Questioning special needs-ism: Supporting student teachers in troubling and transforming understandings of human worth

This paper is offered to spark discussion about teacher educators' contestation of 'special needs' ideology, to disrupt discriminatory thinking that diminishes educational opportunities for labeled students. Following discussion of the overarching purpose of education and evidence of the tenacity of special needs-ism, I explore multidisciplinary pedagogical tools that may facilitate engagement with student teachers, to trouble and transform hegemonic beliefs. These include notions of dysconsciousness, critical consciousness, threshold concepts, and pedagogies of discomfort, all of which highlight the role of emotion in realizing new understandings. Recognizing the inherent human worth of all students is considered fundamental in addressing educational inequities.