Crossing the Divide? Diversity Issues in Teacher Education and Special Education: A Response to Leah Wasburn-Moses

Overview & Synopsis

In this article the authors respond to Leah Wasburn-Moses's thoughtful response to their article, "Diversity in Teacher Education and Special Education: The Issues That Divide." In their article, the authors identified what they believe are fundamental differences in how dominant voices in the special education and general teacher education diversity communities think about human differences and suggested that these differences represent a "divide" that has proved difficult to bridge. They recognize that in any field, there are many voices, but in the case of special education, the dominant discourse continues to be strongly influenced by cognitive theories of learning and the theoretical divide between the special education and general teacher education diversity communities has made collaboration between (many) special educators and general teacher educators nettlesome. In this article, the authors discuss points where they agree with Leah Wasburn-Moses response, and points where they disagree.