For years, the government has made the notion of inclusiveness one of
its major language elements when talking about schools and their
consideration of disabilities. This did not happen without problems: on
January 25, FO organized a strike to "say no to systematic and forced
inclusion". Opposed to this position, but also critical of the
government's speeches, the Collectif Une Unique École (CUSE) was created
to provide another voice.
Fiona Campbell, specialist in Critical Disability Studies defines
ableism as: "A network of beliefs, processes and practices that produces
a particular type of self and body (the physical norm) that is projected
as perfect, typical of species, and therefore essential and fully human.
Disability is then thought of as an inferior state of humanity."
From defective body to defective society
From this definition, we understand the close link between ableism and
the medical model of disability, which perceives the disabled body as a
defective body and disability as a negative variation, a deviation from
the biological norm which is the fact of 'individual. The difficulties
of disabled people are therefore perceived as being directly linked to
their physical, psychological, cognitive, sensory or intellectual
difference. The logic of this model has led to the exclusion of disabled
people from society and their institutionalization. We also clearly see
the link that validism maintains with all other oppressions which have
as a common basis a process of inferiorization of a human group. An
inferiorization constructed from an ideal or a norm: white, man, cis,
able-bodied...
There is always a problem with school, when we are interested in
discrimination and relationships of domination: it thinks of itself as
the place of republican universalism. Politicians, journalists and
National Education workers talk about her this way. School could not be
a place of discrimination to the extent that it would be a "sanctuary"
where the republican principle of equality and tolerance is taught.
Since the principle of equality is constantly invoked there, since it is
written on the front walls of schools, then it would already be fully
realized. This is obviously a fiction and relations of domination are at
work at school as in the rest of society.
French schools are discriminatory. It is particularly able-bodied
because French society is able-bodied[1]and the school is not located
outside of society. It is designed based on the valid standard to which
all students must comply, with meager compensation which often does not
apply and through re-education largely outside of school. Bringing the
"deviant" student as close as possible to the uncontested norm is the
objective.
Students considered too "deviant", with disabilities that are too
"heavy" (by which we mean too far from the valid norm) are excluded from
school and sent to "specialized" structures. We see that it is the
existence of a valid norm which constructs the "special" need. And when
young people manage to be educated (often in specialized systems such as
SEGPA or ULIS, sometimes outside systems), their path remains extremely
compartmentalized: adults very quickly direct them towards some CAP or
professional baccalaureate, barely talking to them about generally, if
not to discourage them.
The inclusion of all students is a central issue in today's schools
The representations that workers have of what a student should be, what
their work should be and what the needs of a disabled student are are
erroneous and little questioned. The essentialization of disabled
students by their disability constitutes one of the major problems.
Validism, like all systems of domination, is diffuse, present everywhere
and always.
We grew up in an ableist society, ableism has partly shaped us, all of
us. It has shaped our imaginations and our representations; it has also
shaped that of National Education workers who, in their vast majority,
sincerely believe that if disabled students must be sidelined, it is for
their own good, that they and they are a matter of care and not of
school, that a student who cannot follow the program has no place in class.
Challenging academic standards
School is a place of great normativity. Its standards are those of
academic success, productivity, decorum, for example. It requires
students presenting a deviation from the norm in general - allophone
students, students in great difficulty, trans, poor, etc. - and disabled
students in particular to comply with these standards. The role of
school is not to allow everyone to flourish from the singularities
specific to each individual, nor to emancipate themselves. Students must
be able to follow the programs, the rhythm, the group. Anyone who can't
do it has no place there.
Finally, the French school is the school of a capitalist society. It is
designed as a lever for economic competitiveness. The capitalist school
values efficiency, performance, productivity and thereby excludes a
significant number of its students, including disabled students. In the
same way that once an adult he or she will have to adapt to the world of
work, it is up to the student to conform to school. This is a condition
for access to learning. A portion of students are still excluded from
ordinary school to be placed in institutions (Therapeutic, Educational
and Pedagogical Institute - ITEP, Medical-Educational Institutes - IME,
etc.) which are defined by the UN as places of segregation.
Between assertive validism and timid anti-validism
We recently witnessed a call from the Force Ouvrière union against
"systematic inclusion at school" which is a call for exclusion and
segregation. Keeping a child out of school means keeping them out of
society for life. But it is not only FO that has made active calls for
maintaining segregation on the basis of disability. The CGT Social
Action Federation recently issued a press release to oppose the granting
of employee status to disabled ESAT workers[2]. These people come
largely from EMIs and are children who have been excluded from regular
school.
We must distinguish two union positions. On the one hand that of the
corporatist unions which have abandoned the double task like FO and are
not interested in the fight against discrimination. Like educational and
ethical questions, they do not constitute the starting point for their
reflections and orientations. As a result, they consider the presence of
disabled students in ordinary schools as a deterioration of the working
conditions of National Education workers.
On the other side we find the positions of the social transformation
unions for whom the fight against discrimination is indeed a trade union
fight. It is then appropriate to question the reasons why these unions
are not fully committed to the anti-validist struggle. Within SUD
Éducation or the CGT Educ'action (a certain number of activists of which
are also involved within the CUSE), the movement is launched but still
faces the difficulty of moving from a model medical to a social model of
disability.
Likewise, no political party in France has clearly spoken out in favor
of deinstitutionalization, the sine qua non condition of an inclusive
school. There have been facade declarations on the left but no party has
initiated a reflection on planning the deinstitutionalization process.
There are also anti-validist activists within left-wing parties but they
are very isolated.
Unions and political parties believe that we must choose between
disabled people and people working in institutions. They believe that
choosing to defend deinstitutionalization would amount to betraying the
people who work in institutions. However, at CUSE, we want their
integration into the public education service, in a logic of collective
work serving the greatest number of students. There is no "competition"
between workers' rights and the rights of disabled people.
The most radical left-wing organizations denounce and want the closure
of everything that represents confinement and deprivation of freedoms,
from CRAs to prisons: logic would dictate that they also oppose
specialized institutions.
Antivalidism, a tool for emancipation
The anti-validist struggle is particularly little developed and visible
in France, even though it has profound radicalism. Disability questions
the injunction to social Darwinism, performance and productivity in
neoliberal capitalism. Employees must be as efficient as possible in a
competitive system where only the fittest deserve a job. Validism is a
system of social selection which distinguishes between "valids" and
"invalids".
The capitalist system is structurally validist because it is a
productivist system: the so-called "valid" person is first and foremost
the one who can produce and serve the national economy. The "disabled"
person is assigned to unproductivity, and therefore to uselessness. But
no one is unemployable either, if the salary conditions are reduced: in
ESAT there is no salary but compensation calculated based on the
allowances already received. The disabled worker becomes profitable and
can be worn out at work, without the few protective rights granted to
able-bodied workers.
Institutions against non-validist schools
There cannot be a non-validist school as long as there is somewhere else
to send back those whom the school considers undesirable. As long as
different, specialized structures exist, children will be moved,
excluded and locked up there. Also, these institutions legitimize
exclusion and disempower teams in their duty to welcome all young
people: why make classroom learning accessible if structures are there
to welcome children who are deemed unsuitable for it? school?
The CUSE, a collective of struggles
The Une Seule École Collective brings together disabled activists,
parents experts in inclusion issues, discriminated and institutionalized
former students, medico-social and health professionals. National
Education[3]. We are all convinced that schools must welcome all
children unconditionally and into ordinary classes.
We believe that the advent of a school for all will necessarily require
a change in medical, educational and pedagogical practices and in the
places where they are carried out. We believe that human, material and
financial resources must be mobilized but that they must be accompanied
by political consideration of the issue of disability which involves
deinstitutionalization.
Political and activist trade union organizations must take a position on
the question of the education of all children in the ordinary school
setting. We want to support organizations that want to take this issue
into account, participate in training, and build tools and resources.
But we also want to show the serious consequences that vague political
positions can have on the lives of disabled children sent to segregated
institutions.
Elena Chamorro, Odile Maurin, Thomas Lecherbault, Jacqueline Triguel,
Renaud Guy (members of CUSE)
To validate
[1]"People with disabilities are more often victims of physical, sexual
and verbal violence", July 22, 2020, DREES.
[2]Establishment and Service for Assistance through Work, structure
employing disabled workers. If since January 1, 2024, they have finally
benefited from the right to strike and the right to organize, ESAT
workers still do not have the status of employees, and are therefore not
covered by the labor code and can be paid below the minimum wage.
[3]Find the text "Tribune of the Collectif Une Seule École" noting the
creation of the collective, on Infolibertaire.net.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Collectif-Une-Seule-Ecole-S-engager-contre-la-segregation-scolaire
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
its major language elements when talking about schools and their
consideration of disabilities. This did not happen without problems: on
January 25, FO organized a strike to "say no to systematic and forced
inclusion". Opposed to this position, but also critical of the
government's speeches, the Collectif Une Unique École (CUSE) was created
to provide another voice.
Fiona Campbell, specialist in Critical Disability Studies defines
ableism as: "A network of beliefs, processes and practices that produces
a particular type of self and body (the physical norm) that is projected
as perfect, typical of species, and therefore essential and fully human.
Disability is then thought of as an inferior state of humanity."
From defective body to defective society
From this definition, we understand the close link between ableism and
the medical model of disability, which perceives the disabled body as a
defective body and disability as a negative variation, a deviation from
the biological norm which is the fact of 'individual. The difficulties
of disabled people are therefore perceived as being directly linked to
their physical, psychological, cognitive, sensory or intellectual
difference. The logic of this model has led to the exclusion of disabled
people from society and their institutionalization. We also clearly see
the link that validism maintains with all other oppressions which have
as a common basis a process of inferiorization of a human group. An
inferiorization constructed from an ideal or a norm: white, man, cis,
able-bodied...
There is always a problem with school, when we are interested in
discrimination and relationships of domination: it thinks of itself as
the place of republican universalism. Politicians, journalists and
National Education workers talk about her this way. School could not be
a place of discrimination to the extent that it would be a "sanctuary"
where the republican principle of equality and tolerance is taught.
Since the principle of equality is constantly invoked there, since it is
written on the front walls of schools, then it would already be fully
realized. This is obviously a fiction and relations of domination are at
work at school as in the rest of society.
French schools are discriminatory. It is particularly able-bodied
because French society is able-bodied[1]and the school is not located
outside of society. It is designed based on the valid standard to which
all students must comply, with meager compensation which often does not
apply and through re-education largely outside of school. Bringing the
"deviant" student as close as possible to the uncontested norm is the
objective.
Students considered too "deviant", with disabilities that are too
"heavy" (by which we mean too far from the valid norm) are excluded from
school and sent to "specialized" structures. We see that it is the
existence of a valid norm which constructs the "special" need. And when
young people manage to be educated (often in specialized systems such as
SEGPA or ULIS, sometimes outside systems), their path remains extremely
compartmentalized: adults very quickly direct them towards some CAP or
professional baccalaureate, barely talking to them about generally, if
not to discourage them.
The inclusion of all students is a central issue in today's schools
The representations that workers have of what a student should be, what
their work should be and what the needs of a disabled student are are
erroneous and little questioned. The essentialization of disabled
students by their disability constitutes one of the major problems.
Validism, like all systems of domination, is diffuse, present everywhere
and always.
We grew up in an ableist society, ableism has partly shaped us, all of
us. It has shaped our imaginations and our representations; it has also
shaped that of National Education workers who, in their vast majority,
sincerely believe that if disabled students must be sidelined, it is for
their own good, that they and they are a matter of care and not of
school, that a student who cannot follow the program has no place in class.
Challenging academic standards
School is a place of great normativity. Its standards are those of
academic success, productivity, decorum, for example. It requires
students presenting a deviation from the norm in general - allophone
students, students in great difficulty, trans, poor, etc. - and disabled
students in particular to comply with these standards. The role of
school is not to allow everyone to flourish from the singularities
specific to each individual, nor to emancipate themselves. Students must
be able to follow the programs, the rhythm, the group. Anyone who can't
do it has no place there.
Finally, the French school is the school of a capitalist society. It is
designed as a lever for economic competitiveness. The capitalist school
values efficiency, performance, productivity and thereby excludes a
significant number of its students, including disabled students. In the
same way that once an adult he or she will have to adapt to the world of
work, it is up to the student to conform to school. This is a condition
for access to learning. A portion of students are still excluded from
ordinary school to be placed in institutions (Therapeutic, Educational
and Pedagogical Institute - ITEP, Medical-Educational Institutes - IME,
etc.) which are defined by the UN as places of segregation.
Between assertive validism and timid anti-validism
We recently witnessed a call from the Force Ouvrière union against
"systematic inclusion at school" which is a call for exclusion and
segregation. Keeping a child out of school means keeping them out of
society for life. But it is not only FO that has made active calls for
maintaining segregation on the basis of disability. The CGT Social
Action Federation recently issued a press release to oppose the granting
of employee status to disabled ESAT workers[2]. These people come
largely from EMIs and are children who have been excluded from regular
school.
We must distinguish two union positions. On the one hand that of the
corporatist unions which have abandoned the double task like FO and are
not interested in the fight against discrimination. Like educational and
ethical questions, they do not constitute the starting point for their
reflections and orientations. As a result, they consider the presence of
disabled students in ordinary schools as a deterioration of the working
conditions of National Education workers.
On the other side we find the positions of the social transformation
unions for whom the fight against discrimination is indeed a trade union
fight. It is then appropriate to question the reasons why these unions
are not fully committed to the anti-validist struggle. Within SUD
Éducation or the CGT Educ'action (a certain number of activists of which
are also involved within the CUSE), the movement is launched but still
faces the difficulty of moving from a model medical to a social model of
disability.
Likewise, no political party in France has clearly spoken out in favor
of deinstitutionalization, the sine qua non condition of an inclusive
school. There have been facade declarations on the left but no party has
initiated a reflection on planning the deinstitutionalization process.
There are also anti-validist activists within left-wing parties but they
are very isolated.
Unions and political parties believe that we must choose between
disabled people and people working in institutions. They believe that
choosing to defend deinstitutionalization would amount to betraying the
people who work in institutions. However, at CUSE, we want their
integration into the public education service, in a logic of collective
work serving the greatest number of students. There is no "competition"
between workers' rights and the rights of disabled people.
The most radical left-wing organizations denounce and want the closure
of everything that represents confinement and deprivation of freedoms,
from CRAs to prisons: logic would dictate that they also oppose
specialized institutions.
Antivalidism, a tool for emancipation
The anti-validist struggle is particularly little developed and visible
in France, even though it has profound radicalism. Disability questions
the injunction to social Darwinism, performance and productivity in
neoliberal capitalism. Employees must be as efficient as possible in a
competitive system where only the fittest deserve a job. Validism is a
system of social selection which distinguishes between "valids" and
"invalids".
The capitalist system is structurally validist because it is a
productivist system: the so-called "valid" person is first and foremost
the one who can produce and serve the national economy. The "disabled"
person is assigned to unproductivity, and therefore to uselessness. But
no one is unemployable either, if the salary conditions are reduced: in
ESAT there is no salary but compensation calculated based on the
allowances already received. The disabled worker becomes profitable and
can be worn out at work, without the few protective rights granted to
able-bodied workers.
Institutions against non-validist schools
There cannot be a non-validist school as long as there is somewhere else
to send back those whom the school considers undesirable. As long as
different, specialized structures exist, children will be moved,
excluded and locked up there. Also, these institutions legitimize
exclusion and disempower teams in their duty to welcome all young
people: why make classroom learning accessible if structures are there
to welcome children who are deemed unsuitable for it? school?
The CUSE, a collective of struggles
The Une Seule École Collective brings together disabled activists,
parents experts in inclusion issues, discriminated and institutionalized
former students, medico-social and health professionals. National
Education[3]. We are all convinced that schools must welcome all
children unconditionally and into ordinary classes.
We believe that the advent of a school for all will necessarily require
a change in medical, educational and pedagogical practices and in the
places where they are carried out. We believe that human, material and
financial resources must be mobilized but that they must be accompanied
by political consideration of the issue of disability which involves
deinstitutionalization.
Political and activist trade union organizations must take a position on
the question of the education of all children in the ordinary school
setting. We want to support organizations that want to take this issue
into account, participate in training, and build tools and resources.
But we also want to show the serious consequences that vague political
positions can have on the lives of disabled children sent to segregated
institutions.
Elena Chamorro, Odile Maurin, Thomas Lecherbault, Jacqueline Triguel,
Renaud Guy (members of CUSE)
To validate
[1]"People with disabilities are more often victims of physical, sexual
and verbal violence", July 22, 2020, DREES.
[2]Establishment and Service for Assistance through Work, structure
employing disabled workers. If since January 1, 2024, they have finally
benefited from the right to strike and the right to organize, ESAT
workers still do not have the status of employees, and are therefore not
covered by the labor code and can be paid below the minimum wage.
[3]Find the text "Tribune of the Collectif Une Seule École" noting the
creation of the collective, on Infolibertaire.net.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Collectif-Une-Seule-Ecole-S-engager-contre-la-segregation-scolaire
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten