Stay in your lane experiences of children with special education needs and/or disabilities in two mainstream primary schools in Guyana

Abstract

Marginalisation, discrimination and depersonalisation are some of the negative experiences of children with Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in rural mainstream primary schools in Guyana. This paper presents these experiences from qualitative data gathered over six months of ethnographic research in two primary schools in Guyana. The data were analysed using situational analysis as posited by Adele Clarke and interpreted through a poststructuralist lens with the social model of disability theoretical framework. Children with SEND feel valueless and experience anxiety and loneliness in their placement in rural mainstream schools. This paper forms part one of a series presented to highlight institutional discrimination embedded in the practices and discourses which is fueled by the dominance of the individual deficit model of disability in mainstream schools. The paper also illustrates how teachers’ beliefs’ that disability is biological and they can not cater for such children who are considered unteachable and challenging. The paper further reflects on the collective conscience of mainstream teachers in rural Guyana who feel unsupported in unsuitable classrooms to meet the needs of children with SEND.