Marketising Disability: Public School Principals Competing for Inclusion Funding
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| Title: | Marketising Disability: Public School Principals Competing for Inclusion Funding |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Elisa Di Gregorio (ORCID |
| Source: | Australian Educational Researcher. 2025 52(5):3543-3562. |
| Availability: | Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 20 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Disabilities, Students with Disabilities, Public Schools, Principals, Inclusion, School Support, Financial Aid Applicants, Competition, Academic Accommodations (Disabilities), Disadvantaged Schools, Grants, Commercialization |
| Geographic Terms: | Australia |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s13384-025-00866-w |
| ISSN: | 0311-6999 2210-5328 |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine disability funding in the context of a schooling market. By drawing on interviews with public school principals, we consider their experiences in competing for disability and inclusion funding in public schools. Public school principals are engaging in competitive applications from the state government to fund a range of disability supports, such as building ramps into playgrounds, providing support staff, or developing sensory spaces. These applications are for both recurrent and capital funding as a form of supplementary resourcing used to facilitate the 'reasonable adjustments' mandated to achieve inclusion for students with a disability, as set out in major policy, including the Disability Standards for Education (2005). We argue this contributes to an important empirical gap that focuses on school funding for students with a disability in Australian public schools, and how funding supports or constrains inclusion. These grant processes create competition for disability funding amongst public school principals, creating structural barriers that constrain and restrict inclusion. This resulted in a process in which principals felt compelled to procure forms of evidence and expertise, building deficit narratives of disability to legitimise or strengthen their applications. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1490296 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine disability funding in the context of a schooling market. By drawing on interviews with public school principals, we consider their experiences in competing for disability and inclusion funding in public schools. Public school principals are engaging in competitive applications from the state government to fund a range of disability supports, such as building ramps into playgrounds, providing support staff, or developing sensory spaces. These applications are for both recurrent and capital funding as a form of supplementary resourcing used to facilitate the 'reasonable adjustments' mandated to achieve inclusion for students with a disability, as set out in major policy, including the Disability Standards for Education (2005). We argue this contributes to an important empirical gap that focuses on school funding for students with a disability in Australian public schools, and how funding supports or constrains inclusion. These grant processes create competition for disability funding amongst public school principals, creating structural barriers that constrain and restrict inclusion. This resulted in a process in which principals felt compelled to procure forms of evidence and expertise, building deficit narratives of disability to legitimise or strengthen their applications. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0311-6999 2210-5328 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s13384-025-00866-w |
