Chapter 15: In Our Own Words: Special Education Teachers of Color With Dis/Abilities

The education system is filled with examples of how students of color with dis/abilities¹ are positioned as unintelligent, at risk, or behaviorally deviant (Broderick & Leonardo, 2015). Because schools draw upon Eurocentric cultural knowledge and behavior (Yosso, 2005), students of color with dis/abilities are among the most marginalized groups in educational spaces. This parallels some of the inequities we see in teaching. While research on racism has predominantly identified the ways in which students of color experience it in schools, less is known about the experiences of teachers of color (Pizarro & Kohli, 2020). Among teachers of color is a subgroup of teachers, special education teachers of color (SETOCs), who have been overlooked and underserved in both research and critical spaces (Kulkarni et al., 2021). Additionally, there is limited research on teachers of color who identify with visible and invisible dis/abilities as defined through learning, mental health, trauma, and health. Often, teachers of color are aware of racial injustices through personal experiences in schools yet are framed as underprepared (Irizarry & Donaldson, 2012; Kohli et al., 2017). Additionally, teachers with dis/abilities have experienced further marginalization and segregation in schools. There is a critical need to learn from voices and stories of SETOCs with dis/abilities who are committed to providing transformative educational opportunities for their students who experience similar marginalization.