Blending DSE theory with DP methodology creates a powerful heuristic. This combination enables analysis of how discourse actively constructs students as dis/abled in real-time. Theory provides the lens; methodology provides the tools. Integration challenges both cognitivist views and deficit models simultaneously.

DSE + DP Synthesis

The DSE + DP framework enables new research questions beyond diagnosis and intervention. Example: "What language practices are teachers using that construct students as dis/abled?" Analysis shifts from individual pathology to institutional discourse. Questions focus on HOW disability gets made rather than WHAT disability is.

DSE + DP: New Lines of Inquiry

DP-informed analysis directly challenges assumptions that disability is inherent pathology. It reveals how discourse organizes notions of "competent" or "incompetent" behavior. Analysis exposes hierarchical power relationships embedded in school discourse. This disrupts normative thinking at its roots.

DSE + DP: Challenging Presumption of Pathology

The framework aims to trouble and ultimately disrupt the ability/disability dichotomy. Analysis makes visible how current constructions oppress and dehumanize students. Disruption happens through exposing how language naturalizes hierarchies. Goal is destabilizing taken-for-granted categories.

DSE + DP: Disrupting Binary Thinking

- DSE + DP Synthesis
- New Lines of Inquiry
- Challenging Presumptions of Pathology
- Disrupting Binary Thinking

State University of New York at Binghamton

U.S. public schools perpetuate harmful ability/disability binaries by viewing students with disabilities through a deficit lens requiring them to be "fixed" rather than questioning systemic structures. The authors propose integrating Disability Studies in Education (DSE) theory with Discursive Psychology (DP) methodology to analyze how everyday language practices in schools actively construct students as dis/abled. This synthesis enables new research questions focused on institutional discourse rather than individual pathology, revealing how talk in settings like IEP meetings organizes notions of "competent" and "incompetent" behavior. The framework aims to disrupt binary thinking and hierarchical power relationships embedded in school systems, ultimately guiding educators toward equity, inclusion, and rejecting medical deficit models.

Chapter 2: Problematizing the Binary: A Poststructural Understanding of Dis/Ability in Schools

Lester, J. N. (Ed.). (2021). Discursive Psychology and Disability. Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Reference For: Discursive Psychology and Disability

- Schools as Normalization Institutions
- Special Education's Roots in the Medical Model
- Ability/Disability Binary

The Systematic Ways U.S. Schools Construct and Perpetuate Disability As Deficit

- Poststructuralism Foundation
- Discourse as Reality-Maker
- Deconstruction Project
- Disability Studies in Education (DSE) Framework

Poststructuralism and Disability Studies in Education Theories that Ground Critique

- Analytical Tools and Concepts in Discursive Psychology
- Discourse as Social Action
     - Discourse is Constructed
     - Discourse is Situated

Discursive Psychology as the Analytical Tool for Studying Discourse Empirically

How DSE and DP Synthesis Creates New Analytical Possibilities

Disability Studies in Education repositions disability as social, cultural, and political construction. DSE shifts focus from individual pathology to systemic structures. Core tenets include contextualizing disability politically, promoting social justice, privileging disabled voices, and rejecting deficit models. This provides theoretical grounding for systemic change.

Disability Studies in Education (DSE) Framework

- Moving Towards Inclusion
- Practical Applications for Educators

Intended Outcome for Schools and Students

Chapter 2 discusses the construction of disability in US schooling contexts. It maps DP principles onto Disability Studies in Education (DSE) tenets, allowing researchers to investigate how school interactions/structures continue to "construct some students as disabled".

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