Disability and Popular Common Sense in India: Noun versus Adjective

Reflecting through the Indian experiences, a brief attempt is made to explore how disability as a noun takes shape in popular common sense “call names” (adjectives) and how does the popular common sense legitimise and normalise the oppressive language and the oppressed reality of the persons with disabilities? In the Indian context, the contempt for persons with disabilities is writ large in the language used to address them. However, to be conscious of this contempt, one needs to be conscious of the hegemonic nature of the popular common sense which normalises an oppressive reality as a natural social reality. The discussion on disability and popular common sense in India through the framework of “noun vs. adjective” might be helpful in gauging the challenges to the disability rights movement and the socio-cultural specificities to be reckon with for any meaningful intervention in the field of disability.     

Models of shared leadership: Evolving structures and relationships

This article explores potential changes in the power relationships among teachers and principals under four emerging forms of structured teacher involvement in schoolwide decision making: Instructional Leadership Teams, Principals' Advisory Councils, School Improvement Teams, and Lead Teacher Committees. Each organizational model is described in terms of its purpose, its operation, the role of teachers and the principal, and its potential impact on teacher leadership and empowerment. A conceptual framework that views organizational power in terms of access to resources and the ability to obtain cooperation from other actors (Kanter, 1979) is utilized to gauge potential changes in the power of principal and teacher roles under each of these emerging models. The conceptual analysis suggests that models seeking to empower teachers and improve student learning must provide for increased interaction among teachers in curricular and instructional decision making.Presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, April 1988.