
tools to empower them.
Shai's approach includes various practices and study content to
make the learning environment more accessible to deaf students
(Spencer, 2011), to strengthen social and emotional aspects of deaf
identity, and to promote dialogue between deaf students and their
hearing peers. In addition, he proposes the use of pedagogical and
didactic tools coupled with technology:
It is important that deaf or hearing-impaired children communicate easily in whatever language is most suitable and
comfortable for them. For this reason, all essential resources
should be accessible to them so that they can absorb information and integrate easily into hearing classrooms or a hearing
environment. They should also receive guidance and tools for
personal awareness, for instance by asking them what their
limitations are and how they can integrate easily into both deaf
and hearing environments. They must be given every opportunity to decide for themselves on the method of communication
that is appropriate and comfortable for them so that they can
make progress in their lives and integrate in whatever community they choose.
Critical reection on his approach points to a well-ordered
educational philosophy regarding the inclusion of children with
disabilities. He attaches importance to accepting the other,
making the physical environment accessible to enable inclusion,
and implementing change in school curricula so as to invite dialogue between deaf people and the surrounding environment.
While emphasizing the teacher's role in creating the necessary
conditions, he calls for students with disabilities to be responsible
for their own fate and autonomous in their dealings with their
surroundings. But he does not relate only to accessibility and inclusion, which are necessary for those with limitations; he also
species unique learning strategies that should be implemented in
teaching deaf children:
I think that there is a need to change the methods to a pedagogy
suited to deaf students, that is, to introduce a grammar class in
sign language as a formal lesson, similar to a regular class in
Hebrew grammar.
In keeping with the humanistic approach and the model of
universal learning (Universal Design for Learning - UDL), Shai extends the concept of inclusion and access to pedagogical-didactic
methods. UDL highlights three pedagogical aspects of inclusion:
accessibility, participation, and progress of all students within a

63

general curriculum (Shavit & Tal, 2013; Spencer, 2011). According to

this approach, it is the teacher's responsibility to create a least
restrictive environment, with pedagogical and social access for all
students, by reducing or removing environmental obstacles, and
relating to the individual's strengths and not his disabilities (Reiter
& Schalock, 2008).
4. Summary
This article presented the narratives of three student teachers
with physical disabilities, showing their professional approach to
inclusion of students with differences. It should be noted, that this
study focuses on the personal and subjective perceptions and experiences of individual people. Small sample, as features qualitative
research (Crouch & McKenzie, 2006), can provide a meaningful,
depth, richness of information and can explore new insights into
the experiences of teachers with disabilities, from which creative
possibilities for learning might grow. This is important because it is
in the potential of life stories to make imaginative contact with
readers (Goodson & Sikes, 2001, p. 50), that much of the power of
life stories lies.
An analysis of the content and structure of the participants' life
stories in accordance with Lieblich (1998) model underscores the
centrality of these narratives in the construction of their personal
and professional identityda process that entailed three stages:
4.1. First stage of identity construction
The narrators describe childhoods characterized by difcult
experiences of exclusion based on physical difference, during which
they blamed themselves and their surroundings for their scholastic,
social, and emotional situation.
4.2. Second stage of identity construction
The recurring theme in this stage is at least one turning point in
their lives that led to a change in their self-image, and presumably
inuenced their choice of teaching as a profession. The decision to
become a teacher represents a transition from a narrative of failure
(in their youth) to one of victory (in their choice of teaching), from
exclusion and nullication to professional efcacy and empowerment, and from victimhood to responsibility not only for their own
lives but for those of others.
The dramatic change that took place in their lives is reected in
both the content and the dichotomous structure of the narratives,
which shift from past to present, failure to success, dependence to
power, and the longing for inclusion to the ability to realize it. The
turning point that they experienced affected not only their education but also their personality, values, choice of profession, modes
of thinking, and worldview (Yair, 2009).
4.3. Third stage of identity construction
The nal stage involved a process of maturation in which the
narrators not only made peace with their limitations but mobilized
them as professional strengths. They ascribed educational meaning
to their choice of teaching, recognizing their disabilities as their
unique added value as future teachers. The description of their
adulthood focuses on their teaching studies and their ability to
generate personal and systemic change by including and empowering different students. One of the participants emphasized his
desire to effect change in attitudes and practices of fellow teachers
who are not disabled, while all three underscored the teacher's
responsibility to establish an inclusive, accessible environment
based on the humanistic model of integration as opposed to the

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N. Dvir / Teaching and Teacher Education 52 (2015) 56e65

behavioral and medical models popular in Israel and worldwide

during their childhood. But above all, they saw themselves as
meaningful models for students with disabilities and limitations
(Oliver, 1996). Their personal experiences, and the changes they
had made in their lives, were viewed as a source of inspiration for
their students with disabilities, in terms of improving their selfimage, yet also as a way of spearheading change among regular
students. Grenier, Horrell, and Genovese (2014) reached a similar
conclusion in their study of a novice physical education teacher
with disabilities, nding that he became an inspiration to his nondisabled students while coping with his own limitations in gym
class.

Pritzker, 2012). In particular, they can be used as a means of

developing awareness and sensitivity with respect to difference in
the classroom and teachers' methods of coping with it. Kang and
Hyatt (2010) found that narrative analysis helped student teachers develop a deeper understanding of, and connection with, issues
of multiculturalism and diversity. The narratives of student teachers with disabilities can be helpful in constructing the professional
identities not only of the narrators themselves but also of their
fellow students. Their stories can expose their peers to the experience of being different, reveal the strengths of disabled students,
and show ways of integrating students emotionally, socially, and
scholastically based on their life experience as individuals with
disabilities.

5. Conclusions
5.3. Implications for teacher education
It is important to note that while all the study participants
expressed the need to integrate students with disabilities in their
classroom, with the exception of Shai's narrative no conceptualization of practical or theoretical knowledge was offered on the
subject of difference among students. Thus for example, there were
few explicit references to inclusion or exclusion, nor were there
detailed accounts of acquiring practical knowledge or formulating
comprehensive theories about pedagogical/didactic tools for
classroom integration. Likewise, the narratives did not yield a
systemic overview of the changes needed in teachers' attitudes
toward disability, or any expression of the necessity or ability to
take action in his regard.
Nonetheless, the study ndings carry a number of international
implications related to inclusion policies in schools; methodological aspects of the use of narrative; and teacher education, including
the contribution of teachers with disabilities to the professional
community.
5.1. Implications for inclusion policies
The need to educate teachers to integrate students with differences or disabilities has taken on added urgency in light of the
inclusion policies that many countries are instituting in their
schools. In Israel, for instance, a new policy was recently introduced
by the Ministry of Education expanding the inclusion of a range of
student populations with disabilities into the general education
system (Shemesh, 2013). The necessity of educating teachers who
are aware of the need for inclusion, and have the appropriate tools
to implement it, only underscores the added value of teachers who
have experienced exclusion or are themselves disabled.
The ndings arising from this study bolster the claim that
teachers who have felt excluded as a result of difference of any kind,
including physical disability, are uniquely capable of accepting and
including their students. For example, teachers who have experienced exclusion on ethnic grounds are more sensitive to students
from minority groups, and make a greater effort to include them in
their classroom (Leeman & Reid, 2006). Further, teachers with
dyslexia attest to their added value to classrooms with diversity
(Burns & Bell, 2011; Vogel & Sharoni, 2009). In a similar vein,
teachers such as those in this study can make use of their personal
experience not only in promoting inclusive policies in their classrooms but in contributing to changes in awareness and practice
among their peers.
5.2. Implications for methodology
As shown in this study, the narratives of student teachers can
serve as a tool for those engaged in teacher education to reexamine
the construction of professional identity (Ambler, 2012; Beijaard
et al., 2004; Gidron, Turniansky, Tuval, Mansur, & Barak, 2011;

The narratives in the present study indicate a readiness to

integrate students with differences. At the same time, there is a
noticeable absence in two of the narratives of a clear plan of action,
concepts, and theories on the subject of inclusion. Talmor's (2007)
study of student teachers in Israel showed that they ascribe
importance to integrating students scholastically, socially, and
personally, yet they expressed concerns about disciplinary problems and difculties adapting the curriculum to diverse students.
These ndings reinforce studies by Malinen et al. (2013) and Taylor
and Ringlaben (2012) that point to the need to intensify teacher
training for diverse classrooms within the general school system,
and to include theoretical and practical aspects of difference
(including physical difference) in the curricula of teacher-training
programs. Such an approach would enhance students' sense of
professional efcacy with regard to teaching in classrooms with
diversity (Burns & Bell, 2011).
Listening to what student teachers with disabilities have to say
about their educational experiences contributes to determining
how best to support students with special needs. Such knowledge
can assist schools anywhere in the world in developing inclusive
practices (such as the implementation of organizational changes
and specialized curricula), and improving individual learning outcomes to enable young people with disabilities to fully participate
in mainstream schools. Similarly, reading their life stories can increase empathy toward students with physical and other
disabilities.
Although this paper is based on only three narratives by Israeli
student teachers on their personal experience of disability, its
ndings support those of Connelly and Clandinin (2000) on the
construction of professional identity among pre-service teachers in
general, and are applicable to other countries as well. The data from
the present study can serve as a basis for international comparative
research that can shed light on the generic components of teacher
identity and what inclusion means to student teachers. The narratives can also add to the body of knowledge about inclusion
within the professional community of teachers, reframing and
conceptualizing these experiences for the benet of all those in
teaching and teacher education.
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