Learning to Live with the Dilemma of Difference: Bilingual and Special Education

Abstract

aws permitting, and even requiring, [racial] separation in places where [the races] are liable to be brought into contact do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been generally, if not universally, recognized as within the competency of the state legislatures in the exercise of their police power. II So long as the accommodations provided were equal, continued the Court, 5. 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 6. The dilemma also occupies feminist discussions. See Eisenstein, Introduction to THE FUTURE OF DIFFERENCE at xv, xvii-xviii (H. Eisenstein & A. Jardin eds. 1980); Jardin, Prelude: The Future of Difference, in THE FUTURE OF DIFFERENCE, supra, at xxv, xxvi. See generally THE FUTURE OF DIFFERENCE, supra. 7. See R. KLUGER, SIMPLE JUSTICE 777-78 (1976). 8. See generally M. FANTINI, M. GITrELL & R. MAGAT, COMMUNITY CONTROL AND THE URBAN SCHOOL (1970) (failures of integration and compensatory education led to demands for community control by less powerful parent groups); D. RAVITCH, THE GREAT SCHOOL WARS (1974); Comment, Alternative Schools for Minority Students: The Constitution, the Civil Rights Act and the Berkeley Experiment, 61 CALIF. L. REV. 858, 899 (1973) (arguing in favor of racially homogeneous community schools). 9. 163 U.S. 537 (1896). 10. See id. at 544 (citing Roberts v. City of Boston, 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198, 206 (1849)). The Massachusetts precedent had itself been superseded by state legislation requiring integrated schools just six years after the Roberts decision-long before Plessy. 11. Id. 23. See M. CURTI, THE SOCIAL IDEAS OF AMERICAN EDUCATORS 288-309 (1959) (comparing Washington and Dubois); R. KLUGER, supra note 7, at 91-100 (same); see also W.E.B. DUBOlS, THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK (1916) (describing richness of black heritage deserving preservation); B. WASHINGTON, Up FROM SLAVERY (1970) (describing his own education and conception of education for blacks).

Disabled students in the performing arts – are we setting them up to succeed?

“…'(19). They argue that the complexities of disability position it where biology and society, agency and structure intersect While recognising difference can lead to special provision which might be stigmatised and devalued, denial of difference can lead to failure to provide adequately for individuality (Norwich 2002), giving rise to the so-called 'dilemma of difference' (Minow, 1985). The tension is recognised by Warnock (2005); she calls for the assumptions of the current educational framework to be reconsidered and argues that a concern to treat all learners in the same way, at the same time adequately meeting the needs arising from individual differences, carries an inherent danger of labelling learners in a way which devalues them.…”

Facing multiculturalism’s challenges in Korean education and society

“…One kind of ''dilemma of difference'' is that however we respond to difference-whether we take it into account in our policies and practices, or whether we ignore it on the grounds that treating people equally requires that we treat everyone the same-we may recreate the stigma and inequality associated with differences among groups (Minow 1985(Minow , 1990). An example of this kind of dilemma arises in American schools which try to respond to the fact that many children of immigrants cannot speak English when they start school.…”

“…Nor are they expected to use any language other than English when they interact in classrooms with students who are learning English. This means that students who already speak English are confronted with less challenging educational tasks than nonEnglish-speaking students and are placed in a favored position to succeed academically (Minow 1985(Minow , 1990. Moreover, the idea that a ''normal'' American speaks solely English is institutionally reproduced.…”

“…It is to what Erickson calls ''hegemonic practices'' that Hong (2010a) refers when he discusses established conventions of Korean schooling that have been based on ethnocentrism and monoculturalism, and which impede changes in classroom environments, curricula, student attitudes, and teaching styles. Genuine multicultural education challenges hegemonic practices by endeavoring to make the experience of schooling equally affirming for all groups of students and ensuring that no groups be disproportionately alienated from or stigmatized by the school's routine practices (Minow 1985;Olneck 1993).…”

Inclusion in Higher Education: Learning Experiences of Disabled Students at Winchester University

“…On the other hand, failing to attend to differences may also be excluding because the normalising effect of this viewpoint could lead to treating students as equals in potential. In Minow's (1985) view, the study necessitated living the "dilemma of difference".…”