Dis-Alternative Stories: Disability Awareness, Teacher Preparation, and the Writing Process

Abstract

Quality children’s literature may facilitate the
development of positive self-images for students
with disabilities, for English language learners
(ELL), and help with the development of acceptance
and awareness among peers. This article
describes the outcomes of a writing assignment
in a teacher education course in which 35
undergraduate preservice teachers, studying
special education or ELL, were challenged to
rewrite familiar stories with disability or language-
sensitive slants. Though this process was
originally developed for students majoring in
special education, the reading class was expanded
to include students studying how to
teach English language learners. Approximately
5 out of 35 students were ELL majors. These
innovative stories were coined dis-alternative
stories. An emphasis was placed on the writing
process as the undergraduates moved through
stages of the writing workshop while integrating
positive attributes of specific disabilities or language
issues for ELLs within the main characters
of their stories. The preservice teachers’
post-assignment reflections indicated their
growth and awareness in three categories: the
power of children’s literature to change disability/ELL perceptions and increase acceptance, the value of writing workshop, and the empowerment and agency they felt as change agents.