The Accounts of Special Education Leavers

Cheston, Rik; Cheston, Richard

Abstract

There has been comparatively little analysis of the ways in which pupils within special education describe themselves. This paper looks at the linguistic repertoires that leavers from special education in Central Scotland drew upon in order to account for their presence in what was seen by those around them as a stigmatising environment. Eighteen special education leavers were interviewed: first of all either before or around the time that they left school; and then, for a second time, between twelve and eighteen months later. This study suggests that these special education leavers drew upon at least four different linguistic repertoires to explain their presence within a segregated environment. Two points emerge from these accounts: first that these repertoires accounted for the leavers' presence within special education without drawing upon notions of individual pathology; and secondly, that the accounts of these leavers changed according to the differing accounting tasks that the leavers were faced with. The implications of this research for those who work with teenagers and others who are forced to account for their presence in a stigmatising environment is discussed. © 1994, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Citation

Cheston, R., & Cheston, R. (1994). The Accounts of Special Education Leavers. Disability and Society, 9(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599466780051

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 1994
• Online Publication Date: Feb 23, 2007
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 1994
• Deposit Date: Dec 7, 2017
• Journal: Disability & Society
• Print ISSN: 0968-7599
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0508
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 59-69
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599466780051
• Keywords: accounts, special education leavers
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1108714
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599466780051