Institutional separation in schools of education: Understanding the functions of space in general and special education teacher preparation

The purpose of this spatial study is to understand the function space play in a combined credential program in the US in helping or hindering the program’s inclusive mission. The study examines how physical and social manifestations of general and special education are (re)organized in the new program. The data provides evidence for the pervasive separation between general and special education within the new program. This study points to the importance of examining space in relation to teacher education reform as a way to highlight where policy, institutional, programmatic, physical, and pedagogic changes are needed to support inclusive teacher preparation.

Research highlights► The lack of successful inclusive education in schools is related to the lack of well-aligned inclusive preparation in universities. ► Physical and social spaces are active components of maintaining the educational status quo and are material and discursive roadblocks to successfully creating a dual credential program that focuses on inclusive education. ► Separate structures of special and general education at the federal and state level are evidenced in the School of Education. ► Separate spaces for general and special education maintain the sorting function related to student differences in schools.