Students Pursuing (Invisible) Dis/ability Justice through Intervention, Investigation, and Innovation

Abstract

Our project focuses on improving the education of graduate students with invisible dis/abilities through a multi-pronged effort to universally redesign how student experience informs higher education. We plan to accomplish this through three main activities: Intervention, Investigation and Innovation. Intervention consists of a) creating workshops where students can propose new projects that meet the learning objectives and outcomes of courses they are currently enrolled in; b) empowering students to provide narrowly-tailored feedback to faculty on instruction methods and c) reducing mental health stigma by enhancing support mechanisms through hiring educational consultants, licensed practitioners and experts in dis/ability studies. Investigation includes rigorous training in research methods to design and execute a comprehensive study of students’ informal networks of support. This will contribute to student welfare intervention practices that encourage a holistic student experience. Finally, our Innovation will consist of a web platform or mobile application that provides online confidential space for students and faculty to share experiences in a social media-like format. Our primary product will be a compendium of resources created through these three strands that can be shared and scaled across the university. As PhD students in the School of Education, we will challenge faculty, staff and administrators to engage in critical reflexive praxis to ensure dis/ability justice for students invisibly-marginalized in our community. 

Collaborators

Emily Koren
Shelby Dawkins-Law