Disability Equality in English Primary Schools: exploring teaching about disability equality and non-disabled children's perceptions of disability

The DEEPS project is funded by an ESRC standard grant based at the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds. The project is led by Dr Angharad Beckett. Team members are Prof. Nick Ellison and Sam Barrett.

The project began on the 1 September 2007 and a project website will be developed during the course of the study to include links to publications and other relevant information.

Summary

The project seeks to investigate the possible origins/emergence of disablist attitudes within childhood by exploring primary age children’s understanding about disability. In addition, the research will examine the role that teaching in mainstream English primary schools currently plays in promoting 'disability equality' (formerly 'disability awareness') amongst non-disabled children. There are 3 key dimensions to the research, as follows: to explore -

• non-disabled children’s understanding of disability: in particular their understandings of the life chances of disabled people
• current teaching practices in relation to disability equality (formerly ‘awareness’)
• the resources available to schools to facilitate such teaching.

The research will involve working with a nationally representative sample of schools from across England. In addition to academic publications arising from this project, the findings will also be disseminated widely amongst a range of potential user-groups – to include local authorities, schools and other education professionals.

If you would like more information about this project please contact:

Dr Angharad Beckett, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT. Email: deeps@leeds.ac.uk Tel: 0113 3434409.