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Article: White pre-service teachers and "de-privileged spaces".(Report)
- Article from:
- Teacher Education Quarterly
- Article date:
- September 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Caddo Gap Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In their classic article, "Culture as Disability," McDermott and Varenne (1995) retell the fable of the seeing man who, upon finding himself in the "country of the blind" thought he could easily rule it. His efforts were fruitless because he could not make sense of their world. Daily life was set up for the blind to be successful. The seeing man was shocked by the idea that what was considered a privilege (his eyes) in one setting could be his handicap in another. Although McDermott and Varenne used this story to illustrate how culturally determined the notions of "able" and "disabled" are, I believe the seeing man's arrogance has further application to how teachers and ...